Thursday, November 20, 2008

Fun Photo Guys Named Greenest Home-Based Business by StartupNation


Fun Photo Guys has been named as the #1 Greenest business in the 2008 StartupNation Home-Based 100 competition

Fun Photo Guys, a professional photography company, has been recognized by StartupNation as the top Greenest business in its annual Home-Based 100 competition.

The StartupNation Home-Based 100 Competition celebrates America’s most outstanding home-based businesses and the people behind them by ranking top performers among the nation’s often-unrecognized home-based businesses. Organized into 10 categories such as Most Innovative, Greenest and Boomers Back in Business, the Home-Based 100 celebrates the innovative, nimble and resourceful home-based entrepreneurs who have gone largely unrecognized. The full results of the Home-Based 100 ranking are available on StartupNation’s website at http://www.StartupNation.com/homebased100.

About the Winner (from StartupNation’s website)
Just another photographer? Not exactly. More like an evangelist. Kevin Slovick is an agent of change and earned top spot in our Top Ten Greenest for 2008.

Fun Photo Guys was founded with a partner in 2006 and sources markets and delivers eco-friendly professional photography services. But Slovick's impact goes way beyond responsible 2D memories. He has made a mission (and brand) out of helping other entrepreneurs understand how to make sustainability a normal--or better yet preferred--course of business.

Slovick uses any extra hours of the day to contribute written content to StartupNation.com (see 9 Steps To Green Your Business). He also deliberately became a Bay Area Certified Green business to ensure that Fun Photo Guys would act as a beacon to educate and inspire other businesses on how to become green. Slovick gives talks has been a green business panelist and is the Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce Green Business Committee encouraging local businesses to adopt green business practices. His efforts have helped many businesses go green locally and throughout the country.

With his family and community in mind Kevin has committed to using green technologies and renewable resources in both his business and personal life but has created a much bigger impact by inspiring so many others to become aware and act and work more sustainably. And that's why he's our winner.

SOURCE: StartupNation.com


The judges’ decision was made based on three factors:
• How well the business fit the category
• The quality and completeness of the entry, the description and the case made for it, including the passion, achievements, creativity and integrity.
• The popularity of the entry based on number votes received. The number of votes accumulated by contestants had a big influence on the opinions of the judges. Popular voting remained open up through October 31, 2008. StartupNation and a panel of judges who are each passionate about home-based business deliberated over the best of the best.

In addition to StartupNation staff, judges for this year’s Home Based 100 ranking included Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method Products, Howard Behar, former President of Starbucks North America, John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, Mel Robbins, host of Make It Happen radio show.

According to Kevin Slovick, a company co-founder, being selected as the top winner amongst businesses located throughout the country is a testament to the commitment, dedication, and hard work that has been put into being green.


About Fun Photo Guys®
Fun Photo Guys® provides professional photography services for Weddings, Engagements, Special Events. Fun Photo Guys® has portable studio equipment that can be used for on-location portraits, head shots, group shots, and prom-style photos. The company provides High-Resolution Digital Images to their clients over the Internet, and is Green Business certified by the Bay Area Green Business Program. More information is available at www.FunPhotoGuys.com/Green.htm.

About StartupNation
StartupNation (www.StartupNation.com) provides over 175,000 pages of business advice and networking for entrepreneurs and serves millions of entrepreneurs annually. StartupNation is a free service founded by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs with the intention of providing a one-stop shop for entrepreneurial success, including blogs from a host of experts, podcasts, webcasts, eBooks, award-winning step-by-step advice, and more.

About the Startupnation’s Founders – The Sloan Brothers
StartupNation co-founders and “chief startupologists,” Rich and Jeff Sloan, are two of the country’s leading small business experts and ran their business from home for eight years. The Sloan brothers speak frequently at entrepreneurial forums and act as sources for top media venues nationwide. They are authors of StartupNation: Open for Business, published by Doubleday, and provide their insight online at www.startupnation.com. The Sloan brothers are regularly quoted and featured in media such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune Small Business, Entrepreneur Magazine, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News and many others.
SOURCE: StartupNation.com


Contestant’s Case to be Considered a Winner
Our mission is to be socially and environmentally responsible in the way we source, market, and deliver professional photography services. We provide eco-friendly digital photography services that reduce the harsh chemicals introduced by film processing and printing.

As a Bay Area Certified Green Business, we use our business as a tool to help others learn how to become green. Our co-founder, Kevin Slovick is a life-long San Francisco Bay Area resident who is committed to helping businesses become greener. He has written several articles and a "Green Paper" entitled 9 Steps to Greening Your Business which was published on StartupNation.com. He gives talks, has been a green business panelist, and is the Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce Green Business Committee, encouraging local businesses to adopt green business practices. His efforts have helped many businesses locally and throughout the country go green.

Following his passion for photography, Kevin Slovick co-founded Fun Photo Guys® in 2006. Fun Photo Guys is a Certified Bay Area Green Business that focuses on professional digital photography for weddings, engagements, social events, business / family portraits and product shots. With his family and community in mind, Kevin has committed to using green technologies and renewable resources in both his business and personal life.

Fun Photo Guys® is a member of the Bay Area Green Business Program, Co-Op America, Green Chamber of Commerce, Sustainable Business Alliance, Pleasant Hill / San Ramon Chambers of Commerce, and the Tri-Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Kevin believes that we do not inherit the earth from our parents; instead, we are borrowing it from our children.

StartupNation Success Story
After publishing a green business article on startup nation, Cisco/Cbeyond saw the article and contacted Kevin to ask him to be a panelist for their panel discussion: Going Green - What Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Becoming Eco-Friendly. That same week, Kevin was also elected the Chairman of the Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce Green Business Committee.