We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Todd Thomas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Todd below.
Todd, appreciate you joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
When I first started Porta Party DJs in 1996, it was just a “one man show”. If someone wanted to book a DJ and I was available, I’d do it. If I wasn’t available, I’d refer another DJ vendor. It wasn’t after very many times of doing this that I realized I was losing out on business and giving money/opportunities to my competition. I decided that I would be a “yes man”, and from there, I took on all jobs coming my way and figured out on the fly how to fill them with talent that I would hire. This started my company on a path where we have now won numerous awards, and we recently did over 80 weddings in a 2-month period. My advice: “Say yes, and then figure out to make it happen!”
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I started Porta Party DJs when I was 25. I had just been let go as the Entertainment Director at a very successful nightclub/bar on the Landing where we did nightly DJ shows with lots of skits and karaoke. It was devastating at the time, but it ended up being one of the best things to happen to me in my lifetime. After 2 weeks of being very depressed, I took out a small loan and bought some DJ/lighting equipment, came up with a business name (Porta Party DJs) and started marketing myself as a mobile DJ. I DJ’d my first wedding for a friend for $350 in 1996. Today, I charge between $2000 -$2500 for an event and have DJ’d all over the place: Jamaica, Cabo, Cancun and over 15 states.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
During Covid, ALL of the ways I made money were shut down: weddings, corporate events, private parties, bars/nightclubs and sporting events. I pivoted and got my real estate license in fear of events not coming back. Luckily, I’m on a great realty team that allows me to work at my own pace since events have come back full force and keeps me pretty busy.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
We strive to have excellent customer service. As the main contact for the business, I’m very quick to reply to any email, text or phone call. We also have a very robust online system that keeps us in constant contact with our clients. This not only keeps us on top of the planning process, but it really frees up time for me to do other things. After an event, we reach out to our clients and solicit reviews on Google/The Knot/etc, and those are great marketing pieces to share with potential clients.
Contact Info:
- Website: portapartydjs.com
- Instagram: portapartydjs
- Facebook: portapartydj
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-thomas-a62a464/
- Twitter: portapartydjs
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3I3ky9KsVFdntIxwJNV3Uw