Gold Coast business: Latest holiday accessory is a professional photographer
FORGET selfies. The latest holiday craze is having professional photographer snap your travel adventures.
Business
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FORGET selfies. The latest holiday craze is having a professional photographer snap your travel adventures.
One Gold Coast start-up business has tapped into the trend and has upped the ante for uploading all your holiday snaps on social media.
Travelshoot is Australia’s first destination photography service, connecting travellers with photographers around the world to capture once-in-a-lifetime moments.
The business, run by siblings Sarah Pearce and Tim Jones, successfully launched when Ms Pearce won the ‘My Shark Tank Australia’ competition in 2015.
Shark Tank’s Steve Baxter teamed up with QUT Creative Enterprise Australia (CEA) to invest in the travel sector, together funnelling half a million dollars into Travelshoot.
The business, which connects travellers with qualified local photographers, has tripled its network of destinations in the past year and plans to continue expanding.
“My hubby and I travelled to New York (in 2012) and spent an hour with a friend, who was a local photographer,” Ms Pearce said.
“He asked if we would be in some pics ... they were a great memento.
“They were anti-cheesy touristy shots.”
Ms Pearce came up with the business idea soon after to help couples and families obtain high quality photos of their holiday or travel experience without stripping the holiday budget.
Mr Baxter, who is based in Brisbane, said he hoped to see Sarah and Tim build Travelshoot into a global tourism success story with partnerships across the global tourism industry, operating successful shoots on all continents and adding future products where possible.
“I have a team working underneath me that have significant experience across strategy, operations, finance and other areas and I see our team being able to help Tim and Sarah to help overcome the inevitable hurdles involved in their start-up journey,” he said.
“We also have a portfolio of over 20 technology and consumer investments, within each of those companies there are other founders that are always happy to assist fellow founders to help on the journey.”
Ms Pearce said identifying and attracting the right investors was crucial.
“We didn’t use a scattergun approach — we looked for investors who would not just invest in us financially, but were also prepared to add strategic value and mentor us through potential key business challenges,” she said.
“Our technology, along with our customised and tailored approach to acquiring customers through strategic travel partner really solidified the investment.”
Mr Baxter said in the early stages, it was often about backing the founding team.
“The brother-sister duo seem to be a great combination. Both Sarah and Tim have different skill sets that complement each other and together they form a formidable force,” he said.
“ Travelshoot has also developed a unique product offering and can already name large channel partners such as Flight Centre and HelloWorld as their customers, thus allowing direct access for their product to a significant customer base from the early stages.
“It is enviable to see that Sarah and Tim have built the business to this point through their own personal funding, showing their adaptability and hustle to make things work even on tight budgets. This is essential in the start-up world.”
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