Hello fellow Osper's and Pro Business Owners!

I wasn't sure where to post this particular thread, however am hoping to get some feedback and advice from those of you (if any) that have expanded your services by hiring an additional photographer or photographer(s) to your business. We started our business about 5 years ago (I've been shooting for 15-16), and have since been blessed to have our business absolutely sky rocket since day one. In fact, it has grown so much, I recently left my 6-figure salary career with a Fortune 500 company to invest 100% and run my business fulltime (which I am loving by the way!)

Here is my dilema and where I need some advice.... we are currently shooting around 30 weddings a year which is great, however we realistically are turning away anywhere from $5,000-$12,000 a month in weddings where we are already booked and have to tell the client no, where they just go to a competitor. Obviously, this pains me very much to not only turn a client away, but watch loads of money and business growth slip through my fingers! While some could say, "if your'e that busy, just raise your prices," this is not something I want to do right now because we make so much money from post event sales, but also because this does not solve my problem of walking deals that I am double booked for.

We have decided to start small, but add a photographer or two to our growing team (and are meeting with a few this week) so that we can double book weddings without having to walk them to the competition. Having this option, will also allow us to accept more weddings from all different price ranges, rather than also walking those clients who want to have their wedding shot for $1500 (our packages are around the $3K mark) While I do understand the risks involved in this and potentially training a future competitor if not careful, it is a step that must be taken to continue to grow the way we want to. For those that have done this with their business, I'm curious what some of the steps you took were, and of course how this decision has paid off (or not) for you. I recently read on Gary Fong's blog how a couple shooting 40 weddings a year with the same problem, added a team of photographers and are now able to shoot up towards 150 weddings a year..... again, I'm looking to go slowly here, but this article made my mouth water in terms of what I want out of my business.

Ok.... I'll shutup now..... I appreciate the feedback from those that have experience with this and their business, thanks!!!

(9 hours later).......

Wow, no takers on this topic, huh? Guess I'm on my own!