Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ben Alexa. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Ben, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever had an amazing boss? What did you learn from them? Maybe you can share a story that illustrates the kind of boss they were or maybe you can share your thoughts on what you think made them an awesome person to work for?
The best boss I have ever had is easily, the one and only, Andrew Cherry. Looking back, I am so blessed to cross paths with him when I did. I had just gotten hired on to my first sales job at Sprint, and it was off to a bit of a rocky start. The hiring manager and I were not really able to connect on a communication level well enough for me to feel like I was going to be successful in my role. The ASM at the time, was great and we worked well together, but he was stretched thin helping all of my teammates as well.
Then about a week into holding my position, we got word that we were receiving a new Store Manager. As you can assume, this is when Andrew comes into the picture. From the moment he walked in, the level of “Let’s Go” energy he emitted was infectious. He worked his way up from selling phones for T-Mobile at a kiosk in a mall, to being a Store Manager for an A rated retail location for Sprint. It had earned it’s rating from being the location with the highest foot traffic in the area as well as being the only official phone repair store for Sprint in a 60 mile area. This was a huge undertaking from someone in their first Store Manager role, but he dove in head first and showed us all how to win big.
I will never forget the day I realized he believed in me more than I believed in myself. We were switching to a new compensation plan that had a lower hourly wage but a higher payout for commissioned sales or, we could stay on the current plan and make more hourly and less for our sales. With this being my first sales role, I was opting to be risk adverse and just take the higher hourly in case, well, I wasn’t really that good at the job. After speaking with him about this one night while we were closing down the store, he gave me a Phil Jackson level motivational speech about my potential and told me if I trusted him, he would help me see how great I really could be.
Fast forward to today, I am so grateful that I took his advice. I went from a somewhat clueless new hire to leading the region in multiple sales categories year after year, winning awards and prizes from internal company contests, and being promoted to a Sales Manager that oversaw Business Sales for 3 different Corporate locations. All of that would not be achievable without learning from and working side by side with one of the best leaders I have met in my life to date. All the lessons I learned at Sprint under Andrew have truly aided in me being a successful business owner. From making something out of nothing, turning a bad situation into a good opportunity, and the most important lesson of all, truly connecting with your customer.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Ben Alexa, and I am the Owner and Founder of IMG Event Rentals. We started business operations back in September of 2021 and have been enhancing events all over the State of Arizona since. We specialize in High Quality Photo Booth Rentals for Weddings, Corporate, and Private Events with multiple different booth options available to chose from. Collectively through all of our completed bookings we have built a reputation for offering a high energy, and engaging experience that enhances your rental beyond just receiving your prints or digital content.
Whether you are collecting customized prints from our Instant Print Booth for your fridge or office, taking a selfie with your custom designed Green Screen Backdrop on our Salsa iPad Booth, or recording your epic moment on our large platform 360 Video Booth, you will see why IMG is a natural industry leader and top choice for Fortune 500 Companies and Organizations. From the aesthetically pleasing set ups that always make a great impression with your guests, down to the continuous maintenance and investments in our technology to ensure each Photo Booth is equipped with all the tools to make your rental a luxurious experience.
Getting to this point has not been a walk in the park and by no means has anything been handed to us. We have fought tooth and nail for every bit of success we have achieved and put in the extra time to ensure we are the top option for our services. Where we set ourselves apart, is with our hunger to change the industry. We believe excellence should be the norm and work to ensure that no matter how long we are at your event, we make a positive impact. Whether you are working with one of our lively attendants or running our Self-Ran booth with your friends, their is no doubt what you feel in that moment is exactly what a rental should be, FUN!
We do our best to focus on what matters and what raises the level of experience you have with us. Pairing our base offerings with options like custom backdrops, custom neon signs, or even custom props is always a big hit with your guests. If you’re looking to ensure you have a copy of each print that gets taken, we have individually sleeved scrapbooks available to hold your prints and even have your friends and family leave a note above their picture!
All in all, we are proud of the way we have focused on the quality of our services and the level of energy we put into each rental. We are positive these are the best building blocks for the future as we have experienced constant growth by making sure we do the things that matter every time for every person.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
IMG was forged in the fires of opportunity during the Covid-19 shut down in 2020. Losing both of my jobs the same day, and having to rely on unemployment to get me by, I knew I had to hatch a plan as this was my best chance to pause life and get clear headed. I finally had time available to draw out a plan and focus on how to follow through with it.
I had tons of experience working events as I held positions for several companies that hosted banquets and events throughout my youth. Before it shut down momentarily for Covid, I held a position for a local Photo Booth company for a little over 2 years. I figured that was my best industry to shoot for since it was second nature to me, and was something I was very confident in. Now that everything was planned out on paper, the only task left was to get to work making money.
Not having enough funds to purchase all of the equipment that I needed, I started looking for ways to generate funds to get started. I knew getting a full or part time job wouldn’t be an option, as I needed to a lot of flexibility with my schedule to be available for any event. After growing tired of doing Instacart and Doordash and not seeing enough movement, I ended up finding an app called Task Rabbit.
Task Rabbit allowed me to offer Handyman services to local individuals in need, and set my own rate while doing so. The only thing was, I wasn’t entirely too handy at this point in time. Thus began the education so to speak. I put myself to work literally everyday taking as many jobs as possible and self educating as much as I could. In a span of just 2 years I completed over 300 jobs on the app alone, not including referrals from customers off the app. I grew from my strongest skillset being furniture assembly, to being a jack of all trades to where I was able to remodel my girlfriend’s entire Hair and Makeup Salon.
I was able to stay busy enough to start acquiring equipment to continue pursuing my plan of a Photo Booth company. And once I had my first booth, I continued to offer handyman services so I could invest 100% of my rental income back into the business. Which is why we are so confident in the quality of our equipment, we paid top dollar for all of it and did not cut any corners in the process. After just 1 year in the industry we already had 3 separate Photo Booths to offer and the infrastructure to run them all simultaneously.
Looking back, I am so blessed to have come across Task Rabbit. They afforded me the opportunity to put myself ahead if I simply put the work in. I refused to take my foot off the gas and they kept up the pace with available jobs and I have grown so much in so many different areas because of it. IMG would not be here today without being able to take advantage of their services.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
There are a few books that I have read that have contributed to the way I think and operate in my business.
One of them that was very eye opening was “The Power Of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. That book does a great job of breaking down how we form habits and why, as well as being able to use this system in your favor. For me, it was easier to kick some of my bad habits by simply finding a replacement that was more beneficial to my business production.
Another great read full of good info is “Cash Flow Quadrant” by Robert Kiyosaki. Reading this book gives you a better perspective of the where you are at in the “Quadrant” based on your income source(s) and has great data and recommendations about moving toward obtaining more financial freedom.
Also, an option for helping you enhance how you problem solve would be “Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days” by Jake Knapp. This book provides some insight from Google Ventures on how they fast track start ups to start seeing results by eliminating down time in the process of problem solving and fixing pain points in your business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rentimg.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/imgeventrentals
Image Credits
IMG Event Rentals