Portrait simple franchise
Portrait simple franchise
totaling a portrait studio to your existing services is a choice that several traders may be considering over. May be you’ve lost some proceeds freshly and are seeking for a method to drag in novel Portrait simple franchise trade. Or maybe you’re capping along as you have for the past umpteenth years and you’re just burning for something stirring to add into the mix to gratify the inventive side of your trade brain.
But do you wish for to begin from scratch in setting up this novel niche (do you even have the experience to do so)? Or could purchasing into a license procedure be a workable substitute? no matter what your direct, burn down rejoinder is to the above scenario, the reply to the license question is not as clear-cut as you may consider.
CLIX: Three-in-One Franchise With an Emphasis on Fun
One of the hallmarks of the Atlanta-based CLIX Portrait Studios, set off in 1999, is that franchisees get three disconnect revenue streams for one charge. “We have our portrait studio, event photography, and digital design center,” says president and CEO David Asarnow.
The CLIX portrait studio aims to make happy clients on both an artistic and client-service level. “What we offer is high-quality, boutique-style portraits that are competitively priced and available right away,” says Asarnow. “We live in an instant-indulgence society. People want what they are after, when they want it. We proffer negligible to main retouching and special-effects pictures that clients can go home with that day. We proffer that second photographic simple indulgence.
Having fun is at the top of the list for CLIX Portrait simple franchise licenses as well. “We have that ‘wow’ factor that differentiates us from other studios—we’re different from what people are used to,” states Asarnow. “We really have faith it should be a fun understanding. We’re maybe the only license in America that teaches people how to make balloon animals the first day of training!”
So what would someone aiming at to purchase a CLIX Portrait simple franchise license need to have? “We look for personality and the ‘sparkle factor,’ says Asarnow. “More important than a franchisee’s background is a positive, can-do attitude.” And here’s some sound advice that can be appropriate to sellers are after purchasing into a license or do it in competition: “We look to see that they’re going to treat their employees well, and that they understand that employees are a valuable resource versus just an expense,” resumes Asarnow.
Being a photographer or retailer would perhaps give a franchisee an advantage, and they’d be able to pick up the CLIX system more quickly than someone who doesn’t have photography experience, but to date, none of the CLIX franchisees have a photography background, along with Asarnow. “What makes us different is we have a great system,” he says. “We’re not just photography—we’re sales, marketing, training, and developing. We teach people all aspects of business operation, including the photography.”
CLIX, a member of PMA, has, actually, had a few current needs from people within the photo industry who want aid with training, increasing, hold up, marketing, advertising, and driving simple franchise trade. “That’s where we can help,” says Asarnow. “And I’ve received really positive feedback from photo industry professionals. They like our focus and how we’re different from the run-of-the-mill portrait studio you see out there.”
Not everyone, photo industry skill or not, would be cut out to own a CLIX Portrait simple franchise license, however. “Not everyone is a good fit for being a franchise or being a business owner,” says Asarnow. “If they are strong in certain areas and need help in others, we can guide and coach them toward success. We also look to see if they are able to follow a system. There are some people that are just too entrepreneurial and they wouldn’t be happy in a franchise. Or some people just don’t like dealing with people. They wouldn’t do well in such a high-touch customer business as ours. Plus, are they comfortable with local marketing, since we are a community-based business? Do they have a strong work ethic? That’s why we don’t go out of our way looking for people who are experienced photographers, because there are certain skills we can teach, or we just hire people with those skill sets.”
The CLIX training system is a four-week minimum program. “We teach owners and their whole team how to professionally preserve moments, and we do this through a proven and unique training process,” says Asarnow. “Week One is focused on getting started; we start with location (we actually have a national real estate firm work with our franchisees), and then we go onto hiring, staffing, business development, goal setting, outside event sales, and on-location event execution. Week Two is studio operation, boutique-style photography, and technical software training. Week Three is customized to each franchise’s needs—it’s essentially a boot camp where we do one-on-one training. Week Four is an onsite boot camp on-location in their studio before they open to reinforce what they learned at the training center and to assist them in training their staff.” Additional training and support is available as needed, including unlimited telephone support, daily and weekly business telephone coaching calls, and trainers that visit locations for additional support. “We’re only successful if our franchises are,” says Asarnow. “We are really focused on bottom-line, store-level economics, making sure they’re profitable and making money.”
The CLIX experience hits the road with its event photography. “We take our high-quality product and experience and bring it on-location as well,” states Asarnow. “We photograph preschool, daycare, kids’ sports leagues—children go home with their images that day. We also do proms and deliver the pictures on the Monday after the prom. On Monday morning, the couple is likely still together, and the pictures are part of the morning buzz. Then we get the reorders because Dad doesn’t fully know what he spent on the prom yet!”
