Mobile photography studio captures kids and sports: anchorage sports entrepreneur lets customer demand lead his business.

• Author: Bokor, Courtney
• Position: Celebrating Small-Business Month - Sports Section youth sports photography company

Cindy and John Hitchcock spent 15 years working in construction, but all it took was one baseball season for them to realize their professional passion.

Since 1996, John and his wife, Cindy, have owned and operated Anchorage's The Cage. The Hitchcocks had so much fun during their first season as owners of the batting facility, the minute they closed for the season in September, they began looking for other career options.

"You have such a different outlook on life when you're around kids and sports," says John. "Organized sports create a very positive atmosphere whether you're competing or just having fun. Cindy and I wanted to run a business year-round that would allow us to be a part of that and The Sports Section was a perfect fit."

The Sports Section is the first and only national franchised youth sports photography company. The Hitchcocks own the territory rights for the entire state of Alaska. With 156 franchises operating in 42 states and Canada, TSS has a substantial potential customer base of nearly 64 million youngsters in the U.S. alone.

Since starting their business, the Hitchcocks have consistently been among the top franchisees in the system. Success has not come without hard work and a lot of creativity.

"When we first started in this business, our focus was shooting 35mm film at youth picture days," says John. "Since there's only one picture day per season, there was a lot of down time. We knew from individual photo sales that parents were willing to pay for pictures of their kids, so we expanded our services to include action shots of kids playing sports."

As photography moved into the digital age, the Hitchcocks once again had to adjust their services. "Digital photography has changed the dynamics of this business immensely," John says. Unlike some youth sports photographers, the Hitchcocks have found ways to stay ahead of the game. "We always have printed on-site since the...