TSS Photography Franchisees: What I’m Thankful for at Work
Talk with franchisees from TSS Photography and you’ll notice something they have in common. Curious to know what it is? Their jobs make them happy and they’re always willing to talk about it.
In fact, two TSS franchise owners — Jason Jackson and Jennifer Lambertz — are excited to share their experiences and tell you about four areas they are thankful for in their jobs.
Flexibility
The ability to optimize for certain circumstances or situations, whether in the daily schedule or a product’s pricing, is one area TSS franchise owners love about their jobs.
“The ability to set our own pricing gives us flexibility,” Jason said. “I like the fact that we choose who we offer certain packages to and how we offer those packages to them. We have the flexibility to adjust our prices and packages based on the specific market we’re pitching to and decide how much profit we will get on any job. I’m thankful for the flexibility to make those decisions in-house.”
Jennifer looks at the flexibility she has from a different perspective.
“The biggest draw for me to this job was the flexibility in my schedule,” she said. “If something comes up with my family, it gives me the opportunity to be there. I love how open my summers are and since I have two grandkids in school, I get to devote more time to them in my schedule.”
Jason looks forward to expanding his schedule’s flexibility when he retires from active duty in the military.
“I am able to pick and choose when I want to work on my TSS Photography projects around my full-time schedule since we’re not restrained to the normal nine-to-five,” he said. “When I am fully retired from the military, I will get to have more say in my work schedule and choose to spend more time with the kids around their school schedule.”
Support
As a part of the TSS Photography family, franchise owners receive support from all around them.
“It’s incredible to reach out to the other franchisees,” Jennifer said. “I run this business and since it’s a small business, it could feel like there’s no one to fall back on. The other owners help me know I’m not alone. There’s nothing like being in the field and having other franchisees who’ve been there before to rely on. These people are just like me and that’s one of the benefits I’m most thankful for.”
The support from their corporate partner is another crucial support system the franchise owners are thankful for.
“We have been very pleased with the support we receive from Candid Color Systems,” Jason said. “Anything we’ve asked for we’ve gotten a quick response and their full support. When we were asked about a template for a formal proposal, we had half a template and a dozen examples from successful proposals within a day.”
Jennifer has a similar appreciation for Candid but took it a step further.
“One of the appeals of Candid stems from the feel of a small company paired with their exceptional level of professionalism,” she said. “It’s wonderful to have a team behind you with that level of professionalism, while still focusing on the family feel of a small business.”
Choice
When you work for someone else, you don’t usually get to choose your coworkers or clients. One perk of owning a franchise is making your own decisions about who you work for and with each day.
“We haven’t told any of our clients that we won’t work with them again, but we have made the decision — going into next year — there are clients we won’t pursue working with again.”
The choice not to pursue a further relationship with some former clients is something Jennifer completely understands.
“I’ve stopped working with some clients that don’t fit with our culture and it’s been so wonderful to have the option to make those decisions,” she said.
Also, Jason mentioned his thankfulness for getting to choose the members of his team.
“We’ve been able to hire the people we want for each shoot and if after a few shoots they aren’t meshing with the rest of the team, we don’t have to fire them, we are just able to stop inviting them,” he said.
Opportunity
Within the TSS Photography framework, there is always a new opportunity to update or innovate some aspect of the business.
“In the summertime, business slows down quite a bit,” Jason said. “We have a few things here and there, but it isn’t busy like we are in the fall after school starts. We moved into a new office recently and we’re enjoying trying new backgrounds, flooring, and lighting choices in the studio. We like pushing the edge of what we can create and still print for our customers with the high-quality for which we’re known.”
One of the opportunities Jennifer is most excited about relates to being part of her community.
“I am thankful that I am able to provide jobs to the people in my community. I love that what I do allows me to really work within the community,” she said. “I was fortunate to have cool jobs when I was young, I never had to work at something I didn’t want to — like fast food service. This job gives me an opportunity to offer jobs to young budding photographers or kids looking for a first-time job, but also help people who are looking for a career move but aren’t ready to completely break from their comfort zone. It makes me feel good.”
Why Are You Thankful?
As adults, we spend a huge chunk of our lives working. How much better would life be for people if we were able to be thankful, happy, and excited about our work each day? Are you thankful for your job? If you’re not sure how to answer, maybe it’s time for you to learn more about owning a TSS Photography franchise. Don’t wait, download our virtual brochure now.