Suzanne Plafcan couldn’t find real-estate space for her Clix Portrait Studio franchise right away, reports Entrepreneur.
So instead of waiting, she opened just the event-photography side of the business in March 2008. “It turned out to be the best thing I could have ever done,” she says. It allowed her to keep costs down by working from home with only one employee.
She was also able to introduce the Clix brand to her targeted demographic–parents with young children–by offering her photography services to day-care centers. She averaged $7,000 in sales a month, which helped when she finally opened her studio a few months later.
Her accidental events-first model worked so well that Clix corporate now advises all its new franchisees to follow it.
Now that her studio is open, Plafcan delights in offering customers exactly the sort of kid-friendly environment she was looking for: a fun, brightly colored studio with unlimited shots, same-day prints and numerous digital touch-up and enhancement options.
Photo by Clix Portrait Studio.