Spoiled Rotten Photography: A Premier Children’s School Photography Franchise

Discover a home-based business that’s fun to run, built to scale, and generates recurring revenue—all with no photography experience required.

Why Entrepreneurs Love This Opportunity:

Proven Revenue Model

Average franchisee revenue over $265,000; top third exceed $477,000

scalable by design

Expand to new territories or hire teams to grow without maxing out your time

Recurring Income

Serve the same schools year after year with repeat sessions and predictable cash flow,

Built for Business-Minded Owners

Perfect for entrepreneurs who want structure, support, and strong margins

Home-Based & Low Overhead

No storefront needed. Run your mobile studio from a standard SUV

Fun, Purpose-Driven Work

Create joy for families and build a business that actually feels good to run

Download the Franchise Info Guide Now: see what makes Spoiled Rotten Photography one of the smartest and most fulfilling franchise investments on the market.

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Brand

History

Spoiled Rotten Photography was started in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2003 by our founder and CEO, Melissa Tash. We have been in operation for over 20 years.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 20% of businesses that opened in 2003 are still in operation today.

Tash, a former U.S. Army Officer, worked as an industrial engineer at Teledyne, working on the International Space Station Project. In her spare time, she studied photography and enjoyed taking portraits of her kids. Word got out about the quality of her work, and her reputation grew around Huntsville. She was invited to take portraits at a preschool, which became a smashing success, artistically and financially.

Tash saw the opportunity and applied her engineering skills to create replicable processes and systems. She also used technology to improve the customer experience.

Tash opened the first Spoiled Rotten Photography studio in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2003. It is still in business today and generated over $867,000 in sales in 2024 (see FDD for more details).

Meet the

Leadership Team

Aside from CEO and Founder Melissa Tash, our team includes the following leaders:

Jamie Tash

Franchisee Support

Responsibilities: Accounting, payroll and monthly filing/reporting, royalties and materials debits, legal (FDD updates and contracts), shipping and receiving, technology oversight and troubleshooting, SEO and website updates, and email.

He also leads training for customer service, business set-up, HR, and accounting.

Jamie has a Master’s degree in Environmental Health (Health and Safety).

Elizabeth Bailey

Director of Franchise Owner Success

Elizabeth joined Spoiled Rotten Photography as our second owner. She sold her business and relocated to a new city, later joining our corporate team to help other owners replicate her success.

Responsibilities: She helps owners with customer acquisition and sales, social media, marketing, advertising campaign management, seasonal set promotional video, franchise owner support, and quality control.

Scott Wehrenberg

Software Development

Spoiled Rotten Photography intelligently uses technology to streamline our business and improve our customer experience.

Scott continues to develop and enhance our proprietary CRM software, which includes an on-line sales cart, reporting, email, and text marketing features.

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Start up

Costs

Our mobile studios are designed to fit into any SUV or small pickup, making us one of the lowest-cost franchises available.

Type of Expenditure	Amount	Method of Payment	When Due	To Whom Payment is to be made
Initial Franchise Fee¹	$39,000	Lump Sum	At time of execution of Franchise Agreement	Franchisor
Computer Accessories²	$2,000 - $4,600	Lump Sum	At time of execution of Franchise Agreement	Vendor
Software³	$120 - $500	As Incurred	At time of execution of Franchise Agreement	Vendor
Equipment⁴	$6,000 - $8,000	Lump Sum	At time of execution of Franchise Agreement	Vendor
Travel and Living Expenses while Training⁵	$2,000 - $5,400	As Incurred	During Training	Airlines, hotels, restaurants
Inventory⁶	$350 - $600	Lump Sum	Before Opening	Franchisor
Marketing and Set Materials⁷	$1,000 - $1,800	Lump Sum	Before Opening	Franchisor
Technology Fee - first 3 months⁸	$375 - $750	Lump Sum	After Opening	Franchisor
Business Licenses⁹	$50 - $500	As Incurred	Before Opening	Government
Legal and Accounting Fees10	$500 - $1,000	As Incurred	As Incurred	Attorney/Accountants
Initial Insurance¹¹	$400 - $700	As Incurred	Before Opening	Agent/Company of your choice
Additional Funds - 3 months¹²	$900 - $1,500	As Incurred	As Incurred	Gifts shops, Vendors, Utility providers
Total	$52,695 - $64,350

Sales

Results

System-wide sales have increased 80% since 2022

Our top 33% of studios averaged over $558,000 in sales.

Driven by growth in franchisees’ sales and the doubling of our size through the opening of new studios in new markets.

System-wide Sales Growth since 2022

Customer Orders have increased 81% since 2022

Our revenues didn’t increase because we raised prices. They increased because we served more customers. In this economy, you can only raise prices so much before customers push back and the business stalls. The best way to grow any business is to offer tremendous value and win more customers.

Franchisees’ businesses are growing rapidly, all while we are successfully launching new territories.

Customer Orders vs Year

Existing Franchise Sales are up 28% since 2022

Average Annual Sales vs Year

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Owner

Testimonials

Amanda Day

Colorado Springs - 2015

Will Smith

Franklin TN - 2013

Christine Mamon & Patricia Mesi

Katy TX - 2021 and 2020

Joey & Sandi Fotheringham

Katy TX - 2020

Lynn Driver

Buckhead GA 2021

Kara and Scott Kellner

Birmingham Al - 2017

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FAQs

Our franchisees will generally fall into 3 profiles:

Photohobbyists or professional photographers who want to maximize sales and results by aligning with Spoiled Rotten Photography because of our proven advertising, marketing, systems, and business approach.
Entrepreneurs who see the need and opportunity for a professional children’s portrait brand to enter this cottage industry and grab market share.
First-time business people with a passion for art or photography and an equal passion for working with children.

Spoiled Rotten Photography has training, support, and systems to help photographers maximize their opportunities and help entrepreneurs or first-time business owners establish themselves in the children’s portrait business.

Franchisees must demonstrate the following:

Shared values
Possess or have access to $50,000 to $60,000 to start a business
A credit score of at least 660 to show financial responsibility
Clean criminal record as we work with kids

We Create Beautiful Portraits

Spoiled Rotten Photography is the premier children’s photography partner, creating unforgettable experiences to capture the best preschool pictures ever!

We are not your typical ‘sit, smile, shoot, and move-on’ school photographers – we are true portrait artists respected for creating beautiful portraits. You’ll receive praise from school directors and parents who truly appreciate and admire your craft!

How? Because you’ll be trained by award-winning photographers who stay one step ahead of the trends.

We offer customers a better value than our competition. Our artistry is superior and more unique than the large, national one-size-fits-all-kids photo sessions. Our price is more affordable than that of custom portrait photographers, who often charge $150-$500 per sitting. Our average package costs $96. Because our photographers set up mobile studios at preschools, private schools, and other venues, they photograph an average of 28 children per day per photographer. By creating more volume, we can afford to offer families a greater value than a photographer setting up only one photograph at a time.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 20% of businesses that opened in 2003 are still in operation today.

Tash, a former U.S. Army Officer, worked as an industrial engineer at Teledyne, working on the International Space Station Project. In her spare time, she studied photography and enjoyed taking portraits of her kids. Word got out about the quality of her work, and her reputation grew around Huntsville. She was invited to take portraits at a preschool, which became a smashing success, artistically and financially.

Tash saw the opportunity and applied her engineering skills to create replicable processes and systems. She also used technology to improve the customer experience.

Tash opened the first Spoiled Rotten Photography studio in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2003. It is still in business today and generated over $867,000 in sales in 2024 (see FDD for more details).

Download Free Franchise Information