Home Complete List of Side Hustle Ideas Photography Booth Operator
$100-$500 per hour
Rent out photo booths at events and establishments, either operating them in person or leaving them to be self-operated by customers.
| Time to First Earnings | 1 week to 1 month | |
|---|---|---|
| Work Location | In person | |
| Startup Costs |
$1,075–$11,190
|
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| Licenses & Certifications |
RequiredNone |
OptionalBusiness license - 1 day to 6 months |
If you’ve attended a wedding, professional conference, or music festival recently, you’ve probably seen how much joy people get out of photo booths.
A photo booth business can make for a lucrative side hustle if you plan and set it up right. If you’re curious about what it takes to start one, keep reading. We’ll dig into the benefits, costs, and steps to get started.
Photo booths are no longer relegated to malls and movie theaters. While this type of photo booth still exists, there’s a huge market for the modern mobile photo booths that business owners transport from venue to venue and event to event.
In 2023, photo booth vendors generated $593.45 million in revenue. By 2032, that number is expected to reach $1.23 billion. With how much demand there is—from corporate events to weddings—you can make up for the startup costs and start turning a profit quickly enough if you find the right market.
Here’s a summary of what makes a photo booth business a great side hustle:
This is a lesser-known side hustle, and you could make some serious earnings if you strike while the iron is hot. Ultimately, this will be a better side hustle for people who live in major cities or destination sites with high demand for photo booths.
Photo booth businesses typically charge anywhere in the range of $100–$500 per hour. Most will also set a minimum rental time of 2–4 hours. So you could make anywhere from $200 to $2,000 for a single event, and that’s just to start.
This doesn’t include any add-ons you might offer customers—like custom backdrops, GIFs, and props. Simple iPad booths bring in the least money, and elaborate 360-degree photo booths earn the highest revenue.
However, you won’t get to keep all the money you make from a photo booth business. You also have to factor in your costs when calculating how much you’ve made from this business venture.
In order to start a photo booth company, you’re going to need enough startup cash to buy all the equipment for it. Here’s a breakdown of the common startup costs for photo booth owners.
| Expense | Average cost |
|---|---|
| Photo booth | $500–$8,000 |
| Camera (DSLR or iPad) | $200–$1,000 |
| Laptop or computer | $200–$1,500 |
| Photo booth software | $25–$300 per month |
| Photo printer | $100–$250 |
| Printer paper and ink | $50–$140 |
| Total | $1,075–$11,190 |
These photo booth costs aren’t set in stone. Depending on the type of photo booth you want to rent out, you might need more expensive equipment and supplies. You can also find ways to get everything you need at budget prices, though the quality might not be as good.
Beyond the costs involved in acquiring a photo booth, there are other costs to consider as well. Make sure to budget for these expenses:
It’s important to bear in mind that there are plenty of ongoing costs involved in running a photo booth business. You’ll need to continually restock printer paper and ink, pay for photo booth repairs when needed, and pay for your business website and any advertising you’re using.
Once you know more about the local market you’re serving, you’ll be able to come up with the right type of photo booth to meet the demand.
Once you’ve got a good sense of the local market and what types of photo booth rentals will be needed, it’s time to figure out what type of photo booth setup to get.
Here are the main types of photo booths you can choose from:
If you’re looking to offer a portable photo booth service, then an open photo booth is going to be your best bet since the setup is easier to break down and transport. The downside is that you still have quite a bit of equipment to carry around, and you’ll likely need to be present on-site to troubleshoot and provide technical assistance.
A closed photo booth, on the other hand, is more difficult to move around. However, it can generally be operated without your presence, and you’d have the nostalgic element on your side.
The setup that offers the highest pay rates, however, is the 360-degree photo booth. This photo booth concept might be a worthwhile investment if you want to rent your booth at wedding venues, launch parties, and other lavish affairs.
Another decision you need to make when it comes to deciding on the ideal photo booth is the type of camera to use. You can outfit your booth with these different camera types:
If you purchase a photo booth, it might come with other photo booth equipment and supplies. However, you’re most likely going to need to buy most of these items separately.
Here’s a checklist to help you keep track of what you need:
Depending on the event or venue, you might also want to bring along guest books, a red carpet, balloons, and other items to design the set.
When it comes to actually acquiring a photo booth to rent out, you have a couple of different options.
There are lots of companies that sell photo booths online, like Photobooth Supply Co. and Hootbooth Photo Booth. Pricing appears to be around the same range—around $3,000 for iPad photo booths and $8,000 for DSLR photo booths.
One benefit of buying a photo booth from photo booth manufacturers is that they often offer financing options, allowing you to start your photo booth side hustle with minimal upfront costs.
Another option is to buy a photo booth from an online marketplace like Amazon. You’ll find portable photo booths, selfie stations, 360 booths, and more for discounted prices. The main drawback is that these booths don’t come with the financing, technical support, extended warranties, or other bells and whistles you’d get when buying directly from the manufacturer.
If you’re trying to keep costs low and start your photo booth business on a budget, you might want to consider creating your own photo booth. It’ll take you longer to get set up, but you can start turning a profit more quickly due to the lower startup costs involved.
For a DIY photo booth, you’ll need the following equipment:
You’ll also need tools and clamps that allow you to assemble your portable photo booth rig.
Just keep in mind that if you make your own photo booth, it still needs to look and work as well as the ones you’d buy online. If the setup feels clunky, if the camera is outdated, and if you can’t offer the fun features that customers are looking for, you might have a hard time renting it out.
If you’re interested in starting a photo booth company, here are the steps to take.
Researching the local photo booth market will give you some good ideas for what type of phot booth business to start and how to run it. Start by researching the areas around you. Cities, suburbs, beach towns, rural areas, and big-tech meccas all have unique populations.
A wedding photo booth business might do really well in a beach town that’s a popular destination wedding site, for instance. On the other hand, a corporate photo booth might be a more prosperous investment if you live in or near a big metropolitan area.
Another thing to take into consideration is what sort of gaps there are in your market. Take a look at how many photo booth businesses there are and what types of services and features they offer. Is there something you can do differently to stand out?
Market research will also make it easier to set prices since you’ll see what customers are already willing to pay.
Photo booths can be rented out by individuals as well as venues for certain events. Here are some of the more popular places you’ll find them:
When marketing your photo booth rental, you don’t have to decide on just one type of event or venue. But it is useful to know what kinds of occasions give rise to a demand for photo booths.
Once you have a general business concept and goals figured out, create a business plan to document it all. It should include the following information:
Once you’ve laid out your plan, it’s time to formalize your business. To operate a photo booth, you’ll need to register your business, secure business licenses, and purchase liability insurance.
Photo booth names need to be clear, concise, and catchy. Here are some tips for naming your photo booth:
While you might start by renting your photo booth in Miami Beach to wedding venues, avoid picking too niche of a name. For example, “Miami Whammy Wedding Photobooths” might sound interesting, but what happens if you decide to expand to Orlando or to concert venues?
Something else to consider is how your photo booth business name will work with your branding. For starters, check to see if the website domain name is available. Ideally, your domain name should match your business name so that customers don’t get confused.
Finally, start working on designing a logo for your business. If the full name can’t fit on there easily enough, you may need to shorten it.
To figure out how much you should charge for your photo booth, start with a basic search like “how much for photo booth rental” or “rent a photo booth [with your city name].” If you know what type of photo booth business you’re going to start, make your search more specific.
For example:
You’ll find search results from sites like Thumbtack that show you what local photo booth owners charge per hour. This is the best place to start. Because there’s a growing demand for photo booths, your hourly prices need to be competitive.
They also need to be in line with the type of photo booth services you’re providing. For example, you can charge much more for a 360 photo booth than you could a simple iPad-based selfie station.
Every good brand starts with a strong visual identity. So before you start to promote your photo booth online or locally, design a logo for it. This logo will help you come up with other visuals, like the branded wrap that appears on the outside of your booth as well as your web design.
Next, start implementing the marketing plan from your business plan. Here are some things you can do to ensure that people easily find your photo booth rentals online:
It’s also a good idea to have a physical component to your promotions. Start by having shareable assets like photo booth business cards and flyers.
Making local connections will also be useful. Contact local wedding and event venues, concert halls, and so on to see if they’re looking for new suppliers. You can also find local professionals like wedding photographers or event planners looking for reliable partners.
A photo booth business might seem like a great way to make a ton of cash. However, because of the unique circumstances of this side hustle, there are some things to consider first:
If any of these questions give you hesitation, then you might want to rethink this side hustle. The good news is there are other ways to make money with photography.
