After a career in the automotive industry, Gary Noll was ready for change. He received an opportunity from an old classmate to open a 360 Tour Designs™ franchise. Founded in 2009 and franchised a decade later, 360 Tour Designs began as a real estate photography company to help agents sell their residential listings faster. By Kelsi Trinidad
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A FRANCHISEE
After a career in the automotive industry, Gary Noll was ready for change. He received an opportunity from an old classmate to open a 360 Tour Designs™ franchise. Founded in 2009 and franchised a decade later, 360 Tour Designs began as a real estate photography company to help agents sell their residential listings faster.
Though he had no experience in the industry, Noll felt confident in the franchise model, which promised he’d learn the skills through training. In 2019, Gary and his wife, Dee, opened 360 Tour Designs of Mason Dixon in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Gary handles the on-site camera work, while Dee tends to the backend business work. The duo have found that they make a great team and have created a flexible business that fits what their family needs.
“There’s something different every day – meeting new people every day and never really knowing what your day’s gonna look like,” said Gary. “It’s kind of exciting.”
A typical day for the Nolls consists of photo shoots, scheduling, community networking and shuttling the kids to their activities.
Here’s a glimpse into the life of a 360 Tour Designs franchisee team:
6:30 a.m. Gary starts his day by reviewing his schedule over a cup of coffee.
8:30 a.m. Dee hits the ground running, checking emails and voicemails, and begins to schedule future appointments.
9 a.m. Gary heads out for his first job of the day. He can have up to six locations to shoot on busy days, with multiple services per location.
10 a.m. Dee uploads the previous day’s edited files to the client portal. Typical services are turned around in
24 hours, if possible.
1 p.m. Gary pops into a few local brokerage offices to visit his clients and to gain new ones.
2 p.m. Dee fields calls from people inquiring about services and tends to reports and invoices. She also runs their youngest daughter to her activities.
4 p.m. Gary heads home and downloads his work. He edits some of the files, while the rest are sent to an outside editing company.
7 p.m. Gary and Dee wind down their workday and focus on family time.
Kelsi Trinidad