More Than a Comeback: How Steve Sindell Built a Stronger Photography Business

Steve Sindell, owner of TSS Photography of Richmond, receiving an award from TSS Photography President Jack Counts, Jr. during the 2026 TSS Summer Conference in Denver, Co.

Business growth is rarely a perfectly straight line. Markets change, leadership changes, longtime customers make new decisions, and sometimes circumstances outside your control can alter the trajectory of a business you have spent years building.

What matters is what you do next.

For Steve Sindell, owner of TSS Photography of Richmond, Virginia, the answer was to keep building.

After years as a TSS Photography franchise owner, Steve faced a significant shift when a group of longtime youth sports photography accounts changed direction under new leadership. Rather than allowing that decision to define his business, he stayed focused on relationships, pursued new opportunities, and continued making the case for the value of picture day.

The result was not simply recovering what had been lost. Steve added new business, won back longtime accounts, rebuilt his momentum, and ultimately earned a place in the TSS Photography President’s Club.

When a Longtime Relationship Changes

Steve had photographed a group of YMCA youth sports programs throughout the Richmond area for years. When the organization experienced a change in board leadership, the new board decided to reevaluate vendors across the organization, including photography.

It was not a reflection of Steve’s work or the quality of his photography. The organization was simply reassessing where it wanted to invest its time and resources.

The decision affected approximately 10 locations at once.

For any small business owner, losing that much recurring business in a single decision could have been devastating. Steve viewed it differently. He understood that circumstances change and that a “no” today does not necessarily mean “no” forever.

Keep Building While You Keep the Door Open

Steve did not wait around hoping the old business would return. He developed relationships with other organizations, added new leagues, and continued pursuing opportunities throughout his market.

At the same time, he did not abandon the relationships he had already built. He stayed in conversation with the YMCA organizations and continued demonstrating why picture day could provide value to their programs and families.

That distinction matters.

Persistence is not repeatedly asking the same question and hoping for a different answer. It is continuing to build credibility, staying connected, understanding what matters to the customer, and being prepared when the opportunity comes back around.

Eventually, Steve got that opportunity. He met with the organization again, delivered a strong presentation, and earned the business back.

By then, though, Steve had already been growing elsewhere.

The returning accounts did not simply restore what had been lost. They were layered on top of the new business he had developed in the meantime, creating an entirely new level of momentum.

From Rebuilding to Growing

If Steve’s final two months of 2026 follow a similar pattern to 2025, his business is on pace to finish the year with approximately19% in growth over 2025, and approximately 42% growth compared with 2024.

Those numbers tell an important story. Steve did not simply wait for circumstances to improve. He created new opportunities while continuing to pursue valuable existing relationships.

That approach ultimately helped propel him back into one of the highest levels of recognition within the TSS Photography franchise network: President’s Club.

Steve is also quick to credit the staff around him for helping make that growth possible. At a recent event for a new client, a coach specifically praised his team for taking the extra second to fix the little things — the kind of attention to detail that leaves an impression. For Steve, it was another reminder that the reputation of the business is built by everyone representing it.

What President’s Club Represents

President’s Club is more than a sales milestone at TSS Photography. It recognizes franchise owners who demonstrate strong business performance, leadership, and commitment to the communities they serve.

For a longtime owner like Steve, earning a place in President’s Club after rebuilding momentum is particularly meaningful. It represents years of experience combined with a willingness to adapt.

It also reflects one of the characteristics that often separates successful business owners from everyone else:

They keep moving.

When one source of business changes, they look for another. When a customer says no, they continue strengthening the relationship. When a strategy stops producing the same results, they adjust.

Experience does not eliminate challenges. It gives you more tools for responding to them.

The Advantage of Having a System Behind You

Steve’s story is also a reminder of why the right franchise relationship can matter.

Owning a local business still requires initiative. TSS franchise owners are responsible for developing relationships, winning accounts, delivering great service, and growing their markets. But they are not building every part of the business from scratch.

TSS franchisees operate within a network built around school, youth sports, and volume photography, with access to established systems, products, technology, training, and support. That foundation becomes particularly valuable when an owner needs to refocus, pursue a new opportunity, or think differently about growth.

A franchise system cannot make the sales presentation for you, build the local relationship for you, or guarantee that every prospect will say yes.

What it can do is give motivated owners a stronger platform from which to compete.

Steve brought the persistence, the relationships, and the willingness to keep pursuing growth. TSS provided a business model and network designed to help him put that effort to work.

A Lesson for Photographers Who Want to Build Something Bigger

Many talented photographers eventually discover that running a photography business requires a very different skill set from creating great images.

You have to sell, build relationships, retain customers, and adapt when circumstances change. Sometimes you also have to hear “no” without assuming the conversation is over forever.

Steve’s story is a strong example of what business ownership can look like over the long term. It is not about avoiding every setback. It is about building a business that is strong enough to keep moving through them.

For photographers who already understand the craft but want a more established framework for building a larger business, that can be one of the biggest advantages of joining a franchise network.

You bring the experience, drive, and local relationships.

You do not have to invent the entire business model around them.

Persistence Creates Opportunity

There is a simple lesson in Steve’s return to President’s Club:

Do not let one business decision determine the future of your business.

Keep prospecting, keep building relationships, and keep creating value. When a door that once closed begins to open again, be ready to walk through it with an even stronger business behind you.

Steve Sindell did exactly that.

Today, TSS Photography of Richmond is growing again. Longtime relationships have returned, new business has been added, and Steve has earned his way back into President’s Club.

That is more than a comeback story.

It is what sustainable business growth can look like.

Ready to Build Your Own Photography Business?

If you have photography experience and are ready to think bigger about what you could build, TSS Photography offers an established franchise model designed around schools, youth sports, and community relationships.

Bring your photography experience, your ambition, and your willingness to grow.

We’ll bring the systems, resources, and network to help you build from there.