 Already you are still hanging out with us on our Thursday Vibes right now on the Y254 channel. The hashtag is Y in the morning and the segment is Sport on Tech and you can find us on socials. That's on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is at Y254. Mine is at Brian Circle 101. On our Sport Tech segment today we are talking about the world of integrating technology and photography. We have live videography as well and hanging out with us in the studio today is Elkhana Shivonji. Shivonji, the CEO of Pro Scrafts app. It's an app that actually I love the fact that you know he calls it an Uber for photographers. So he's here with us in the studio to actually explain to us and how did he actually come up with that app, what exactly is the app all about and much more. First of all, good morning. Good morning. How are you? Good. Thank you so much. Pleasure. Introduce yourself and tell us what you do, what you're all about. So my name is Elkhana Shivonji, I am a software developer. I have also been a photographer for the longest time, the past over six years now. Yes, so that's basically who I am. And you are the creator, are you the developer or the creator? Do you say you're the creator for Pro Scrafts app? Yes, that would be a fitting name. Right. And what is this Pro Scrafts app, what is it all about and what exactly does it do in terms of photography as well. And I love the fact that it's an app, but it's now integrated with photography and videography as well. So we are calling it the Uber for photographers. Okay. An interesting name. Yes. The way, the same way you're able to order for a taxi is the same way now you can order or hire a photographer. So we came up with the app, like I mentioned, my background is in, I've been a photographer for the longest time. So during this time, I experienced some challenges and even you yourself, I'm sure, and anyone who's watching, anytime you want to hire a photographer or a videographer, there's usually a very long back and forth process that you go through before you get all the details that you want. So first of all, you'll have to DM someone or send them a WhatsApp message, then wait for feedback, then after that, the next question will be, what are your prizes? You wait for feedback, then the next process will be where can I view your portfolio? Wait for feedback. So it takes a very long time and a lot of back and forth for you to actually get all the details that you want. Now what if you could get all these details in one place and take that entire process which would actually take you like a day to finish and do it in three minutes? That's what proscript is. So it enables you to take this entire complicated process. You having to go and confirm something else which is quite important to clients is when you're booking someone, especially on social media, you really don't know if there's someone you can trust. So how do we enable clients to have the best talent and people they can actually trust? So one of our key words in proscript is pre-veted. Pre-veted, yes. I saw it and I was really wondering, what is it all about? Pre-veted talent. Yes. So pre-veted basically means all the photographers and videographers on our platform, we have done a process. What you would necessarily need to do, we have done it for you. We check their portfolio for you. We confirm their professionals, we confirm the equipment they use, we interview them. So anyone who you hire through the proscripts app, you are sure that they are reliable and they will deliver good work. Excellent. And you're calling it over for photographers. Does it also include videographers as well? Because you know somebody would say, this is just for photographers. But like you mentioned, photography also includes videography as well. And I love the fact that it's also integrating IT in itself. So is it an all-inclusive app made specifically for photographers? Yes, so it's an all-inclusive. So for now, it's an app for hiring photographers and videographers. And you can also order prints. Like if you want a picture printed, a wall mount, that kind of thing. But eventually, the big plan is for it to integrate all creatives. So from editors, to animators, to makeup artists, to different creative fields. Because our goal really is to be able to give more opportunities to creatives. And also enable them to manage their business in a more effective and easy way. Right. Yes. And I love the fact that you're talking about effectiveness and management. So what exactly was your vision when you decided that, you know, we need a community of photographers who are at a certain specific place so that when I want to access one, I just have to log into the app. And first of all, is the app even available for anyone who is watching maybe to download it so that they can access their favorite photographer as well? Yes. So if you're on Android, you can download the app on Play Store. If you're on iOS, you can use it on our website, which is www.proscrafts.com. So you can decide if you want to book on the web or you want to download the app, whichever you see fit. So when you go to the website, you'll just see a button, Book Now. And then when you click on that, it just takes you to the app. And then you can book a photographer. Back to your question of why the process of photography. Why the vision? Your heart? Why the vision? Like Mac that, you know, up. So I have faced, like personally, yeah, being a photographer for a while. Some of the challenges that I faced is, for example, there is no single place that a creative in general can manage their entire business in one place. So you'd find you have to use WhatsApp to communicate with clients. Then you have to go look for another technology to manage the business. Then you have to go look for another technology to deliver work to clients. You have to go look for another technology to try and check out which site is good for doing your shoot if you want an outdoor shoot. So there are a lot of places. It's quite a complicated process before you actually do a shoot. You have to check through a couple of things. So what we are trying to do in the long run is consolidate all these things in one place. Now here I'm speaking for the photographer and the videographer and the creatives who will come later on into the app. So you will be able to manage everything in one place. In one place, yeah. You'll be able to communicate with all your clients in one place. You'll be able to deliver proof of work in one place. Your clients will be able to download your work all in one place. So we're trying to make it easy for you to manage your business. And the other thing also is payments. So in this industry it's a challenge and this is a challenge which is actually on both sides on clients and photographers. So some clients will not pay on time. And some creatives, you'll pay them on time but they won't deliver on time. So prospects will come in between so that you as the client, when you're booking for a job, you make a payment, right? So you make a payment first. So yeah. So it's not like Oba where you pay after the delivery of service, the destination, etc. So currently, we have not integrated the payment part but what we will do later on, because there are services that you, especially in the creative industry, when you want to book someone's time, you have to make a deposit. So that someone can close in their schedule to book you in. So you as the client will be making the payment. Once you make the payment. It's pay first and then you book the service. You sort of book as you pay. You book as you pay, yeah. But currently you don't have to pay. Currently you can just book and you deal with the photographer directly. But later on, the other thing we will try to solve is, once you pay, the money will be held by pros and cons. So we will only release the money to the other side, to the photographer, once the job has been delivered. Once the service is delivered. Yes, and in case there's any problem in between, then we come in to solve that problem. We actually help to ensure that you can trust the service so that you don't have to worry about all these things in the backend. Wow, fantastic. I love that you know, you're speaking of trust. And on that also, how do you identify this community of photographers and videographers who will actually, you know, the selection criteria? How do you like put them at a community? Do you like share the link to the app for them to actually, you know, log into the app or log into the website and get to understand about pros and cons and everything. And if yes, what are some of the terms and conditions of even, you know, being a part of pros and cons and whatnot that it entails to actually be a part of that community as well? Yeah, so as a photographer, to be part of pros and cons, because one of the most important things that we are trying to solve for the clients is the trust part. Yeah, so we, you first apply. So you go to our website, www.proscrafts.com. At the top, there is a button for join as a photographer or videographer. When you click on that, now it takes you to the landing page of the photographers. Right. So there you can view some of our terms and conditions, which are basically just simple things. So the most important is, of course, you have to be a professional and you have to be using professional equipment. All right. Yes, because now these are things. Is there like maybe a package where, for example, this is before you are vetted because you also spoke of pre-vetted. Before you are vetted to actually be a part of pros and cons. Maybe it's that package that you need to bring on the table. For example, you're speaking of cameras. You need to have some certain type of lenses, tripod, et cetera. No. So what we do is from your portfolio, me as a photographer, being a photographer, it's very easy for me to tell. From your portfolio, if let's say you're a photographer and you present me with a portfolio right now, I can very quickly and very easily determine if you use professional equipment or not, just from how the pictures look. So for me to actually go through someone's portfolio and check all these things, and ask for all of us to check all these things. It's quite easy. So you don't really necessarily have to bring your camera for us to see or your equipment for us to see. But from your portfolio, I can actually tell, this is someone who has done this for long enough and they know what they're doing. He's a professional. Yes, exactly. In the avenue as well. Yes. Is there maybe a limitation or not maybe just a limitation? You mentioned you literally just take a look at the portfolio and you're able to judge if this photographer is professional as well. Maybe for somebody who wants to join and maybe they're thinking, oh, maybe if I join that up, they're not paying me on time or if I join it, they're going to deduct me and the payment I'll get is not like the one I'll get directly from the client. It's there like an advantage of being part of that, you know, pro-send craft community. So yes, there is an advantage. One of them being, like I mentioned, we are trying to help you manage your business more effectively. So instead of having to deal with different technologies to manage clients, now you'll be able to do it and manage your bookings in one place. The other being, you'll also be discovered by new clients who come to the app to look for photographers, which really doesn't hurt because as photographers and as creatives, we're always looking out for the next job, right? So when you join the platform, you can be discovered with new clients who are not basically, who are not necessarily in your client base. These are new people who are looking for... So clients are still also in the app. I'm a... Clients now... There's a button for clients. It's an app that you share with clients and then they're able to choose photographers or photographers choose clients in the app. So now the app is two-sided. So there is the backend, which is now for the photographers. Now me as a photographer, when I go, I have my own portal. I can. Oh, there's your own portal. Details and everything. Yes, you have a profile like... Let me give an example of Instagram. So you have your own profile, like Instagram, right? Oh, wow. Where you upload your portfolio, you upload your packages, everything, all that. Then now the client's app is from the other side. So when the client comes into the app, they see your portfolio and your prices and your packages like you would go to someone's profile and check out what they do. Read their bio, everything. So yeah, the other thing we're trying to do is, you as the client, as the photographer, we are asking you to put everything in one place. So me as the client, the moment I am on your profile, I can see all the packages that you offer. So let's say for example, you shoot weddings. I can see all your wedding prices. So I can see your first package is, let's say 100,000. The second one is maybe 200,000. The other one is... So I select the exact package I want. I just add it to cut and I check out. So I don't have to reach out to you to give me any more details because everything is in one place. But of course, in case there is any communication or any queries you have about all these things, definitely you can contact the person and get all this detail. But what we're trying to do is, we are trying to make the process extremely easy and seamless so that we take a process that you actually do in best case scenario, two hours and bring it down to less than three minutes. So how quick and how fast can a client access a photographer as well if they are already logged in. You said for a client or anybody who is watching, if they want to actually get into that app, what should they do? Yeah. So you just go to www.proscrafts.com. On the website, you'll just see a button book now. Okay. So if you're on iOS or Android, when you click on the book now, you'll be able to use the app on the web to book photographers from there. But if you're on Android and you want to download the app as well, you can find it on Play Store. And even on the website, there's a button there for download for Android. You can just click it and you'll be able to download the app. All right. How fast is it? For example, somebody is in Akuro, but let's come back to Nairobi because they're in Kanairo. Somebody wants a photographer within this region. Right now, how fast and efficient is it for them to get? How long will it take them to find a photographer? I would say less than three minutes because I usually, what I've learnt being a creative for a while is most people, by the time they are deciding to look for a photographer, they know what they want. They know I want to, for example, I want to do a birthday shoot. Right. Or I am looking for a wedding photographer. So on the app, we made that very specific so that you don't come to the app. For example, let's say on social media. If you go on social media, it's actually very difficult for you and extremely time consuming for you to get a specific photographer you want because there's literally no way you can just say, show me only wedding photographers or I'm only looking for birthday photographers. So we've made that exactly. So we've created that extremely carefully in the app. So you actually select the exact thing you want. So let's say you want to book a photographer for a wedding or an event or a videographer for that matter. So you just select for example, you select photography, then on the next page you select I want a photographer for wedding and in Nairobi. And immediately you see everyone who offers that service and is in Nairobi. So now it's your preference depending on if you like this guy's portfolio, if you like this guy's prizes, now it's you to choose. But the process is extremely fast. Right. Are there charges maybe that a professional photographer wants to be in the app to benefit that, before you enroll, this is what you, apart from the portfolio you mentioned, is there maybe like charges? I mean it's an open and free app you just join and then we'll deduct from the pay you will get after you get the service or you get a client. Okay. So we are not charging the photographers or videographers to join the app. We're not charging anything. It's absolutely free to join. Okay. But we do take a percentage from when you get jobs on the app which is basically how every app operates out here. Most of it. It's similar to Uber, Bolt and the rest including Taxify. Yeah. If we compare it to the Taxi world, then yes, but the only difference is we don't take crazy percentages like 25 or 30%. Mm-hmm. Yeah. We take reasonable, because I have been a photographer myself. I have been a creative for a very long time. So you know the pain of the hustle and the bustle. Yes, I know the pain of the hustle. Right. And it wouldn't make sense for me to tell someone to give me 10% when they get a job worth 100,000. All right. Or to tell them to give me 10% when they get a job worth 10,000. But if I tell them to give me 4% or 5% from getting a 10,000 job on the app, then I think it's actually reasonable because that's around 400, 500 shillings. Right. Yes. Do you think by coming up with this app you are actually meeting a very specific niche especially in the photograph and videography world. And I love the fact that in this day and age it's all about the photos, the graphics. There should be colorful, bold and attractive. Do you feel like even in the government as well you are actually satisfying a niche that for a very long time there's been nobody who has been actually trying to actually cover and you know, feeling that gap. Do you feel like you're reaching out to that sport exactly? Yes. So like you mentioned, we are very niche and we are starting with photographers and videographers but our target is creatives specifically. And when I'm talking about creatives in this sense I'm talking about photographers, photographers, animators. You mentioned TikTok as YouTubers as well. So even people on YouTube? Not necessarily. So here we are looking, let me call them creators but in the sense of photographers, videographers, makeup artists, like the on-demand services. Right. You see, for example, you'd want a makeup artist for a wedding. You'd want a photographer for a wedding. You'd want an animator once, me as a photographer I usually want editors. Right. Even graphic designers. Exactly. So in the long run we will try to incorporate all these people because like again, our entire goal is to give more opportunities to creatives. So we want to enable you to book service, clients to book your services much faster and easier and we want to enable you as a photographer and videographer to manage your business more effectively. So everything in one place, from delivery of work to communication with clients to payments, everything happens in one place. This actually enables you to be more productive. So you don't have to worry. You focus on what you love best, which is shooting. As we take care of everything else in the backend. So the niche part, yes, we are very niche and like we've seen, the creative industry, photography, videography, makeup artists, that industry is growing very rapidly. Right. And as it's growing, it's creating this gap here where getting these services and discovering professional talent has actually become more time consuming. So what we are trying to do is as the industry grows, we are trying to make it easy for you as the client to now discover professional talent much, much easier. Because I'm very sure, let's say for example, you have a wedding. You wouldn't want to hire someone to shoot your wedding and then later on they deliver photos which you did not expect. You want someone, because this is a moment, right? It will never happen again. You want someone professional. You want someone who's going to do the best job. So we are coming in to enable you to discover these people extremely easy. That's why PreVetted is actually in our slogan. So all the service providers on our platform are PreVetted. So you don't have to worry about if you book anyone on the platform, we can assure you. You are assured of excellence. Yes, you are assured of excellence when you book anyone on the platform because we've done everything for you in the backend. So you don't have to worry about are they professionals? Will they arrive on time? Will they do a good job? We've done all that for you in the backend. So for you, you just book anyone and you sort it. Right. How long has been the app in place? Yeah, so the app now has been live for three months. So business like you launched just made this year? Yes. Right. Previously, you mentioned you are a photographer as well. Maybe would you say the challenges that you faced before you thought of that niche or that gap, the one that drove you to actually come up with this app? Amma, you just wanted to unite photographers and videographers to give them a space where they can feel like it's home and they can easily access services or clients as well. Yeah, so I have a background in software engineering. Right. And I was also a photographer. So yes, I wanted to solve some of the challenges I was facing personally. And then by God's grace, everything was, I knew the software engineering part and I knew the photography part. So it was extremely, I would say not as challenging for me to discover the main pain points to know, okay, as a photographer, I face this, I face this, I face this and the people I know and my friends face these similar problems. So how can I try to solve these problems for myself, for them and also for some of the clients that I have actually dealt with and have mentioned to me? Because when you deal with clients, they actually mention to you frustrations that they have actually gone through with either other people or when they were trying to get your services. So over time, I've had almost the similar types of frustrations and I was like, you know, these are actually very simple things to solve just through technology. So now what we are trying to do is we are trying to take technology and infuse it with the photography part and now we are trying to bring them together and solve these problems and make it extremely easy for you to discover a privated professional photographer. Right. Speaking of that, the management of this app, you, in your description, you are the CEO and founder. Is it a self, would you say it's a self employment for you, Amma? You had a team of guys that you know, you put your minds together, ideas together and then you decided to come up with this masterpiece and if yes, is it like, do you have like an office where you've hired people that you're working with, Amma? It's a solo project like me and God. So yeah, so there is, we have an office and so currently, oh, I think I can take this opportunity. Anyone who's watching and they love the app and they feel like they'd want to be an investor, definitely, go to our website, www.proscrafts.com. Our email is at the bottom. You can reach out, we can talk. So we are at that stage of, because you know with technology apps and especially with startups, we're always looking for investors to grow our idea and our dream. And like I mentioned, it's only been life of three months. So we are new on the block, we're the new kids on the block. Right. Are there competitors? Currently in this. Like you've identified that have maybe such a similar thing, because you know technology keeps on evolving and there's always like a new thing on the market, a new trend, a new design, a new discovery, ETC. Are there like your competitors? You say this one, I'm following them closely. Maybe in Africa as well, not just Kenya or even abroad overseas as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are a couple of competitors in the market. In Kenya per se, there is really no one who is as niche as what we're trying to do, but there are e-commerce sites where you can book different services. So you can, if you want to order food or you want to buy an outfit or you want to order a service, there are e-commerce sites where you can get everything in one place. But you see, if you want to book a photographer or a creative from there, then it comes back to the same problem of, it still is going to take you a lot of time to try and discover this person. Right. So us, the reason why we are very niche is we are trying to take all these problems that you face and solve them in one way. In one way. So we really don't want to tell you to come to our app when you're looking to buy an outfit. No, no, no. We don't want you to come to our app when you want to order food. No, we want you to come to our app specifically when you want to hire a professional photographer, a professional videographer or the other creative services. So when you come to our app, you are sure that for the reason that we are niche, for the fact that we are niche, you'll be able to get the services you want extremely quickly because there is no cluster of too many different things that you have to go through to find what you're looking for. It's right there on your face. So you go to the app, it's photography you want, photography. Real time. Yes, real time. And let's backtrack a little bit. Yes. I don't know if you're able to actually just give us a small description of how you created that app from scratch. Like how did you actually create it? And for example, if maybe somebody is watching at home and they want to also come up with such a masterpiece, where do they start? How do they go about it? To bring all that into manifestation. So tech is quite wide. So one of the things is before you actually discover what you're comfortable with, you'll find yourself everywhere. You'll try to build natively, that's with Android or iOS. You'll try to use frameworks and different frameworks like I think we were talking about React Native here because of your profile on WhatsApp. So you'll use very many different platforms to try and build something. But the moment you actually decide on the exact thing you want to build, in the tech community, you'll definitely find the framework which works best for you. So for example, if you want to build something for Android and iOS, together using one code base, then you'd necessarily either go for React Native or React Native is from Facebook, then there's another one called Flutter which is now from Google. So if you want to build cross-platform apps with the same code base, then most of the time, you'll actually end up either on React Native or Flutter. If you want to build websites on the other end, then you'd find yourself learning Python, then going and using Django. Somebody mentioned Laravel and Java. Exactly, you go to JavaScript and you want to use, but there'll always be a framework that you will use these technologies on top of because then now it makes it extremely easy for you to now build, because it takes away a lot of chaff from whatever it is you're trying to build and makes it easy. So you just write whatever it is you want to write and you deploy it extremely fast. Yes, I'm told we are out of time, but I just want you to quickly, I'll quick mention of maybe some of the core values of your app. If somebody wants to access it and use it, where can they find it and why is it important to even use ProcentCraft just quickly? Yes, so the reason why you should use ProcentCraft is, one, all our service providers are pre-veted. So you are very sure of trust. The second is the process is seamless and fast. So a process which would necessarily take you best case scenario, around two hours. We bring it down to three minutes. So the other is the service providers that we have are extremely professional. So we have actually gone behind the scenes to check out everything for you so that you as the client don't have to worry about will the person I'm booking be a professional, will the person I'm booking deliver work on time, deliver good work. So our core is offering you pre-veted professional photographers and videographers. If you want to book, you can go to www.proscrafts.com and from there you'll see all the details. Right. Social media, can they find it a new personally as well? Yes, social media is proscrafts.io. That's on Instagram. On LinkedIn the same, on Twitter the same. So on all social media platforms to see. Your number is there. My number. On the app. Oh, you want to give it out? Sure, sure, sure. Oh, my number, yes. Our contact is plus 254-797-493729. Right, yes. Something popping up in my mind. Pros and crafts, does it have a meaning? Yes, it does. Professional creatives. Professional creatives. Yes. Right, I love the fact that you summarized it. Yeah. And it's good I remembered. Thank you. So we have been hanging out with Elkhana Vongeshi. He, where? He is the CEO and founder of Pros and Crafts App that actually enables you to access your favorite professional photographers for those excellent videography and photography services. And the comfort of your own time and your own finances. And I love the fact that it's a community of professional photographers who will actually deliver excellent work to you right now on Smotantech is the segment on Y254 channel. Thank you so much for hanging out with us on behalf of Kalami Val and everybody else behind this show today. We say thank you so much. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter is at Y254 channel. Mine is at Brian Soccer 101. Have an amazing Thursday as well.