Digital Lens Rental - Norfolk

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The Digital Lens Rental Story

Back in 2015 there was a crazy idea brewing around in the brain. The idea was a collaboration of ideas based off the fact that the Hampton Roads area had plenty of photographers, but lacked the support of a photography equipment type of business. I knew that jumping in to a photography retail store was pretty far fetched. With MAPP pricing structure from most brands, it makes it extremely difficult for smaller photography stores to survive, much less compete with Amazon, B&H, and Adorama. It is just one of those things that is a bummer but at the end of the day, it’s more beneficial to the end-consumer. So obviously my idea branched out a little bit and I determined that this area needed a photography rental business. I had no clue what that meant or if this area could/would support such a thing. You always hear about people taking that “leap” and just making something happen so that is what I decided would be best. January 2016: And we’re off to the races! 2016 was a good learning year. It was a year trying to figure out how to make this all work. It was a series of trial and errors. A lot of the first customers were so understanding in the sense that they knew I was trying to do something on my own working a full time job. I met so many people out and about at different locations to help make it convenient for everyone. 2016 was a good run, I learned a ton and I was getting a great buzz that this thing could really work out. January 2017: FY16 was a good first year. It opened my eyes, allowed me to learn a lot, and helped me fine tune what I had in place with DLR. All I kept asking myself was, “how can I make 2017 better”. Inventory was definitely the answer but so was staffing, and a better website, and more efficient processes. Fast forward a little bit and I had my first part-time employee. I’ll be honest when I say that I have a hard time letting go of something you have built, something you know inside and out but it worked. I was happy to have help and I was happy that customers had another person to interact with regarding not only their order but also just photography in general.

So here we are at the end of 2017 with 2018 right around the corner. 2017 has been WAY better than I could have every imagined. Not only have we had a great year with orders, we have met so many amazing people, made tons of friends, grown the business ten-fold, and have been able to fine tune the business even more. We have three total employees including myself. We have a brand new location that we all absolutely love (I think that is because JJ’s and Starbucks is so close). We’re excited to see what 2018 holds for us. We’ve been hard at work looking at different aspects of the business as well as looking down different avenues to help grow the business more rapidly. Our goals for 2018 are to build the Sony and Nikon inventory to match the Canon inventory level. We also are entertaining the idea of actually rolling out the membership program which would include access to a private studio on a monthly basis. On top of that, the membership would also give monthly discounts, VIP promos, and some other fun little features. We definitely want to make it worthwhile so be on the lookout. We love the road we have been on and we look forward to all of the great people we will get to interact with in the future. Thank you for everything you all have done for us and we hope we can continue to bring you amazing equipment each and every day!