“No One Has Ever Achieved Anything Great Without Taking Big Risks,” Interview With The Founder Of Mosawer.net

Nowadays, people like to have every special occasion/event captured, so they could have the beautiful memories with them forever. However, it’s a big hassle to find a photographer, with high-quality pictures, and within the budget you’ve set and who is free on the day of you special occasion. Also, corporates that need photographers have to wait a long time to get a response, and having the work done through an agency is a high-cost for small enterprises.  

The real problem is that there are a big number of photographers out there, with different qualities and packages, but usually people just can’t reach or find them. That’s why Mosawer.net was founded, to provide a solution for individuals and corporates to find the photographer they want, and to give photographers the opportunity to showcase their work and be visible and easily-reached.

Here’s an interview with the founder of Mosawer.net: Mohab El Mandouh.

Q: What is Mosawer.net? How and when was the idea born?

Mosawer.net is the first commercial photography comprehensive platform in the MENA Region, helping photographers and videographers to efficiently manage their workflow through providing them with the tools and exposure they need to significantly grow their businesses, enabling them to focus on what they do best.

The idea came about last year when I wanted to hire a food photographer for a project I was working on for a client, and I couldn’t believe how hard it was to find what I was looking for! I had to spend days going through different Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, searching Google for photographers’ websites and asking friends for recommendations. Then I thought: how come there’s no platform that connects photographers and clients together? And that was the spark that started it all.

Q: What’s your goal?

We, Mosawer.net team, aim to close the gap between photographers and clients through providing both with a comprehensive platform where photographers can showcase their work, add their rates and packages, manage their schedules, accept bookings and receive payments. While clients can easily hire the right photographer through browsing by the photographers’ category, location, availability date and name, or by simply browsing through the different portfolios, while checking other clients’ reviews, communicating with, and booking and paying the photographer easily and safely.

Q: Of course it was a long journey, what are the main challenges you’ve met and how you overcame them?

At the beginning, we’ve faced many challenges, including finding a good and reliable technical team which I believe is one of the main challenges most startups face. Thankfully we were lucky enough to find the most talented, motivated and dedicated team that is delivering way above our expectations.

Also, fellow entrepreneurs have played a major role in helping us overcome a lot of challenges, and this is the beauty of entrepreneurship: there’s always someone having your back, and everyone is willing to jump in to help or support each other whenever needed.

Q: How is Mosawer.net funded?

We’re currently incubated at TIEC, which supported us in so many ways including funding and soon we’ll be raising investment to grow and expand across the MENA Region.

Q: How will you be able to convince photographers and clients/customers to use your platform?

We’ve recently launched our platform for photographers to register and upload their portfolios, and in the first 2 days of our launch we’ve got over 700 photographers signing up. This gives you an indication of how much such a service was needed in the photography community. Also, we’ve partnered with key industry leaders like Photopia, Cairo Camera Rentals and Shutter Shop to give photographers registered on Mosawer.net exclusive benefits and discounts. And we’ve partnered with Egypt’s first mobile payment app PayME as well to make it easier for photographers to accept credit card payments. Needless to say we will be marketing our photographers, giving them access to great job opportunities, connections, and exposure.

As for clients it’s all about the convenience, there is a huge problem that different clients - whether they are individuals or corporates or advertising agencies - face, which is the difficulty of finding the perfect photographer for their projects. However, with Mosawer.net, it will be a matter of minutes for clients to find and hire the photographer they need through extensive searching tools and booking and payment tools. Also, Mosawer.net will be offering great deals and discounts to the clients to make sure they’re getting the best value for their investment.

Q: Tell us more about yourself and the team behind Mosawer.net.

I’m Mohab Elmandouh Co-Founder & CEO of Mosawer.net, I’m a Marketing Communications professional with over 12 years of experience in the Marketing and Advertising fields. I have lived and worked in Cairo, Dubai, and Doha, leading on Regional and local campaigns for different brands.

My Co-Founder and Head of Creative and User Experience is Mohamed Basha, he’s a well-regarded Creative Director with over 13 years of experience in the Advertising and Digital Communications fields. Mohamed has an exceptional eye for details and knows how to grab customers’ attention, he crafts every piece of communication with the consumer in mind and he’s always keen to create an exceptional and flawless user experience.

Q: Where do you stand now? What are your future plans?

At the moment, we’re focused on building and growing our photographers and videographers’ database, and we will be opening our platform to clients with searching and booking features very soon.

Our future plans are mainly to expand across the MENA Region by the end of this year; also we will be adding new features and categories to our platform that are highly needed in the commercial photography industry.

Q: What tips and advices would you give to young and aspiring entrepreneurs?

I would encourage them to take the risk and follow their dreams; no one has ever achieved anything great without taking big risks. There are real opportunities everywhere, you just need to act upon them and grab them. Everyone knows that the road to success is not easy and full of challenges; However, I believe that success is a choice and not a coincidence. If you stay positive, work hard for your goals and really believe that you can do it, you will.