Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Duro.
Alan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have a background in digital marketing and was looking for a business that I could start in my spare time. I attended the wedding of a friend of mine in New York and they had rented this touchscreen “open-air” photo booth. From this “booth” you could email yourself the pictures, post them to social media, and even create animated GIFs from the pictures you took. It was unlike any photo booth I’d ever seen before. When I realized how easy the booth was to setup and use, and I saw how much people LOVED using it, I knew this was the perfect business for me to start in Boston. I spent the next few months analyzing different photo booth companies and franchises. I finally found one that seemed to be way ahead of the rest of the industry in both software and design. I created a website and branded the booth as “The Snap Boxx.”
To launch the business I used my experience running Facebook ads and initially target women in the Boston area who’d switched their Facebook relationship status to “engaged.” The ads I ran promoted renting a touchscreen photo booth for your wedding. The leads started coming in and the rest is history. Since then we’ve bought more booths and expanded to corporate clients, private parties, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Music Festivals, and various events for charitable organizations around Boston. We’re also opening a seasonal Nantucket location this summer.
Has it been a smooth road?
Besides the learning curve of getting used to the software that runs the booth the road has been relatively smooth. The more competition that comes to the area the better we have to be with advertising and with our product. We’re not the cheapest photo booth in the Boston area (nor do we want to be) but we try to provide the most overall value in our rentals relative to the competition.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the The Snap Boxx story. Tell us more about the business.
The Snap Boxx is a photo booth rental company serving the greater Boston area, the Cape, and Nantucket Island.
Our booth attendees are awesome. We take the time to pick really fun, outgoing people to “man” the booth at events. We also spend a lot of time with the client up front designing print layouts and graphics that they love.
The thing I’m most proud of is the charity events that we’ve done for different organizations throughout the city. I never imagined being able to use a photo booth for good causes when I started but the events that we do for charity are by far the most rewarding. Those events and also seeing people really enjoys themselves using the booth at different event. Those are the best parts of the business for me.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
It’s definitely getting more competitive. More and more people seem to be opening up competing photo booth businesses in the area. While I first thought this industry might only last a few more years now I’m not so sure. I figured there’d be an app or selfie stick type product where people could essentially create their own photo booth but now I don’t know. People still love standing in front of a booth with props and often times it really adds to the atmosphere of the party. Maybe the selfie stick model actually won’t take over – time will tell.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thesnapboxx.com
- Phone: (617) 658-3144
- Email: info@thesnapboxx.com
Image Credit:
The Snap Boxx
