Turning a motorcycle blog into a photography business was a no-brainer for Elvis Escobar. He’d been a freelance photographer for a few years, and when he found himself between jobs, he saw an opportunity to take his side hustle to the next level. “I just took [my motorcycle blog], rebranded it, and added the word studios to it; it all kind of just took off from there,” Elvis Escobar explained. 1133 Studios became an official business in 2021. Fast forward to today, he’s added three full-time employees and has performed hundreds of photo shoots for high-level executives, events and conferences, and commercial businesses.
Turning a part-time passion into a thriving business
While Escobar enjoyed blogging about motorcycles, he spent his work days as an auditor. “As an auditor, people didn’t really look forward to me coming into their office,” he said. “But as a photographer, it’s not like that. People are excited to see me,” he added. Adding joy to people’s lives was part of what led him to feel confident in making the switch to operating full time. And it was one of the last missing ingredients to launching his business.
He had photography skills. He had familiarity with the corporate and commercial landscape due to his auditor experience. He had a functioning website. And he had the tools to process payments — Square Reader.
I knew that I didn’t want to do things like Zelle or Venmo. To me, it felt like, oh, you’re just some dude doing this on the side. But with Square it legitimized it. Because I could actually accept credit cards and I didn’t need anything fancy. ”
Elvis Escobar → 1133 Studios Owner
Escobar now uses over six Square products, including Square Marketing, Square Invoices, and Square Online Checkout. “That’s what made me start using Square. It was all the products they offered at a marginal cost,” he added.
Leveraging a suite of tools to build customer relationships
Beyond accepting payments, Escobar uses Square to strengthen the relationship between 1133 Studios and its clients. “[Square Marketing] definitely helps with reminding customers that we exist,” he explained. On top of regularly placing his business in front of prospective and returning customers, he’s also able to see the impact of his email sends to gauge what he could do differently. “[It shows us] out of these 500 emails that I sent out, 200-something actually opened it, 40-something clicked. It’s useful seeing who clicked on what,” he added.
Square Invoices has also helped the business build stronger relationships. According to Escobar, the tool archives invoices for extended periods of time, all the way back to the first invoice he’s ever sent. This allows him to keep track of his customers and business, making it easier to answer questions or concerns from differing periods of time. He also enjoys how easy it is to navigate the customization features. “Let’s say a company sends me 10 employees at the studio, and they want me to customize the invoice so that each person’s name is listed out. Square allows me to do that, and it’s still one line item,” Escobar explained.
Navigating growth at every level
With stronger customer relationships and tools that help him navigate multiple aspects of his business, Escobar is laser-focused on growth. Today, 1133 Studios operates out of one location with a team of three people plus Escobar. But he’s manifesting a much larger reality through his brand presence. His website is expertly designed and stocked with portfolios that expand across different types of photography. And important links like Booking, Contact, and the About section are also easy to find, making it easy to acquire customers. “I’ve had people call me and they ask for me, and they think that I’ve got a hundred employees,” he shared. To him, this is just further proof that his business is moving in the right direction. And he’s leaning into the future at full speed.
“I hope 2025 becomes so overwhelming that the team needs to grow because that kind of stress is good stress, and that kind of stress brings [in revenue],” Escobar said.
