We were lucky to catch up with Thomas Smiley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Thomas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

It’s intense! My wife and I have a family business, taking family portraits at ski resorts. When business is doing well, it’s GREAT! But when it is not going well, the opposite is true. It’s a source of income to provide for the whole family. So, you need to commit and give it everything you’ve got.

This can have the adverse effect of not having as much enough quality time to spend with the family, because you’re spending all your time tied up in the family business.

In a family business, you know each other well. So, you know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. You have stability and reliability.

The hardest part is when something isn’t done well, and you have an honest discussion about why it wasn’t done well. In our family business no one is getting fired, you kind of have the job for life. So you have to solve the problem.

Another challenge is “switching off, it’s not as easy as turning your phone off when you live with your business partner. We are often working at night finishing photo orders. So, we try to set boundaries and clock off to keep the work / life balance.

My oldest daughter is 13 and she has started taking photos at a couple of races. I think the experience is invaluable. We give her the platform and direction to work from and It’s a good opportunity for her to engage and learn business skills. She is learning the value of money “It doesn’t grow on trees.”

Thomas, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was 19 years old and living in New Zealand, my country of birth when I found out about a mountain photography job in California at Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort. I could combine both my passions “skiing and photography”. So, I just went for it, it was a dream job!

After working for a few different photography companies, I decided it was time to go into business for myself, I convinced my girlfriend (now wife) it was a good idea. We setup our own photography business called Smiley’s Mountain Photo at Cardrona Ski Resort in New Zealand in 2007

In New Zealand there are so many regulations on businesses that make it difficult to operate in comparison to the United States.

After 24 winters in 12 years, moving from back and forward with our seasonal business from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere. We decided to stay in the United States and open at two ski resorts Sun Valley in Idaho, and Snowbird in Utah.

I’m most proud that we are still growing our business, even with the invention of the iPhone. Everyone has a camera in their pocket. But that does not mean everyone can get a good photo. Our business has survived over the years by offering a good service, having excellent staff, and always trying to over deliver, so customers keep coming back year after year.

We are in the business of memory making, it’s special when families can all meet up and go skiing. So, there is a market for quality enlargements that capture the moment at the top of the mountain.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

It was very difficult when we first started. During the first two weeks of business, we only sold one photo.
It took a lot of perseverance and hard work to make the business work. Building a community around you is important.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Location, Location, Location. Having our photo shop in a prominent place at both ski resorts is a huge advantage. You can’t make customers walk a mile. They want a quality product in a convenient location.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.smileysmtphoto.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smileys_mountain_photo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100052711219030

Image Credits
www.smileysmtphoto.com