588: Leigh Woolford – From Burnout to Booming: Building a Profitable Kindy Photography Business

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Leigh Woolford runs an Australian childcare centre photography business, also known as a kindy, kindergarten, preschool or high-volume photography business, which is based in Melbourne, Australia.

We were exchanging emails about potential interview guests for the podcast when I learned that he will be presenting at a conference next year on the evolution of his own business—from burnout to building a profitable company.

That led to some back and forth before I asked him for today's interview.

In that email exchange, I mentioned that while visiting his website, it wasn't very clear which areas he was servicing with his kindy photography business.

I loved his reply! He said, “The service area is blank intentionally; we are going to be Australia-wide someday!”

In this interview, Leigh shares the ups and downs of creating and running a profitable high-volume photography business, which included almost giving up and, years later, almost going broke.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

• From Motorsports to Kindy Photography—Leigh shares his transition from motorsports to kindergarten photography, discussing the business plan, securing a loan, and taking the leap to start his business.
• Building the Business and the Early Model—Learn how Leigh established his high-volume photography business, specialising in kindergartens and preschools.
• Scaling Up Through Automation—Discover how Leigh leveraged automation to streamline operations, reduce manual work, and fuel the business's growth.
• Tackling Early Challenges and Lessons Learned—the early struggles, including manual processes and tough decisions that laid the foundation for future success.
• Automation for Efficiency and Streamlined Workflow—Leigh highlights the transition to Netlife software and explains how automation became essential for scaling and improving business efficiency.
• Growing the Team and Letting Go of Control—As the business grew, so did the team. Leigh discusses hiring and training challenges and why learning to delegate was vital to expanding.
• Behind the Scenes and Current Team Structure—A closer look at the roles within Leigh’s team, hiring challenges, and how proper training and structure are vital to the business’s success.
• Revenue Strategies and Scaling the Business—Leigh shares strategies for increasing revenue per customer, such as sibling photos and clever package names, while focusing on scaling over aggressive growth.
• Balancing Expansion with Stability: Leigh discusses the importance of focusing on scalability rather than rapid growth and the support from the photography community along the way.
• Connecting with Clients and Engagement Strategies—Leigh highlights the move to text messaging (which didn't work) for better communication and the childcare centre registration system.
• Innovative Product Ideas to Reduce Costs and Boost Sales—From new product ideas like booklets to lower postage costs to creative ways to increase sales.
• Long-Term Vision for Growth and Work-Life Balance—Leigh shares his long-term ambitions for national expansion and his focus on achieving work-life balance, with potential plans to explore sports photography on the side.
• Learning from the Community and Continuous Improvement—Emphasis