How a Self-Taught Developer Built & Sold a Photography CRM

Introduction

Jonathon Ringeisen spent eight years in the Army before deciding that college wasn’t the right path for him. One course shy of his associate’s degree, he dropped out in 2017 and set a new goal: learn to code while building something meaningful. Rather than tackling a simple tutorial project, he chose to create a real, revenue-generating product—a CRM for photographers—so he could sharpen his skills in a high-stakes environment.

From Idea to MVP

Jonathon’s wife, Elena, had launched a successful Lightroom preset shop, selling photo filters to photographers worldwide. He spotted an opportunity: build a customer relationship manager that integrated client booking, invoicing, contract signing, and to-do lists. While learning front-end and back-end web development through online tutorials, he coded the first version of Essential Studio Manager (ESM). It handled the basics—client records and task lists—and launched at $5 per month.

Driving Early Growth

To get users, Jonathon tapped into Elena’s email list and sent targeted invitations. He ran Facebook ads and built a referral program—users earned cash when they brought in new subscribers. Within months, ESM covered its hosting costs and started generating profit. But Jonathon knew the initial version had gaps; so he built an in-app feedback tool that let photographers submit feature ideas and critiques directly.

Iterate with Customer Feedback

Photographers asked for contract templates, calendar integrations, and higher-tier pricing. Jonathon rolled out updates, raised the price to $15 per month, and later to $29—still below competing platforms. As he tweaked workflows, handled support tickets, and optimized the UI, his coding fluency grew. His side responsibilities included responding to customer emails and refining Onboarding flows.

Scaling & Preparing for Exit

By 2022—five years after the first line of code—ESM had plateaued at $1,600 in monthly recurring revenue. Meanwhile, Jonathon and Elena launched Wordsmith, a social media content tool that quickly reached $10,000 MRR. With ESM demanding maintenance but not growth, Jonathon decided it was time to sell. He listed ESM on Acquire.com at a 7x multiple of annual profit.

The Sale and Lessons Learned

Within two weeks, a buyer offered $60,000 upfront plus $30,000 contingent on hitting KPIs—or 5% equity in his company. Without a lawyer, Jonathon agreed. Six months later, a dispute over KPI calculations led to a parting settlement of $70,000 total. He splits the proceeds with Elena and now advises peers to involve legal counsel in any acquisition deal. Despite the hiccup, the sale was a success and validated his learn-by-doing approach.

What’s Next?

Today, Jonathon and Elena focus on Wordsmith (now at $10K MRR) and an AI-powered student Q&A tool called Venture, pre-revenue but already with 300 sign-ups. The real benefit of ESM wasn’t the $70K—it was the hands-on education that turned a novice coder into a versatile entrepreneur, ready for more ambitious projects.