Invest in yourself! Tracking, planning and marketing are the keys to success

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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's Podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_01: Hi everybody, I'm at the village studio in Grimsby in Niagara Region for those that don't know this part of the world.
[00:14] SPEAKER_01: And after a big eclipse day yesterday, I made an interview with an old friend of mine, Brian McColley, who has run a very successful photography business called Village Studio.
[00:30] SPEAKER_01: And is just going through some significant change and a little bit of expansion here.
[00:36] SPEAKER_01: And he's got a really interesting entrepreneurial story, I think.
[00:42] SPEAKER_01: So we'll go through our normal process. But first of all, welcome to Canada's Podcast, Brian.
[00:49] SPEAKER_01: Thanks buddy.
[00:50] SPEAKER_01: And why don't you just sort of spend a couple of minutes, let everyone know who you are, what you do, etc, etc.
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: And then we'll get into the interview.
[01:01] SPEAKER_04: Sure. So I'm Brian and I'm a portrait and wedding photographer. This is year 47 for me.
[01:08] SPEAKER_04: And I just, I'm very fortunate that I, I love what I do.
[01:11] SPEAKER_04: I go from photographing a 50th anniversary to a newborn baby to wedding photographs.
[01:19] SPEAKER_04: So it's, and everybody I see really cares about the people that they're with. So I feel very fortunate.
[01:28] SPEAKER_01: Now, why did you move to entrepreneurship? And I know your dad's so starting the business.
[01:34] SPEAKER_01: But why did you get into it?
[01:37] SPEAKER_04: Well, in the beginning, honestly, it was just to spend a bit more time with him because this was his part time gig.
[01:43] SPEAKER_04: He was a teacher and did photography on the weekends and then opened the shop in 77.
[01:49] SPEAKER_04: And I just started working then and was painfully shy, I have to tell you, especially when high school.
[01:59] SPEAKER_04: And this was a way for me to be creative, but it also fixed that shyness.
[02:06] SPEAKER_04: I certainly, my, my self in high school could not imagine me doing this right now.
[02:16] SPEAKER_02: So, why did you do it?
[02:18] SPEAKER_02: Well, you got real job.
[02:20] SPEAKER_04: That's a good question. I've never had a real job.
[02:24] SPEAKER_04: But I, I just, there were, I, this was a job before I took ownership.
[02:31] SPEAKER_04: And I was, okay, it's time to get to work. It's five minutes to when I need to be there.
[02:37] SPEAKER_04: And it's five minutes before I'm finished. So I'm just, I was punching clock in and out.
[02:43] SPEAKER_04: And, and it just really wasn't that enjoyable.
[02:45] SPEAKER_04: As soon as I bought into the business, I was there half an hour to an hour early, staying late, working Sundays, working evenings.
[02:54] SPEAKER_04: And honestly, I just, I have always loved it.
[02:58] SPEAKER_04: I didn't think I was going to enjoy being an owner or entrepreneur, as you say.
[03:04] SPEAKER_04: But I, I truly have, and I wouldn't change a minute up.
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: Now, you know, I often ask people about their challenges.
[03:12] SPEAKER_01: I think anybody knows that photography, business, the industry has changed completely changed in the last 30 years.
[03:22] SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit about that, that part of the journey, you know, survival.
[03:26] SPEAKER_04: So, so as an example, when, when my parents first started, we had a separate room dedicated.
[03:34] SPEAKER_04: We called it the projection room. And this is when we had movie projectors and slide projectors that we could show the different models to clients.
[03:44] SPEAKER_04: Nobody's doing that now. There's no need. And we sold film cameras and film.
[03:53] SPEAKER_04: We used to do 40 and 50 rolls of film developing a day.
[03:56] SPEAKER_04: And now none of that is relevant.
[04:00] SPEAKER_04: Now, having said that, I may offend some people in love film.
[04:04] SPEAKER_04: It's just because the film developing game is a numbers game because it's the machinery likes to work.
[04:12] SPEAKER_04: And it does a poor job if you're not doing enough of it.
[04:16] SPEAKER_04: So that's, that's why I got rid of my many of that.
[04:19] SPEAKER_04: I'm sure if I answered your question.
[04:21] SPEAKER_01: Well, I was more concerned about, you know, the type of business that you did where you generated your revenue changed.
[04:34] SPEAKER_01: Yes.
[04:34] SPEAKER_01: And how did you manage? That's a challenge because, you know, probably film processing like most people in the business was probably, you know, the bread and butter, the recurring revenue stream that was, was pretty solid.
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: Yes.
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: With that gone, what did you do to stay in business?
[04:54] SPEAKER_01: Actually, a little bit of a ship without a rudder for a while.
[04:58] SPEAKER_04: But truly, tracking and planning and marketing is key because like you can see those when those trends are starting to happen.
[05:09] SPEAKER_04: Just from monetary going way to many. We did, you know, I just found some numbers from early 2000s.
[05:18] SPEAKER_04: When we were, we were doing like 40 and 50 rolls of film a day and we tracked it daily, weekly and monthly to see how many rolls we were doing.
[05:28] SPEAKER_04: And what difference back in those days and newspaper had made.
[05:32] SPEAKER_04: And now we do the same kinds of things with the different marketing tactics that we use.
[05:36] SPEAKER_04: Just to make sure that things are going well and there's something's not performing.
[05:40] SPEAKER_04: We got a tweak it or change.
[05:44] SPEAKER_01: So why didn't you get into selling more equipment, more cameras used to sell cameras back in those days.
[05:54] SPEAKER_04: A single injury flex 35 millimeter camera would probably take me if I'm going to sell you a 35 millimeter camera going to spend four or five hundred dollars.
[06:03] SPEAKER_04: That's going to take me half an hour to an hour.
[06:05] SPEAKER_04: Right?
[06:06] SPEAKER_04: Because I got to give you all the facts and benefits.
[06:10] SPEAKER_04: And honest to goodness, I didn't make 20 bucks selling.
[06:14] SPEAKER_04: So I just looked at that and thought if I can concentrate on where the money is and that is in the photo finishing.
[06:21] SPEAKER_04: That's what I, and that's what we did.
[06:23] SPEAKER_04: And that's where we had the recording people coming back.
[06:27] SPEAKER_04: And of course, nice school was also something that made our clientele very loyal.
[06:34] SPEAKER_01: Okay. Good.
[06:37] SPEAKER_01: So you faced a lot of challenges.
[06:40] SPEAKER_01: Have you sort of discovered a process that you follow to overcome the challenge?
[06:48] SPEAKER_01: Like a template.
[06:49] SPEAKER_01: A template that says, oh, this is, this is crapin out in me.
[06:53] SPEAKER_01: How do I, where do we go now?
[06:55] SPEAKER_01: Not really.
[06:56] SPEAKER_04: Not really.
[06:57] SPEAKER_04: I would say on mud.
[06:58] SPEAKER_04: I would be great to do it.
[07:00] SPEAKER_04: But not really.
[07:02] SPEAKER_04: I do have people that help me.
[07:05] SPEAKER_04: Brooke does a lot of my men and we have spent a big part of today looking at some of those bigger picture things.
[07:11] SPEAKER_04: To sort of analyze how particular specialty of last year, whether we do it again this year.
[07:17] SPEAKER_04: I have a paid social media marketing person.
[07:21] SPEAKER_04: So as an example, I can tell you that I have a paid Facebook ad that is very targeted for passport for.
[07:28] SPEAKER_04: And I just spend $5 a day.
[07:30] SPEAKER_04: But I can tell you based on the numbers that my.
[07:35] SPEAKER_04: My number of sales and I'm sorry, I don't have these figures top of head, but we were up like 70% over last year because of that.
[07:43] SPEAKER_04: Well, there's a couple of factors.
[07:44] SPEAKER_04: Certainly, COVID's over and people can travel.
[07:47] SPEAKER_04: And people do want to travel now.
[07:50] SPEAKER_04: And plus I was bending $5 a day to say that we're the best in this.
[07:55] SPEAKER_01: But it's sort of a discipline.
[07:57] SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've done for a while.
[07:59] SPEAKER_01: A while.
[08:01] SPEAKER_01: We've had some good conversations.
[08:04] SPEAKER_01: And I know you you can stumble along for a while.
[08:09] SPEAKER_01: Is there some, you know, through that kind of.
[08:13] SPEAKER_01: Or whatever is a some.
[08:18] SPEAKER_01: Is there is there's something you can say to people.
[08:23] SPEAKER_01: To recommend how they handle the situation.
[08:27] SPEAKER_01: Because I know you've been worried at times.
[08:31] SPEAKER_01: Yes, but here is my friend Brian.
[08:33] SPEAKER_01: And we'll talk about a bit about growth and stuff like that in a minute.
[08:38] SPEAKER_04: Well, I would suggest that investing in yourself is important.
[08:44] SPEAKER_04: So I've been part of.
[08:47] SPEAKER_04: A B and I for five, five years.
[08:51] SPEAKER_04: And I when I first joined, there was a man's business coach.
[08:57] SPEAKER_04: And I thought at the time, man, I hope your wife's got a good job because he's so specific in what he did.
[09:03] SPEAKER_04: Anyway, he and I ended up working together for three years and showed me that investing in a business coach is the best thing.
[09:13] SPEAKER_04: It gives me the tools to be able to handle the things that you talk.
[09:18] SPEAKER_01: And what about you?
[09:19] SPEAKER_01: We were talking before the kid came on camera.
[09:22] SPEAKER_01: What about, you know, you know, we were talking how.
[09:26] SPEAKER_01: The business has changed how, you know, all your competitors disappeared.
[09:31] SPEAKER_01: And you were saying, but there's people coming back into the new strictly digital world.
[09:41] SPEAKER_01: What, what, what about that?
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is partly, you know, people listened to you learn from you.
[09:47] SPEAKER_01: Not assessing you want tons of competitors and grims be or anything.
[09:51] SPEAKER_01: I honestly don't think there's any competitors.
[09:54] SPEAKER_04: I, I, my clients are my clients.
[09:56] SPEAKER_04: And they're not going to go to somebody else.
[09:57] SPEAKER_04: I, I, instead of competitors, I have friends and colleagues in the business.
[10:02] SPEAKER_04: And I, and I refer to them.
[10:04] SPEAKER_04: I refer clients.
[10:05] SPEAKER_04: If I don't do something well, or they do something better than I do, I will refer a client to them.
[10:12] SPEAKER_04: And I, and I would like to think they do the same for me.
[10:14] SPEAKER_04: I know they do.
[10:16] SPEAKER_04: So.
[10:18] SPEAKER_04: Sorry, I lost track of the question.
[10:21] SPEAKER_01: Well, I lost track of it.
[10:22] SPEAKER_04: Sorry, yes.
[10:23] SPEAKER_04: I used to have more people who closed up and went out of business.
[10:27] SPEAKER_04: And now there's lots of new people coming in.
[10:30] SPEAKER_04: I, pardon me, I was talking to a friend of mine who was a traveling minister.
[10:33] SPEAKER_04: And he was saying that there's a young female photographer in St. Catherine's,
[10:38] SPEAKER_04: who photographed your wedding for under seven out of box.
[10:41] SPEAKER_04: She.
[10:43] SPEAKER_04: Here.
[10:45] SPEAKER_04: A memory card.
[10:46] SPEAKER_04: And she takes that and takes it to Walmart after the wedding.
[10:49] SPEAKER_04: Well, truly, you know, you have to be aware of what's going on.
[10:54] SPEAKER_04: At that low price point, there's buyer we wear.
[10:58] SPEAKER_04: You have to be, you have to be cautious of what you're doing.
[11:02] SPEAKER_04: And so much so even, even the preacher was concerned about the quality of the images.
[11:09] SPEAKER_00: Canada's podcast is your gateway to success in the world of entrepreneurship.
[11:14] SPEAKER_00: Start listening today.
[11:16] SPEAKER_00: Canada's podcast dot com subscribe now.
[11:19] SPEAKER_00: So let's move on to some lessons.
[11:22] SPEAKER_01: First of all, your own lesson.
[11:24] SPEAKER_01: You could go back in time and be 25 again.
[11:28] SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
[11:29] SPEAKER_01: No, what advice would you give yourself?
[11:33] SPEAKER_01: Spend more time investing in me.
[11:38] SPEAKER_04: That's what that's what I would, I would have started business.
[11:40] SPEAKER_04: Oh, I think said that.
[11:43] SPEAKER_04: I'm listening to a new audio book, new audio book thinking coverage.
[11:46] SPEAKER_04: No, to me.
[11:48] SPEAKER_04: I read the book when I was 25, but I wasn't ready for it.
[11:53] SPEAKER_04: So the, the, and they say that, you know, the secrets are going to jump off the page for you.
[11:58] SPEAKER_04: And they are now, but they weren't when I was 25.
[12:01] SPEAKER_04: So it's, it's again, investing in yourself.
[12:05] SPEAKER_04: I took a Dale Carnegie when I was a course in when I was about 25.
[12:11] SPEAKER_04: Life changing because I, as I said, I was painfully shy.
[12:14] SPEAKER_04: And that broke me out of that.
[12:17] SPEAKER_03: Mm hmm.
[12:18] SPEAKER_04: So I would, I would definitely do that again.
[12:22] SPEAKER_01: So you were talking about coach, but I'm, and mentoring so, so darned important.
[12:27] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[12:29] SPEAKER_01: And coaches are professional mentors, but I'm concerned.
[12:34] SPEAKER_01: What's, I was asked is so important.
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: What's the best piece of advice that you've ever received?
[12:41] SPEAKER_01: But you kind of keep, you know, keep me hit pocket there.
[12:43] SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's all user.
[12:46] SPEAKER_04: Oh, shit.
[12:47] SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
[12:47] SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
[12:48] SPEAKER_04: But it's, but it's not, it's not a secret.
[12:50] SPEAKER_04: But so few people do it.
[12:53] SPEAKER_04: Right.
[12:53] SPEAKER_04: Like, write them down.
[12:55] SPEAKER_04: Look at your goals.
[12:57] SPEAKER_04: And say, OK, you know, I got them.
[12:59] SPEAKER_04: Write it down.
[13:00] SPEAKER_04: It, it, when you physically put pen to paper, it makes sometimes just psychological difference.
[13:05] SPEAKER_04: But it makes a difference.
[13:07] SPEAKER_04: And then, and then look at it and, and look and, and, and grade yourself to see how you're doing.
[13:12] Speaker UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[13:12] SPEAKER_01: Maybe not write it down.
[13:14] SPEAKER_01: If I write, I can't, if I write, I can't read my own writings.
[13:18] SPEAKER_02: I can't, nobody else can.
[13:22] SPEAKER_01: You know, knowing the business you're in, what advice would you give to somebody?
[13:31] SPEAKER_01: You know, that I've just left hunger today, today, today, you know, having gone through all that, all that stuff and the diploma and everything.
[13:39] SPEAKER_01: And saying, I want to be, I want to do this.
[13:41] SPEAKER_01: This is what I want to do for a career.
[13:43] Speaker UNKNOWN: 
[13:45] SPEAKER_04: What before you run?
[13:47] SPEAKER_04: Because it's, it's so easy to throw money at something.
[13:52] SPEAKER_04: And right now in this economic environment, the government is making it easy to get a little bit of money.
[14:00] SPEAKER_04: So for somebody brand new, they can jump in this and get pretty quickly.
[14:05] SPEAKER_04: And just, just be cautious.
[14:08] SPEAKER_04: Do not overspend.
[14:10] SPEAKER_04: Sorry.
[14:11] SPEAKER_04: Do not overspend.
[14:12] SPEAKER_04: I'm going to get very quick.
[14:14] SPEAKER_04: Because it's just a black box.
[14:17] SPEAKER_04: A camera truly is just a black box.
[14:19] SPEAKER_04: It does not matter.
[14:21] SPEAKER_04: I happen to be a night gone guy.
[14:23] SPEAKER_04: My young assistant laughs at me.
[14:26] SPEAKER_04: She's a Sony girl.
[14:28] SPEAKER_04: It doesn't matter.
[14:30] SPEAKER_04: It doesn't matter.
[14:33] SPEAKER_01: That's really really good.
[14:35] SPEAKER_01: Now, you know, part of the challenge thing, and I'm going to do this.
[14:41] SPEAKER_01: Your biggest challenge was, you know, through over a decade, surviving in a business that was transformed.
[14:50] SPEAKER_01: Lex, if you don't think we've lost our phones.
[14:51] SPEAKER_01: Yes, it does.
[14:52] SPEAKER_01: That's it.
[14:53] SPEAKER_01: Tell us how you're dealing with this new challenge that you've got.
[14:58] SPEAKER_01: Exactly the same way.
[15:00] SPEAKER_01: Looking at it.
[15:00] SPEAKER_01: Can we tell people what the new challenge is?
[15:02] SPEAKER_01: Because they don't know.
[15:04] SPEAKER_04: In terms of the new business.
[15:06] SPEAKER_04: So I just moved my studio.
[15:09] SPEAKER_04: This is week two in my new space.
[15:12] SPEAKER_04: I was on Main Street in Grimsby for 30 years.
[15:18] SPEAKER_04: And loved it.
[15:19] SPEAKER_04: Great space.
[15:20] SPEAKER_04: I had this opportunity to come in and move in with special effects.
[15:27] SPEAKER_04: Art shop custom framing.
[15:30] SPEAKER_04: And I'm in the process of that.
[15:33] SPEAKER_04: We're coming together.
[15:34] SPEAKER_04: And it works.
[15:35] SPEAKER_04: There's so many synergies between custom framing and photography.
[15:38] SPEAKER_04: I'm very, very excited about that.
[15:40] SPEAKER_04: Making a couple of changes in the store.
[15:43] SPEAKER_04: But also Main Street in Grimsby is going to be a bit of a construction site for the next two and a half years.
[15:49] SPEAKER_04: I think so century condos are coming to town.
[15:53] SPEAKER_04: I think that's a good thing.
[15:54] SPEAKER_04: I do too.
[15:55] Speaker UNKNOWN: I do.
[15:56] SPEAKER_04: Like people living in a downtown.
[15:58] SPEAKER_04: You have an automatic customer base.
[16:01] SPEAKER_04: What they have to build it.
[16:04] SPEAKER_04: And it's going to be a construction site for a while.
[16:07] SPEAKER_04: And then the town of Grimsby needs to change the water made in downtown Grimsby.
[16:12] SPEAKER_04: So they told us that it is going to be closed for eight to twelve months.
[16:19] SPEAKER_04: And then they dropped the eight.
[16:23] SPEAKER_04: And so I talked to a town employee and I told them I said, I think it's going to be twelve to fifteen months.
[16:27] SPEAKER_04: And he said, I can't probably.
[16:30] SPEAKER_04: And then Grimsby Reimagined wants to change downtown to be more pedestrian friendly.
[16:38] SPEAKER_04: And there's several models to do that.
[16:42] SPEAKER_04: But all of them take some working way from the Main Street.
[16:48] SPEAKER_04: And I was reading news now in my little scraps article.
[16:54] SPEAKER_04: And he quoted someone from a developer saying that Grimsby people are spoiled in terms of having parking right on Main Street.
[17:03] SPEAKER_04: And I honestly found that somewhat offensive.
[17:07] SPEAKER_04: And I said to Mike, I said that when he was interviewing me, I said, I've had a front row seat on Main Street for thirty years.
[17:14] SPEAKER_04: And that parking is used every single day.
[17:18] SPEAKER_00: Stay ahead of the game with our expert tips and strategies that will help your business thrive in a digital era.
[17:24] SPEAKER_00: Canada's podcast dot com subscribe now.
[17:27] SPEAKER_01: Right, let's let's do so come come to a conclusion.
[17:32] SPEAKER_01: I mean, one or two or three or four rapid-fond questions.
[17:36] SPEAKER_01: It was that simple.
[17:38] SPEAKER_01: Yep.
[17:38] SPEAKER_01: If you were doing what you're doing now, what would you be doing instead?
[17:46] SPEAKER_01: Still something in the business ownership realm.
[17:52] SPEAKER_01: What book are you currently reading, listening to and would recommend to the audience?
[17:59] SPEAKER_01: Think and go rich and how do we win friends and influence people?
[18:03] SPEAKER_04: You're a morning or a night person.
[18:06] SPEAKER_01: Morning.
[18:08] SPEAKER_01: If you had to pick one word to describe yourself, what would it be and why would you choose?
[18:19] SPEAKER_01: Okay, you can have two.
[18:22] SPEAKER_02: No.
[18:24] SPEAKER_02: I try to be humble.
[18:26] SPEAKER_02: Is that?
[18:29] SPEAKER_02: It does actually.
[18:30] SPEAKER_02: Well, what's keeping you up at night these days?
[18:37] SPEAKER_02: Moving.
[18:37] SPEAKER_04: This is week two and it's been challenging.
[18:40] SPEAKER_04: I think it's like, oh, we're not that it's a three o'clock in the morning when I'm not.
[18:45] SPEAKER_01: But you have a new challenge and then you then you girls.
[18:49] SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
[18:50] SPEAKER_01: It's very exciting.
[18:51] Speaker UNKNOWN: It's a very cool.
[18:54] SPEAKER_01: We're about done, Brian.
[18:56] SPEAKER_02: This is fast.
[18:58] SPEAKER_01: Where can people find you online?
[19:01] SPEAKER_01: If they like what they're hearing, want to get some advice and give you a show?
[19:06] SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
[19:07] SPEAKER_04: Instagram, ad Village Studio Canada, Facebook Village Studio.
[19:12] SPEAKER_04: My website VillageStudio.ca, but don't be too critical.
[19:16] SPEAKER_04: I updated it with my new address and stuff.
[19:19] SPEAKER_03: All right.
[19:22] SPEAKER_01: Thanks very much for coming on Canada's podcast.
[19:24] SPEAKER_01: We've been very happy here, but nice to get down to the studio.
[19:27] SPEAKER_01: The next studio.
[19:29] SPEAKER_01: And you know, take a listen and we'll we'll speak soon.
[19:34] SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
[19:34] SPEAKER_01: Thank you.