As a small business owner, we need quality work but at the same time, something that would be affordable while building our business. We also value relationships. We want to work with suppliers and entities who get us and who we see have the same vision and values as ours. In Manila Workshops, we have been creating workshops for aspiring and current business owners and freelancers. For our events, we need photographers and videographers that we can partner with. We were lucky enough to have met When Worlds Collide!

Today, I am very honored to feature Julianne Caparos and her soon-to-be-husband Timothy Fernandez from When Worlds Collide!

The Story of Julianne Caparos of When Worlds Collide

Most of my childhood years was spent in Dubai then at the age of 13 my family and I then moved to Botswana, Africa, then moved back to the Philippines to study and eventually work. Since I was young, my dad loved taking photos using his SLR (film camera), and I’ve always loved art. Because of that, I got interested in photography and wanted to pursue it, initially as a hobby and not as a business.

Then back in 2014 when I was still working at Smart, I met Tim and he wasn’t the type of person who was into photography. But when we became a couple, he supported me and my hobby in photography. I was that girl who would take photos before eating and taking photos of every corner when travelling. On our first date we went to the Mind Museum, because Tim liked museums and I wanted to take photos inside (haha!). At one point we thought of creating a blog but that drained us out; it wasn’t fun for us. Then eventually, families and friends would ask us to cover their birthday events until the point we got our very first Client.

When Worlds Collide is actually our sideline business, for now we both still have full time day jobs. Hopefully in 2 years time, I can do it full time already.

Interview with Julianne of When Worlds Collide:

Ginger: What is your Startup/brand/business?  What is it about? How long have you been in business?

Julianne: When Worlds Collide is a photography business. It actually started out as a blog because we thought it was a way to do what we love, which is photography but we realized we didn’t enjoy the writing part of blogging lol! More on capturing that moment already says a lot for Tim and I. Then my best friend decided to tag me along with one of her photoshoot gigs and that’s when we realized how much we enjoyed it and that was just last September 2016.

Ginger: Who is your target market? Why did you choose this market? Can you give us the insight behind this market?

Julianne: Our target market would be young families who just started raising kids. We chose this market, specifically for me, is because I love kids and their every reaction is just priceless. These days everyone is pretty much tech savvy and thanks to technology we can treasure every moment that we have through digital photographs and that’s one of our main goals, to provide a photo keepsakes for our clients.

Ginger: How did you come up with this idea? What made you decide to start this kind of business?

Julianne: Well, it just started out as a hobby but after that push we got last year, we decided to give it a try with a couple more photoshoot gigs and see how it would go and so far it turns out to be great.

Ginger: Were there any obstacles that you faced when you decided to pursue becoming an Entrepreneur? What are these?

Julianne: A lot! lol! It was fun but at the same time difficult. Difficult in terms of handling different clients and their expectations. The biggest obstacle probably was getting people to trust our services at the beginning, which I guess is normal for all.

Ginger: What are the greatest challenges in putting up and maintaining a business in your country?

Julianne: Greatest challenge with our type of business is competing with others in the same business. Other than that meeting the budget of various clients.

Ginger: What are three traits that you think an Entrepreneur/Startup Founder should have when starting their own business?

Julianne: “Courage” to start your business, “patience” especially with Clients, along the way you’ll learn how to handle different situations and “passion” because without it, I feel a business would never succeed.

Ginger: Unforgettable moments or  lessons that you learned as an Entrepreneur/Startup Founder

Julianne: The very first shoot I did and got paid, that was definitely an unforgettable moment. The biggest lesson I learned? bargaining our rates with Clients. At first it was difficult to say “nope our rates are fixed” thinking that we wouldn’t get any clients that way, but I had to be firm and along the way we lost Clients because we didn’t meet their budget. However, we also did gain a new base of Clients who trusts our services so far.

Ginger: What advice can you give to other Entrepreneurs?

Julianne: Our advice to other aspiring Entrepreneurs is to make that first leap, you’ll never if your dream business will work if you don’t take action. As to Entrepreneurs who are just starting out just like Tim and I, don’t give up, you will get a lot of praises at the same time unsatisfied Clients but you’ll learn on how to improve and become more successful.

Ginger: Do you believe that everyone should become entrepreneurs?

Julianne: I think everyone can but not everyone should become entrepreneurs. You need to love what you do and not feel like it’s a routine or pushing yourself just to make ends meet.

Ginger: What are ways that you can do to raise capital?

Julianne: In a photography business, your main investment are your gears. We started just last September 2016 but we started buying our gadgets as early as 2014, all from the money we make from working at our 9-5 day jobs and and sometimes from our parents who are ever supportive.

Ginger: How do you market your products? Growth strategy?

Julianne: Through Facebook groups, word of mouth and at times through xdeals with other Entrepreneurs who are just starting out. Our long term plan is actually to have an office space already, probably a studio but for now my goal is to further enhance my skills in this business.

Ginger: What are tech tools that you use for your business?

Julianne: Facebook and our website to promote and communicate with our Clients. Lightroom, After Effects and wetransfer/dropbox for editing and transferring of files.

Ginger: Thank you so much, Julianne, and of course to Tim, too! Thank you for supporting Manila Workshops and I hope you continue to inspire and grow your business! 

 

Contact information of When Worlds Collide:

Website: http://whenworldscollide.ph

Email address: whenworldscollideph@gmail.com

Mobile Number: 09178368418

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/whenworldscollidephotography/