Jonny has always had a passion for making things: as a child using paper and sellotape, and as an adult using photoshop and an IDE.
Whilst at university Jonny launched an online events guide for Birmingham WOIB.co.uk which became very popular and also acted as a good platform for Jonny’s skills. Come graduation in 2008 Jonny was working with a number of clients on web development projects, particularly in the events space, and set up Zimma Web Development (www.zimma.co.uk). Jonny realised that ticketing systems were expensive for event organisers to come by and it would usually mean having to charge a customer a booking fee. As a result, in January 2011 Jonny launched Ticket Tailor, an inexpensive SaaS ticketing platform with no booking fees.
What are you working on right now?
I’m currently working on a billing system for Ticket Tailor so we can automate charging our clients.
3 trends that excite you?
- HTML5 is very exciting and opens a lot of possibilities. I like the idea that you can create an HTML5 app and run it anywhere with decent functionality. On the most part I think HTML5 apps will take over platform specific iPhone / Android apps.
- Cloud based services are fantastic. They make it easier and cheaper to launch powerful online services.
- QR Codes are cool too. They allow people to link physical items with something online. Although they have been around for a while now, I think there are still some great opportunities untapped.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Like many people, I have ideas all the time which I think are great. It would be impossible to bring them all to life so I like to think about an idea for a while and see if it still excites me a month later. If it does then I will consider setting some time aside to work on it.
What inspires you?
I find the startup culture and communities that are forming around Shoreditch (where we are based) very inspiring. These are great for seeing clever ideas in their early stages and getting feedback on your own ideas.
What is one mistake you’ve made, and what did you learn from it?
Taking on too much work is a mistake I make all of the time. Having run a web development agency for the past three years I’ve realised that finding the balance of busy-ness is impossible. We are excited about Ticket Tailor as it should provide a more predictable and steady flow of income.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I keep getting phone calls from recruitment agencies who I don’t like talking to. When my skype rings it would be great if it Googled the number and told me who it was. There’s potential for a mobile app there too if there isn’t one already.
What is one book and one tool that helps you bring ideas to life?
I recently read Rework which is a nice, quick, motivating book. The Zend Framework is a great platform that we use to build our projects on.
Who would you love to see interviewed on IdeaMensch?
Maybe an interview from someone at Wildbit Their apps Beanstalk and Postmark take the pain out of tasks I’m not interested in spending any time on.
Where do you imagine Ticket Tailor going in the future?
We aim for Ticket Tailor to become a fully hosted suite of event management tools where people can pick and choose what they want to use and integrate them in to their other services using an API.
Do you find work gets in the way of your personal life?
At the moment I am working most weekends so Yes. Running your own business does mean that you can take time out at other times though if you need to.
Connect (how can people connect with you, a link to your site, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc)
Ticket Tailor on Twitter:
Jonny on Facebook:
Jonny on LinkedIn:
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.