David Gardner - Ottawa, Canada Studio Owner Of The Month!

One of the best reasons to own a franchise is because you are investing in a proven system. That’s S.Y.S.T.E.M. – as in “Save Your Self Time Energy Money.” David Gardner, Home Video Studio Ottawa, Ontario found that out when he made the choice to invest in Home Video Studio. In his first year as a studio owner he garnered triple the earnings he made being in business by himself. Now, halfway through his second year, he is on track to double his first year. David is our Home Video Studio March Owner of the Month.

David, like many of our owners, spent the first part of his career in the corporate high-tech industry. As a design engineer Gardner worked with such things as lasers, fiber optics and document reading devices. Then came a blow that’s all too common these days. After twenty years in the industry he was laid off. After finding a similar position in the industry he was laid off from that too. It didn’t take long for David to realize that it was a new world out there!

“I was getting tired of the roller coaster.” says Gardner, “I was finding myself going to twelve or thirteen interviews for a job I wasn’t sure I wanted anymore.” As things often work out David saw an opportunity open up.

“I went to a friend whose hobby was video production. I wanted to make a montage for my wife’s birthday, and when I saw the equipment, the software and of course the emotional final product I got excited and wondered if a guy could make a business out of this.”

Gardner did make a business out of it, buying equipment and self-training. He began to pick up clients like dance studios, weddings and corporate promos. Still the sporadic nature of the business and the failure to get the prices he needed kept him from really moving his business ahead. Yet another roller coaster.

While browsing the web for ideas to improve his business he came across the Home

Video Studio website and recalled ads he had seen in past years in Video Maker magazine for Home Video Studio. With encouragement from his wife to get things happening with his business, he decided it was now or never and began the steps of looking into a franchise. Soon David was on board with no intentions of looking back.

“There are many things I like about Home Video Studio that I never would have thought of – or didn’t have the resources to do – on my own.” says Gardner. “The website stands out. The tracking system they provide keeps my productivity up and my panic level down. The constant training I receive is the best. My interaction with other owners allows me to get tips I would have never gotten otherwise. And just the camaraderie - it’s fantastic!”

Being in business for yourself – but not by yourself. That’s the Home Video Studio way. And it seems to be a way that suits David Gardner, Home Video Studio’s March Studio Owner of the Month.

Robert's Note: David Gardner is our Studio Owner of the Month for 2010-11. As such, David was our keynote speaker at this year's Advanced Training. See David's keynote, speech click here.

Grand Opening: Home Video Studio Corpus Christi, TX!

Alan and Kim Fon of Port Aransas, Texas celebrated the Grand Opening of their HVS Studio Store last week (March 24^th). I flew into Corpus Christi to attend their grand opening and what an opening it was! Nearly 200 people attended. It was a spectacular event! I snapped this picture at the end of the evening. Alan and Kim worked for Dell for years and then decided to start their own business. We’re glad they found Home Video Studio and I think, judging from the huge smiles on their faces, they are pretty happy as well. Want to take a virtual tour of Alan and Kim's HVS Studio Store? Click here.

Let’s discuss your new studio. It could be in your home or in a strip mall like Alan and Kim’s. Call me today: 866-714-1956. Let’s chat.

May the Force be with you!

Studio Owners Joel & Jennifer Miller Find Their Piece of the American Dream!

The American Dream: Wealth, Health, Opportunity, Choice and Control; one thing that we all dream of is the freedom to march to our own drummer and to have some control in our lives. Joel and Jennifer Miller of Aberdeen, New Jersey, our March Studio Owners of the Month, believe in that dream. They took action to make that dream happen for themselves and now they march to the beat of their own drum.

Joel Miller graduated from film school in 1985.He became a film editor for a production company in Manhattan that produced, among other things, films of the Olympics. Gradually Joel moved into the corporate life and became a sales executive for fine art photography. Jennifer ran the office of a large corporation. They settled down in suburban New Jersey.

“It was a great lifestyle,” says Joel, “but it still wasn’t what we wanted. I enjoyed working in New York on cool projects and making pretty good money – but we wanted to work for ourselves. Plus, I was spending up to four hours a day just commuting!” Not exactly conducive to the quality family time that Joel and Jennifer treasure with their two children. So they began looking for opportunities.

They found an opportunity at a franchise expo in the Meadowlands in New Jersey when they came across Home Video Studio. “It was what I was looking for,” says Joel. It was a package, a system where I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel to get started.” On October 1, 2010 Joel and Jennifer opened their franchise in Watertown, NJ and have been steadily building their business ever since. As a matter of fact in February they were in the top five sales three out of four weeks!

With Jennifer’s obvious administration skills and work ethic, combined with Joel’s video chops and salesmanship the Miller’s future as entrepreneurs looks bright. “We believe we can really grow a great profitable business,” says Joel. Their next goal is to have a storefront studio.

Do Joel and Jennifer feel they are on the path of the American Dream? “Every sale made, every project successfully completed is a small victory for us – and it’s OUR victory. That’s the best thing.”

Congratulations to Joel and Jennifer Miller, March’s HVS Studio Owners of the Month.

What about YOU? Cutting the “Golden Handcuffs” of corporate life is not always easy but why do you march to the beat of someone else’s dream? Why do you continue to take work home on the weekends? In fact, are the weekends the only time you have to see your kids or to spend quality time with your spouse? What about time for odd jobs around the house, hobbies, sports, a round of golf? Home Video Studio can be the solution to your situation and the answer to your dreams. Contact us today and we’ll find a way to to give you a shot at your American Dream.

Call 866-714-1956. Let’s chat!

May the Force be with you!

"The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own!"

"The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own."

This wisdom provides a great outlook and, according to Pete Gallo, a necessary way to live if you’re in business for yourself. Perhaps this is why Pete, a former Studio Owner of the Year, is Home Video Studio’s January Studio Owner of the Month.

“There are many things I like as a business owner,” says Pete, who operates his studio in Hasbrouck Heights NJ, “but the most satisfying is the feeling of self determination and empowerment. When things are up I take pride. Conversely, when things are a little down I take responsibility and action to get them right.”

Gallo, who started his career as an Electrical Engineer, found himself in a precarious position a little over six years ago when he was laid off from his corporate job. Video was a hobby of his and this unexpected circumstance helped him decide it was time to turn it into a profession.

“I knew I wanted to do video for a living, but I had natural concerns about starting from scratch and going it alone,” says Pete. Ironically (or not) he became aware of Home Video Studio and found it was a fit. “It seemed like the perfect foundation because I would be involved with people who had been there before.”

Quick to act Pete attended a Show-N-Tell Saturday Discovery Day, liked what he saw and heard, and became a studio owner. Now Pete has four employees involved with him on a part time basis and many happy clients. Whether it’s Video Transfers, Film Transfer, Video Shooting and Production or any of the other Home Video Studio profit centers he enjoys the diversity and mix of services he offers. His expertise is also on display as a recipient of several Hanley Awards including Best Short Video and Best CD/DVD Label and Imprint.

One award of note that adorns Pete’s studio is the Relationship Mindset Award. The logical and technical world of software and machinery comes easy for Pete, but he is quick to say that a genuine desire to help people is what makes him successful.

Taking control, assuming responsibility and running to serve. Three ingredients that keep Pete Gallo at the top among his peers and make us proud to call him January Studio Owner of the Month.