Point, shoot and click

Rick Spence, Financial Post

Is it possible to turn a home-based "virtual company" into a national enterprise, without leaving home?

Toronto-based businessman Michael Marmur is working on it. And just to make the rest of us feel like pikers, he is doing it in a business that began as a hobby.

Marmur paid his way through business school as a wedding photographer in Montreal. He later made his name in executive recruiting, primarily for technology jobs, in Montreal and Toronto. Five years ago, nearing 50 and tiring of the search business, he picked up a camera again.

Before he knew it, Marmur was spending weekends shooting weddings and bar mitzvahs, and turning business away. So he started looking for quality local photographers to whom he could farmout the extra work.

Then it hit him. He had built his business through referrals and by putting his portfolio online. He saves time not having to meet with clients before the Big Day. "Meetings aren't built into the pricing model," he says.

Once he had eliminated meetings, Marmur realized it would be easy to hire a flotilla of photographers -- not just in Toronto, and not just for weddings. So began Special Event Photography, a virtual company that specializes in corporate events, from awards banquets to directors' meetings, across Canada.

Marmur now works with seven photographers in Toronto, two in Montreal, one in Ottawa and one in Regina. He's following up leads in Calgary, and looking to get started in Vancouver next. On the agenda within two years: Quebec, Halifax, Edmonton and Winnipeg. He has purchased the URLs -- Toronto Event Photography. com, Edmonton Event Photography.ca, etc., giving him a national presence for a pittance.

Marmur's client list includes: TD Bank, Bell Canada, and California- based Ingram Micro. "I want this to be known as Canada's event-photography company," he says. "A customer got it right when he said, 'you're like the Dell of event photography.'"

Here is how Marmur is doing much the same thing as Dell, but on a more focused scale:

By using selected photographers across the country, he doesn't need to hire employees, buy equipment or lease studio space.

While he won't hesitate to book a wedding in Wetaskiwin or Windsor, Marmur is mainly focused on building out the corporate side of the business. The advantage: Many business events are booked centrally by head offices that prefer to deal with few suppliers when possible.

Photographers sign on because Marmur can fill the blank spots on their schedules -- especially on weekdays and in winter, when there are less weddings.

Marmur sees his main job as marketing -- promoting the Special Events brand across Canada through corporate events directories, event co-ordinators and business associations. "My photographers are good at what they do, but they're not good at marketing. I'm looking at places to promote that most photographers don't even know exist," he says.

He's contracted out each step of his business: After the photographer takes the photos, the digital files are sent to a subcontractor in New Brunswick, who fixes the lighting and colour balance in each shot. A CD containing each high-resolution image is mailed to the client, while the shots are also uploaded to a U.S.- based online photo-sharing tool, Moment Share.com, so that all guests can review the pictures and order reprints if they wish.

Marmur has just hired his first customer representative, to deal with client questions and followups. "I am not interested in the business being me," he says. In keeping with the virtual company theme, the rep will work from her home in Collingwood, Ont.

Most important, Marmur is now working on establishing the knowledge base that will be required to delegate all customer inquiries in future. He is compiling a database of questions to ask when invited to quote on a job, and a bible on how to handle complaints. "The process is painful," he says, "but if I want to grow the business I have to do it."

Although it looks simple, Marmur says he's not worried about other entrepreneurs copying his business model. "It's a details business," he says. "My knowledge of technology, business processes and customer satisfaction gives me an advantage."

If Marmur succeeds in creating a nationwide business, he knows he may need a bricks-and-mortar office one day. But he's not looking forward to it. "I'm not interested in being a manager of people," he says. "I want to manage the process."

Theoretically, creating a systems- driven photography business should allow Marmur to sell it one day, and for a better price than most photography studios fetch, since their fortunes usually depend on a specific artist. "It will be saleable," he agrees, "But that's not the plan. For now, I'm having too much fun."

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- Rick Spence is a writer, consultant and speaker specializing in entrepreneurship. You can follow his blog, Canadian Entrepreneur, at http://canentrepreneur.blogspot.com

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