It is not uncommon to hear complaints from your friends who are getting married that it is hard finding a trustworthy photographer for the big day. You might never need a photographer until your wedding bells ring, but finding the right one can be like a treasure hunt, minus the fun. You may ask your friends’ for recommendations, post onto a forum and anxiously wait for a response, or scroll through countless ads.
What if there was a platform where you can easily look at the works and ratings of these photographers?
That was the one question that struck Christopher Chong, previously the co-founder of Beeconomic, which was sold to Groupon for a reported USD$24 million, and built Groupon Singapore for three years as its Director of Marketing and Communications.
The idea was transformed into AirClick, a website that allow customers to easily discover and book experienced photographers, videographers, editors and animators for any occasion with the click of a mouse.
Customers can make direct reservations and payments to a community of reviewed professionals, specifically photographers through AirClick. Just select your occasion, whether it’s a wedding or a birthday party, your intended location, view individual profiles in one place and contact the professional via the AirClick’s messaging platform. Once a reservation request is received, the professional has 48 hours to reply to the customer, otherwise the request expires.
For professionals, AirClick is a platform to monetize their creative talents and market themselves to an online audience of thousands, from anywhere in the world. Professionals will receive a mobile text notification and an email once they receive a reservation request, and can log in from their computer or mobile phone to communicate with potential customers.
So far, over 100 experienced professionals have signed up, from award-winning and certified professionals to industry veterans. One example is Joseph Tan, an 86-year-old Singaporean master photographer that has shot portraits of royalty including the King of Thailand, and is considered one of the top 10 photographers in the world.
Building Two Companies Simultaneously
Other than AirClick, Chris is currently involved with growing and building GoFresh, a recently launched online groceries site for fresh meat, seafood and vegetables.
GoFresh is a simple site that allows you to buy all your fresh meats and seafood from the comfort of your couch, with next day free delivery. You can easily browse for the latest premium meats and seafood on GoFresh and place your order for the ingredients you need. All items are carefully delivered in an ice packed, insulated box too.
“I was twenty one years old when I began building Groupon, and since then it made me realise there’s many opportunities for startups to use the internet to help make the lives of Singaporeans much easier,” says Chris.
And he is doing exactly that through GoFresh and now AirClick.