Ben Westcott

 

Who are you, and what do you love to do? 

I'm Ben and I like romantic walks in the park. Unfortunately, my other interests of football (no I don’t mean soccer) and raising 2 infants mean that any spare time is spent tidying, recovering or sleeping.

 

How did you get here? What experiences have led you to this point in your life?

I am a jack of all trades, I like to think it is because I was trying to be a well rounded person, but in reality it is because I hate the idea of not having a job, and it took me a while to find one that I enjoyed.

I have worked in retail, care, outdoor education, schooling, corporate training, support, hospitality, cleaning, debt collection, sales and management. I also love to travel and whilst on a year’s trip to Australia I met the infamous Chris Collins and we later became partners in our own Photo Booth hire company, South West Photo Booths (SWPB).

I joke about it making me a well-rounded person, although by accident, life lessons in my career have presented me with experience of just about anything the professional world canthrow at me. Which is why Chris saw me as a good fit when BoothBook was launched.

 

When did you start working with BoothBook, and what do you do to help push the business forward?

I have always been a part of BoothBook as it was originally created to handle SWPB but I officially started to work on the business as it’s own entity in 2017 at trade shows. I later joined in a full-time capacity, handling customer relationships in every capacity.

I prefer the title of odd job man, as I am often required as a sounding board to find any potential issues or alternative workflows for processes within the company and software. I have even been known to take out the bins. (Someone has to do it)

 

When was the first time you used a photobooth? Why did you use it? Who were you with? What was the experience like?

I grew up in the 90’s so a standard Saturday was spent in the local town and using the passport photo booths to take funny photos. The first event photo booth I used was the one I had just purchased for SWPB. I was blown away and could instantly see a ton of applications for it.

 

What is the coolest / most fun / most amazing photobooth experience you have seen? Why did you like it so much?

It is impossible to choose one.

• I loved the Breeze setup that Steve at Wilkes Booth Co had replicating a client’s UI as a brand awareness piece for an app. I loved the LAPP Venom activation.
• I loved the Dream Booth McDonalds inverted 360.
• I love the Dzen Tech styling.
• I love the unique style of fusion booth.
• I love the simplicity of the set design on the YodaBooth Skyline setup.

The list goes on and on.

Basically, everything that thinks outside the box to create something stunning... a photo booth convention is like a trip to Disney Land for me.

 

What is a particular skill that you have that you think would help small business owners improve their lives?

I have made mistakes. I have recovered from those mistakes. I have studied what lead to the mistakes to prevent them from happening again. On the flip side, I have made good decisions, I have benefitted from the good decisions and have studied them so I can use them in everything I do.

Most importantly I think that sharing what I have learned from my own experiences and what I have been taught by others, will allow the industry to better be perceived as a high value product. So, let’s talk!

 

Which BoothBook feature do you think is most likely to dramatically improve someone’s business?

I think the simple features, like automatic emails are the best features. They buy you so much time. The way you use that time and the fancier features like proposals is what will send you on that fancy holiday you’ve been dreaming of!

 

Which BoothBook feature do you think is the coolest / most fun / most impressive?

Proposals. Being able to build a one page, branded micro site that is interactive and visually stunning has made my business more than the yearly cost of our subscription in a single sale. That boggles my mind every time I think about it.

 

Why should people use BoothBook in their business?

It is a platform for growth. It allowed me to get out of the business and spend more time with my family. It also allowed us to increase profitability. So, less work and more profit. For others it has taken them from a small side hustle to a fully established full time outfit. It gives you the foundation to build whatever you want.