After being friends for many years, Brittny Maertens-Poole and Amanda Fehr decided to invest in a Canadian manufactured photobooth and created a “contract” to pledge to never let the business come between their friendship. Despite the pandemic hitting the same day their booth arrived, they used the two years to develop a strong business and marketing plan before officially launching in May 2022. 

Brittny is an internationally published, award winning photographer who trained in photography at Mount Royal University over two decades ago, and built a successful wedding studio in Calgary. Amanda brings over a decade of professional business and accounting experience to the business, having obtained her Bachelor of Business Administration in 2011. Their knowledge and dedication have been essential for the success of Cosmo Photobooths.

The success of Cosmo Photobooths is a testament to the key skills required for running a successful booth business: photography, creativity, and business acumen. Let’s find out a little more about their photo booth business and tips for success.

Name: Brittny & Amanda
Business Name: Cosmo Photobooths
How long have you been in business? Just celebrated our first year of business. Our first official year we incorporated is coming up in October.
What is your favourite booth? Tapsnap
What is your favourite software? Tapsnap, Snappic and Spot My Photos

Tell us about the best event you ever did?

We have been very lucky to work with a lot of great clients from weddings and social events to local businesses such as Calvery Police Department, Calvery Construction Association and Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

The event that stands out for us would be the Shania Twain concert. Where we did a two day activation for Shania fans!

Your 3 Tips for success in the photo booth industry: 

#1 USE FREE ONLINE RESOURCES WITH CAUTION

Facebook is a powerful tool and we owe a lot of success to following advice in the groups, but take each piece of advice with a grain of salt. We almost walked away from a huge account because of following advice of many people on the Facebook pages regarding legalities. Once we checked with our local lawyer, he advised us otherwise. We were able to save the deal but only because we talked to our own lawyer. We continue to seek advice and learn from others in the community but we do so now with a more critical eye- we’re sure to verify advice more than before.

#2 NETWORK

As much as we would all like to believe we have found this magical turn key industry, success comes with hard work. Join the chamber and industry affiliations, particularly in your target demographic. Participate in industry events and continually follow up. We even threw ourselves a party and invited the planners and venues in our area to showcase the experiences we offer. We plan to do this each year.

#3 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Understand your target market. Constantly seek growth and invest in yourself and your company. Dedicate a budget each month in order to achieve this. Professionals want to hire professionals, if you’re looking for the odd birthday party, it’s fine to have a website you’ve done yourself. If you have your sights set on the corporate market, you have to look like a professional. We invested a significant portion of our revenue to create a specialized branding package and website.