Growing up with two sisters and the only son of a studio owner, talk at home was dominated by one topic: Dance.
Dance students. Dance teachers. Dance songs. Dance costumes. Dance parents. Tuition. Hiring. Firing. Marketing. Good ideas. Bad ideas. Capital. Not enough capital. Networking. Schmoozing. Playing the game.
I have heard it all.
So, dance became so much more than an activity. To me, it is a business concept.
My mom taught me a lot about business through her dance, tumbling and music school. I have to say, I do know a lot about how to run and manage a business, maybe even more than most adults.
In March 2012, my freshman year of high school, my sisters (a senior and junior in high school at the time) and I decided to open Photo Booth Rentals of Chicagoland. It’s a company that rents photo booths to people hosting events such as weddings, corporate events, school dances, parties in homes for graduations, big birthdays… any event that you want to add a LOT of extra fun! We bring the booth to the event, set it up and guests go into the booth and take four pictures. The pictures are printed immediately (like the booths in the mall) and the guests go home smiling with this great strip of fun memories.
Me at the Booth
The idea started because we needed a better way to fund our portion of college. We are all very close in age and all three of us will be in college at the same time. Our savings would run out the first year of college; however, we know that a business can grow and create revenue to continuously assist with our payments. We are hoping to avoid as many loans as possible.
We were extremely nervous to start the business, as it would completely wipe out every dollar we had saved our whole lives. We were determined and knew we could do it.
My sister Jessie and I at an event.
We knew we were all capable of working with grown-ups, as our mom has been taking us to business seminars for years. I have even stood up in a meeting in front of 30 business owners, all at least 20 years older than me, at a Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce meeting, where I introduced myself by saying, “Hello. My name is Conrad Frank. I am fifteen years old and I am a co-owner of Photo Booth Rentals of Chicagoland.” Those people barely knew me but were impressed because I’m in high school, started a business and took the initiative to get my business’ name out there by introducing myself to the 30 other business owners. It’s a very crazy feeling to earn the respect of adults when I am so young.
Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to tell someone that I own a business. A lot of the time people think I’m joking; or they just smile at me like I am exaggerating, but when I take out a business card they realize it’s true. I explain the cost of renting, what it includes, how we got started, etc. It takes a certain confidence to explain the entrepreneurship of a teenager, but the more I do it, the better I get at it!
A happy bride and groom in the booth!
Kids having fun in the booth – they love the costumes!
It’s interesting… I don’t need a test to prove that I know what running a business takes. I have been tested constantly by Photo Booth Rentals of Chicagoland: by hiring employees, booking events, transportation to and from events, downloading new updates that the booth needs and constantly organizing everything we need to make moving it around a smoother process. It’s funny, I really didn’t know I was learning how to run a business while it was happening, but I must have subliminally paid attention to what my mom was doing with her dance and music school. I learned what you need to do to be a successful business owner.
Here I am working at an event. I take my job seriously!
I love how my mom runs her school. She runs it with a positive attitude and takes on any problem head on for the sake of her students’ happiness. My mom is a successful entrepreneur: she had an idea, made it happen and is glad the way it has turned out. Not a lot of people have the guts to start their own business, let alone make it flourish. My mom did it and continues to every day, which definitely inspired me and my sisters to invest our money in a business of our own! She has taught us to take really good care our customers and make sure they know they are appreciated.
To think this all started because I grew up dancing. Dancing is a part of me: it’s part of my background, it’s part of my business mentality, it’s part of my family and its part of my life. When I graduate high school and am no longer dancing with Orchesis, I will still be at my mom’s dance recitals helping backstage. I will still be reminded of how fabulous my sisters are at dancing and how much fun we had growing up learning so much so young.
My mom feels bad to this day that she missed a lot of our activities while building her company. But, what she needs to know is that she taught us so much more than she even realizes. It wasn’t a job she went to and came home and didn’t discuss. She talked about everything: she shared things that went well; she shared things that did not go so well. She would come home excited about a new idea and then we would get excited. She would come home upset and try to fix situations that needed it. She never blamed anyone for her mistakes. She would just say “I’m missing something!” She included us in many decisions and asked our opinion on everything.
I own my own company because of the way I was raised.
How many kids can say their parents did THAT for them?
Photo Booth Business Owners: Jessie, Conrad, and Kendall Frank.
Don’t forget to catch Conrad’s post from last week… Boys DO dance!
Dance: A Guy’s Perspective!
Fabulous. Good job, all around!