A study has shown that six of the ten highest-rated women-owned small businesses (SMBs) across the US are wedding photographers.
The study, carried out by fintech company OnDeck, analyzed the Yelp reviews of 12,789 SMBs owned by women in 431 of the largest American cities, highlighting that wedding photography companies lead the way in customer satisfaction.
Getting a perfect 5-star Yelp rating as a wedding photographer is no mean feat considering the pressure to capture the ‘perfect moment’ (Image credit: Future)
A Tale Ahead, a Pacifica-based wedding photography business owned by couple Annie and David Zou, topped the survey with a stellar 100% five-star rating from 391 Yelp reviews.
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Speaking to OnDeck, Annie said: “As a young woman, I had to learn to lead with clarity. I reminded myself to project an image of a confident, experienced photographer so that I could earn that level of trust in my clients.”
The hard work paid off for Annie and nowadays she’s “a lot more relaxed and casual” as word-of-mouth and reviews do a lot of the heavy lifting.
Other wedding photographers securing a top ten spot in OnDeck’s survey included Virginia-based Genevieve Elaine (second) and New Jersey-based Vitalia Kotik (third).
(Image credit: Tommy Reynolds)
It wasn’t a clean sweep for wedding photography, though, as four of the top ten positions were snatched up by alternative women-owned SMBs.
Fourth place went to a florist in Austin, TX, a gym equipment installation company in Oakland, CA got seventh, a notarial practice in Belmont, CA came in eighth and a Springfield, OR wedding venue squeezed in at tenth – with all of the top ten boasting five-star ratings.
OnDeck scoured Yelp for all women-owned SMBs in 431 US cities with at least a 4-star rating from 50 reviews.
The fintech company then manually researched each SMB website to confirm that only small businesses had been included.
OnDeck didn’t define what it considers to be an SMB. However, the Small Business Administration, a US federal agency, defines them as companies with 500 employees or less.
Read our take on the best cameras for wedding photography and the best lenses for wedding photography, and my colleague Wendy’s wedding photography crash course.