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Tell us something about your previous years in IT industry
Technology is not something that is new to me. I’ve spent over 22 years in the IT sector working for prestigious companies like SITA, Cathay Pacific and BHP.
I’ve always been passionate about the latest developments in the tech industry and have been a keen learner of whatever new technology grabs my attention. I know very few people of my age, who are as interested in technology as I am.
Also, my interest doesn’t end with gaining more knowledge, but I try to adopt tech to improve my life and that of others leveraging it.
How did you end up starting your own business?
It was the beginning of the new century when I decided to quit the corporate world and start a business of my own.
With the knowledge and experience I have gained over the years in the IT industry pointed towards just one thing, I had to do something that makes use of technology, and that too in a way no one had done before.
Why digital marketing services and not something else?
Back in the days when Google, Facebook and the likes were not mainstream, I was always fascinated by how simple information access and connecting with people had become. I was always curious to find out how my kids are using a new social platform or how new search engines and algorithms work.
I saw the younger generation so addicted to these digital platforms. I thought to myself: “These teenagers today are going to be the business gurus of tomorrow. If I am to stay relevant in their world, the time to strike the iron is now!”
Digital marketing services are also perfectly aligned with my years of experience in the technology sector. I combined this with my passion to learn more about the digital developments happening around me and made that knowledge useful for myself and others.
Hence, the idea to start my own digital marketing services business came somewhat naturally to me.
Tell us about the early days of solomoIT
solomoIT started off as a digital marketing services company in 2004.
While I took off with a small team with big ambitions, I soon realised that running my own business was not easy. For starters, it’s nothing like working in the corporate world.
Being a business owner required me to wear several hats at the same time.
I was the HR department hunting and hiring new talent and listening to staff concerns. I was in the finance department handling salaries, negotiating prices, purchasing and maintaining assets and everything in between. I was also in the marketing department developing new business ideas and watching out for beneficial partnerships to help spur growth.
At some instances I would have to act as the legal department as well to handle third-party disputes and settle on an agreement.
Saying that it was not easy would be an understatement.
My team and I have spent many sleepless nights. We gave our blood, sweat and tears to make solomoIT the digital marketing services company it is today!
What would you consider as some of your wins, failures and lessons learned along the way?
Wins:
Over the years, my team and I have successfully delivered several digital marketing solutions for our clients globally. These range from website development, search engine optimisation, digital marketing strategy, social media and email marketing among others.
As one of the leading digital marketing agencies, we have also provided content marketing solutions for our clients looking for brand awareness.
We guaranteed our clients a spot on the first page of Google search results within 6 months. This was followed by lead generation through multiple marketing channels including Pay per click/ Google adwords, now Google Ads.
As we got confident in our skills, we began to move on to full-fledged digital transformation projects. We began developing software solutions for specific niches and target audiences with measurable goals.
These included solutions for finance and accounting, retail, e-commerce, services and trades industries, to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
Failures and lessons learned
Obviously these successes weren’t void of some ups and downs along the way.
We learned that while IT has been making our lives so much simpler, it doesn’t come without its drawbacks. Every information on your fingertips means data breach and privacy loss if necessary steps are not taken.
This helped us put in place tight measures that protected our software users’ privacy and helped rebuild their trust in us.
We also learned that every industry has its own unique customer expectations. There is no one size fits all solution that could cater to everyone.
This helped us conduct detailed meetings with clients to understand their unique requirements and deliver solutions that were meant to address their specific concerns.
Bottom line: If you want to grow your business, you need to focus on long term and sustainable success. This is only guaranteed through consistent and never ending effort to improve.
Entering into the tradie niche
In 2016, I decided to write a book on Digital Transformation for SMBs to share the knowledge I had gained over the years.
While researching, I stumbled upon lots of industries that transformed themselves using digital transformation including some big names like Uber, AirBnB, Netflix and Nike.
I already had a lot of Trades Service Industry clients benefiting from my digital marketing solutions. I realised that this is one industry that is crying out for help.
With some more research I discovered that currently there is no solution available in the market that would address tradie’s specific concerns which included:
- Seamlessly managing workflow tasks including quoting, scheduling, dispatching and monitoring job progress anytime, anywhere.
- Managing cash flows, invoicing and receiving payments.
- Lead generation and marketing.
Hence we decided to build a Software as a solution platform that would address all these concerns faced by trades service providers.
Providing all-inclusive digital marketing solutions
Over the years we learned that while no field service management business is alike, their end goal is more of less the same. Hence, digital marketing solutions would work the same way no matter which sector our clients belong to.
We began catering to a number of field service providers aka Tradies providing them with 360-degree digital marketing solutions. This included everything from web development and maintenance to online marketing and complete digital transformation strategy to help them run their business on the go.
Where does solomoIT currently stand?
Today, solomoIT serves as a complementary digital marketing outsourcing service provider to our existing product line of field service management platforms. It provides digital marketing solutions for field service providers who are looking for 360-degree digital transformation, in the field and online.
Where do you see solomoIT 5 years down the line?
Today, solomoIT has evolved into a holistic digital marketing solutions company. We have over 2 decades of experience in providing digital transformation to small and medium field service providers. We have also expanded our off-shore team of digital marketing experts from 10 to 25 members today.
With all this experience and resources, we are able to cater to the digital transformation needs of any business. Not only this but we are open to partner with businesses to develop the platform they require.
