When Kiwi photographer Derek Morrison realised he was spending more time at his computer than out shooting photos for clients, he knew something in his business model was missing.
"I became a photographer to be outdoors as much as possible and to meet inspiring people and explore the great places of our world," he shares. "So when I found myself tied to a computer - in a virtual desk job of sorts for half my week doing mundane business things like invoicing, tracking licenses and drinking way too much coffee, I resolved to try to automate as much of it as I could."
Derek integrated accounting software Xero to remove the financial management burden and then began designing an automated system to build, manage and track his photo licenses. That was in 2011 and at that point his photo licensing was a bulging folder in a filing cabinet filled with sheets of licenses in various states. Most expired without his knowledge, some renewed where the client had the foresight to act and some just disappeared completely. It was a mess. A few years earlier he had worked with Blair Hughson, of Core Development, and the two discussed the idea of a licensing app. They joined forces and five years later LicensePro was born.
"We wanted a platform that brought the photographer together with the client to demystify licensing and to make it an easy to use, swift and collaborative tool," offers Derek.
LicensePro completely simplifies photo licensing - it takes less than a minute to create a license, which is then tracked automatically for the client and the photographer so there are no surprises as the expiry date looms.
"We realised it not only saves a photographer a lot of time, but it means they don't miss a license renewal, ensures their clients always know a license's status and streamlines the whole process."
LicensePro is available with a free 30-day trial now.
