Interview with the founder of Jimpl

Introduction

Jimpl, a website known for its user-friendly photo metadata checking, has a fascinating story behind its ownership. In this interview, we chat with Toni, the current owner and a web developer himself.

How did you come up with the idea for the business?

It’s actually a funny story. I’m a web developer, but I’m not the one who created Jimpl. I needed to check the metadata for an older photo and that’s how I’ve discovered Jimpl. I really liked how simple, fast and to the point it was, so I’ve emailed the owner and asked if he was interested in selling. I’m from Romania and he was from Ukraine, where the wat just started. He agreed to sell it and we’ve met in Budapest to make the deal. He was a really nice guy and he told me he wouldn’t sell the site if it wasn’t for the war. He used the money to escape the war and moved to Poland with his girlfriend. I was very happy this was a win-win for both of us!

How did you build the product?

As I said before, I didn’t actually build the site, but I’ve hired the original owner to optimize the site even more and to add the remove EXIF (https://jimpl.com/remove-exif) feature.

How big was your team when you started?

I’ve talked with the creator of the site and he told me he built the site by himself.

How did you launch the business?

The site was launched in 2010 and grew organically.

How have you grow the business since its launch?

I’m cheap like that and I haven’t really invested in advertising, so all the growth was organic.

What are the main marketing channels that work out for you?

Google is the main source of traffic, but I haven’t made any SEO efforts.

Which tools do you use most often to help grow your business?

Domain is registered at Namecheap, hosting is done using a dedicated server from Hetzner and I use Dreamweaver for small tweaks (I’m an old school developer).

What is the business model?

The site is monetized with Google Ads only. I think an affiliate program would do great, but couldn’t find the right one. Please get in touch if you have any suggestions: https://contact.do/toni.

What do your finances look like?

Jimpl made about 1000EUR in the last 30 days.