Founded in 2004, George Street Photo & Video is a multimedia agency focused on changing the wedding photography industry. As President, Michelle Mantel works to make the founders’ vision of a company built differently from any other in the industry a reality. In this latest “Small Business Spotlight" series interview, she shares the importance of company culture, how she prioritizes her team’s responsibilities, and how she plans for the company’s rapid growth.

1. What made you decide to start/make the jump to your company today?

I was working at a corporate job and decided I wanted to move into a small business where I could have more of an impact on decisions being made. I've been able to help bring the owner's vision for growing the company to life, and have had a great time doing it.
 

2. How would you describe your company culture and mantra?

George Street is an exciting place to work. With things growing and changing so rapidly, you probably won't be doing the same thing next week that you did this week. You can really feel like you are part of changing the system for the better.

3. How do you balance the multiple hats that you are required to wear?

We schedule time each week to have a dedicated meeting between our Owners and the Directors of each department. This makes sure that no department feels left behind, and the most pressing matters are dealt with weekly, so nothing goes unnoticed for long.

4. What are the top three company priorities that you focus on?

1. A great experience for our couples

2. Creating a positive environment for our team of photographers and videographers

3. Finding and nurturing the most innovative and dedicated leaders

5. Walk us through the characteristics that you look for when hiring top talent.

• Innovative Thinker

• Excited by challenges

• Thrives in a constantly changing environment

• Passion for learning and growing

6. What are the top three KPIs for each of your teams and why?

Customer Service--Case Response Time, Case Volume per Agent, Customer Satisfaction Survey Results.  These KPI's make sure we are getting back to clients in an appropriate time, we aren't under-staffed (or about to need to hire), and that we're delivering a product the client is happy with.

Marketing--Campaign ROI (make sure we're spending the right amount in the right places), Number of Leads (make sure the advertising is getting results), Number of Leads per Campaign historically (to see if certain methods are doing better or worse and may need changing)

Sales--Close Rate (especially per consultant to see who may need more help), Average Sale (can tell which markets perform above and below average as well), Time to Close (to figure sales cycle)

Post Production--Turn Around Time (time it takes to get to the client), Revision Request % (to measure how often we get it right the first time), Cost per Edit (to see where costs may be rising)
 

7. It wasn’t that long ago that George Street was a small start up, what are the keys to your company’s successful growth?

Keeping an eye on technology has always kept us ahead of the curve.  Companies are developing new applications so quickly now that can be game changers for small businesses, and it's important to stay on top of what's available.  Honestly, Salesforce was a huge key to our growth as well.  The time and money we invested in fully automating as many processes as we could has paid off more than we could have ever hoped for.

8. What is the one piece of advice that you want to share with executives of other Small Businesses?

It was important for us to understand the value of investing in the future.  When we were making decisions like how to scale the business, we had to take financial risks and keep other spending as lean as possible to help make that happen. But, if we hadn't done that, we wouldn't be where we are now. Not even close!