Start-Up Visa Program – Success Story #1: Photo-On-Net

By Sosana Chan

Today, I would like to share one of my Start-Up Visa Program clients’ success story.

Photo-On-Net

In this technologically advanced era when people take more than one trillion digital photos in a year, Photo-on-Net, incorporated in Canada in October 2021, is established to provide an innovative digitally based photography platform that supports both professional and budding photographers to nurture hobbies and find new revenues at the same time. Its key functionalities are as follows:

A free digital exhibition space cum storage for you to store and showcase your photos
A learning hub for you to get information and access to effective and reasonably priced online photography courses/ resources
A marketplace for you to buy and sell photos and photography learning materials to generate additional passive income
A promotional platform for you to connect potential customers and explore possible business opportunities

This client first applied to the Start-up Visa Scheme in June 2021 from Hong Kong and he was able to get his work permit in about 3 months. In December 2021, he and his family arrived in Vancouver BC and soon kicked off laying the groundwork for fleshing out his business ideas and building brand awareness in local communities. Several significant project milestones were achieved within his first year in Canada:

Partnered with StayShure, a promising Canadian App development company, to develop its high-fidelity prototype (http://www.photo-on-net.org/prototype)
Connected with local photographers through different major sporting events such as BMO Vancouver Marathon 2022, Vancouver Half Marathon 2022 and BC GranFondo Whistler 2022, Eastside 10K to increase brand visibility
Promoted his photography business and shared his immigration story as an entrepreneur at local radio station “Fairchild Radio AM1470” in August 2022
Built a local word-of-mouth network by organizing photography classes with the support of local organizations