Adeola Abdulrasheed: Using technology to redefine photography industry

Adeola Abdulrasheed is the founder of Cameraman.ng, a start-up that connects users to professional photographers and videographers within their locality. He holds UI x UX certificate, which is given to qualified designers at the Graphics Design department of Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech). He is also a professional photographer.

Adeola was inspired to establish Cameraman.ng out of his love and passion for capturing memories. While still an undergraduate, he built D’AwareImages to capture existing memories in school. As a result of its success, he was inspired to venture into full-time photography.

“I started and successfully built D’AwareImages while still in school because I loved to capture memories and that developed my interest in photography,” he says.

After his tertiary education in 2016, Adeola picked up a job in photography. One year after, he established Cameraman.ng.

The graphics designer started his business with N200,000, an amount he raised from family and friends. After a few months of starting the business, he won €1,000 in the Co-Creation Hub Next Economy Acceleration Programme challenge.

The Yaba Tech graduate tells Start-Up-Digest that he used the money to further expand the business and develop its scope in the Nigerian photography market.

The young entrepreneur says that despite the large number of already established talents in the country’s photography business, Cameraman.ng has been able to create a niche market for itself by leveraging technology, stating that the business has continued to grow since starting.

“We outsmart our competitors by leveraging technology to deliver photography services with the fast automated booking system and affordable packages for all categories of customers, using reliable
professional photographers and videographer,” the young entrepreneur says.

Speaking on how the platform connects users to photographers and videographers across the country with just a click, Adeola says that “Cameraman.ng instantly matches you with professional
photographers and videographers with just a few clicks around your locality.”

“We have made the platform easy and affordable to users who are willing to capture and record every beautiful moment of their events,” he explains.

On how the photographers and videographers are selected by the organisation, the entrepreneur says, “For the photographers and videographers, we have a created a form that allows us to vet them and know who is fit for the platform because we have pledged to give our users the very best. We also invite them to a physical meeting to get a better knowledge of who they are and their personalities.”

Answering questions on the challenges confronting the business, he points out that funding remains the major challenge confronting the business, noting that a lot of youths with entrepreneurial skills are limited because of the absence of funds to see their ideas to fruition.

He adds that the country’s huge infrastructural gap is also another challenge facing his business, urging governments at the federal, state and local levels to provide key infrastructure such as power, good road network, good and affordable office spaces and forums for learning and collaboration especially for start-ups.

Adeola tells Start-Up-Digest that his business plans to “expand its solutions across the continent, as we are all about capturing irreplaceable moments, and of course, everyone has a day in their lives they want to capture forever, so we want to capture it for them at a great price.”

The photographer says he currently works with a team that has brought the business to its current position, among whom are Ademosu Adetutu, who has seven years’ experience in brand design; Abdulazeez with vast knowledge in technology, and Bosun Tijani, who is a mentor.

Speaking on his advice to other entrepreneurs, Adeola says, “Your mind is a soil, what you plant grows. So, always push yourself to the limit and you would realise you can still push further. Never stop. Keep on moving.”

Josephine Okojie