1-Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
Ans: Mitchell Bahr Weddings is a wedding photography and videography company located right here in Austin, Texas including all of the Hill Country and San Antonio. I’ve been shooting weddings for 7 years now.
2-Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
Ans: I started working in TV in New York City working as a camera assistant on Law and Order SVU. After leaving SVU I started a production company of my own producing Kenneth Cole videos around the globe. These videos have been played at fashion shows in a number of countries to strengthen his brand.
3.What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
Ans: I started Mitchell Bahr Weddings for my love of wedding photography. I love being at different locations working with different lighting situations every week. Photography is my first love and expanding my business is a lot of fun. It’s most thrilling for me as an artist when my image is used on the cover of a magazine.
4.What three pieces of advice would you give to budding entrepreneurs?
Ans: Make sure to be kind and respect the people you work with every weekend. It’s most important to build solid relationships with the local vendors. Be rested and on your A game on the wedding day. You run the show! You have to be polite, fun and personable. Everyone needs to feel at ease in your presence or you’re not going to get good images plain and simple. Lastly, make sure to send out all the images to the vendors from the day so they can post it on their social media. This is how you get a lot of work.
5.What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Ans: First off you have to be able to put out a good product, so know your stuff beforehand. Find a talented shooter to shoot for before jumping out there. This way you can learn the ropes, not only for shooting, but the business aspect as well. You’ve got to work hard. Showing up to the wedding is the easy part as far as I’m concerned. You need to network, market and also edit. Sometime when busy, it’s a 7 day a week job and you have to reach your deadline. Client happiness also plays a huge factor for success.
6.How many hours do you work a day on average?
Ans: I start work around 8am and take a long break around noon. I usually go on a long run and swim and then work until around 7pm.
7.To what do you most attribute your success?
Ans: Hard work and a passion for photography. I LOVE SHOOTING!
8.How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
Ans: While not being complicated there are a ton of different aspects that go into marketing. I’m not going to give you all my own secrets but a huge part of it is it getting the images to the other vendors after the shoot.
9.Where did your organizations funding/capital come from and how did you go about getting it? How did you obtain investors for your venture?
Ans. I had my own personal gear beforehand. Once I started getting more popular in the area, I saved money to update my gear. The good thing about wedding photography is you don’t really need loans to start. It’s all about word of mouth in its infancy.
10.What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
Ans. This sounds corny – but just stay with it. There’s going to be ups and downs. A good way to stay in the game when building your business is to have a good side gig like working for uber.
11.Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
Ans. Doing mostly high-end weddings and fashion work
12.Excluding yours, what company or business do you admire the most?
Ans: Locally my friend here in Austin – Matt Montalvo, but nationally – Annie Leibovitz, of course. She rocks!
13. How important have good employees been to your success?
Ans: It can be. Working with a good and experienced second can make the day light and easy. If you don’t have to think of moving equipment you can give all your attention to shooting.
14.How long do you stick with an idea before giving up?
Ans: LOL – until it sucks.
15.What motivates you?
Ans: There are a lot of different aspects, but a great location with a motivated couple really gets my creative flair going.
16.What are your ideals?
Ans: Not sure what you mean
17.How do you generate new ideas?
Ans: It all has to do with the location I’m working with and how to get the best shot out of it. Because there are usually about 15 different locations at a wedding, you need to generate ideas accordingly. For example if I’m getting images of a bride getting ready, I know a great image is going to be the mother of the bride putting the vale on, so I’ll ask her to do so. Or if I’m around a bunch of ivy, I’ll have the bride hold her bouquet to create some more contrast.
18.How do you define success?
Ans: My clients being happy with my work. It’s a great feeling when a couple loves their images, especially because it’s one of the most important days in their lives.
19.How do you build a successful customer base?
Ans: Good work, marketing and networking.
20.What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?
Ans: Honestly, being able to choose my time off.
21.What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Ans: Every time I get published on a cover. I love seeing my images on the front page.
22.What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
Ans: Being able to lead. Not everyone can do it because it can be scary and it’s hard. If everyone could, everyone would.
23.What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
Ans: I’m maniacal, yet easy to work with, so I find people that are the same and try to keep them as long as I can.
24.In one word, characterize your life as an entrepreneur.
Ans. Happy.
Company Name: Mitchell Bahr Photography
Name: Mitchell Bahr
Email ID: mitch@mitchellbahr.com
Address : 1214 Baylor St #204, Austin, TX, 78703
Phone number : +1 512-501-9679
