Keeping Small Businesses Competitive through Sharing Best Practices of Global Leaders

Archive for July, 2019

Sanjay Shah, Director of Visionary Digital Studios Ltd. (Brisbane, Australia)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

BSO: Since our interview years ago, please share with us ways in which you’ve 1) challenged yourself and 2) grown, personally AND professionally.

SS:

Evolution and growth are always at the top of my mind, both as an individual and as a business (www.visionarydigitalstudios.com) (http://linkedin.com/in/visionarysanjayshah).

For me personally, one important change has been spending more time with people who I can learn from. I’ve joined a high-level Mastermind to make sure I’m mentored by people who are well ahead of me on the journey. Being in a Mastermind also ensures that I’m always surrounded by other CEOs with big ambition.

This keeps me motivated, keeps the fire burning.

In business, Visionary’s target market has switched to more high profile CEOs and bigger companies. This keeps our whole team challenged, always reaching up, always evolving to compete on a higher level. It also has the knock-on effect of consistently bringing successful people into our network, so we can share ideas and share more success with them as the relationship builds.

My recent epiphany – the growth curve will never stop.

We’ll always be reaching up to bigger deals, more challenging opportunities, delivering more value, working with more successful people.

Growth & Evolution IS the game …

BSO: With what you’ve learned about yourself and all that you’ve achieved, what are 3 pieces of advice you’d give your younger self ?

SS:

  • A natural part of all evolution is pain. Get used to the pain of building a business, learn to enjoy it, embrace it, and know that every time you endure it, the glory you get in return is always worth it.
  • The viewpoints of the majority of society are designed for people who want to live ordinary lives. That’s fine, no problems with that. But if you want to live your dreams, then you’ll have to think differently, and you’ll have to be comfortable with being very different from the norm.
  • Understand that if you’re putting in the HARD work, if your exposing yourself to the right training, and if you’re spending time with the right people – with patience, the results are pretty much guaranteed.

BSO: That never ending ‘balance’ question (wellness, career and family). What’s your typical day look like ? Or share with us a sample of 2 days.

SS:

I think there is no such thing as work-life balance for entrepreneurs!

Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle.

It doesn’t mean you can’t have family & friends, rest periods, and time to live your wildest dreams imaginable …

But all of those things should be correlated to your business.

So it means spending more time with family & friends that inspire your mission, scheduling deep rest to ensure you can bring your best self to your work, and consistently living your dreams to keep the fire burning for your business …

The way this plays out for me : I’m usually working 5:30am – 8pm, 5 days a week, plus plenty of hours on the weekend. However, I’ll factor in exercise designed to power my work day, spend time every day with people who inspire me and consuming content that makes me a better Director.

And it’s mandatory for me to live right on the ocean in a beautiful apartment, just to make sure the struggles are always worth it!

But to me … it’s all categorised as “work”. Everything in the day is designed to power the vision of the company in some way.

BSO: To function at our highest level and to continue tapping into our creativity, Weekends should be restorative, physically and mentally. What does yours look like ?

SS:

Hahaha this question makes me feel guilty …

I work all day Saturday and most of Sunday morning.

But I’ll always fit in some Crossfit training, some beach time, and usually a party or a concert to keep life exciting.  Sunday afternoons are spent in nature, usually alone. Deep rest … to prepare mentally for another big week ahead.

BSO: Please share with us what we can look forward to in terms of projects you are working on or your next exciting venture.

SS:

As entrepreneurs, we all want to start new ventures every day, and we find it hard to control ourselves!

But I’m a firm believer in focus.

If you have limited work hours each week – I think all your energy should be focussed into one single venture.

So, for Visionary Digital Studios, we’re sticking to our core product – Animated Marketing Videos for leading tech companies. However, we’re expanding that product to include options to use the videos to attract leads and scale business results.

So we’re now strategising Websites, Facebook Ads and Google Ads for our video clients, all based around the videos we have produced for them.

These Digital Marketing services are a competitive space to be in.

But it’s really exciting for us, because we are one of very few video agencies worldwide who can also offer these extra services, and do it well.

Lots of work on the horizon …But loving every step of the evolution & growth.

http://linkedin.com/in/visionarysanjayshah

Category:

Animated videos, Digital marketing, Non-Profit, Project management

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Istvan Barath |Videographer |Freelancer|Networker (London, England)

 

IN THE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

BSO: Tell us about your passion for personal branding.

IB:

I’m very business oriented. I would say, since my childhood, I had this inside me.  I was selling my old clothes and toys on a market. I visited many carboot sales hunting for deals, although I was about to start a lot of different types of businesses, but none of them worked out as working model.

Currently, I’m in the process of launching a video production company, also involved with a software development company, plus building my personal brand which is about giving value. Needless to say, the latter doesn’t make any money. I also have a full time job as a Bar Manager in central London. So my mind is quite busy !

BSO: There is no typical day in the life of an entrepreneur. Share with us your a.m. to p.m.

IB:

I wake up and take my little one to the nursery.  After,  I go to work from the morning till late night 3 times a week. The rest of the days,  I’m making videos, building relationships on mostly Linkedin, and also,  if I can,  I attend some meetups. I’m always searching for potential business opportunities and trends. It’s one of my biggest passions.

BSO: What are your ‘can’t live without’ software applications?

IB:

Obviously, it’s Linkedin ! Otherwise,  I’m also a crazy fan of Workapp but I like to make notes about my thoughts so any sort of application allowing me to do that I’m a fan of !

BSO: What was the best advice you received when you started your business?

IB:

Have some money on the side, never be on the edge, and always be prepared.

BSO: What has been your strategy for building awareness of your business?

IB:

Buiding awareness is not easy although if you engage with the right people, its certainly possible, so my advice is to be loyal to your community and engage. Building relationships is what matters in the long term. Always see the bigger picture.

 

BSO: What are your proudest achievements, professional & personal?

IB:

My daughter definitely.

Professionally , I have always been trying to be the best on anything I was doing. I received employee of the month award and, another time, a trip to Holland with all the expenses paid as a nomination for my hard work. Also,  I built a community on Linkedin nearly 8000 people in a matter of months, influencing quite a lot of people as I share my story of how to move to a new country and all the struggles I went through. I became a storyteller suddenly. I’m quite proud of my mindset change. My video creation skills have improved considerably. 3months ago, I didn’t even know what acmirrorless camera is !

BSO: What are you currently reading?

IB:

There are some ebooks I’m reading normally. Currently, I’m listening to podcasts instead.  I like Jay Shetty and Gary Vaynerchuk

BSO: What are your most rewarding charitable involvements?

IB:

I haven’t had a chance to get involved in any big charity yet, but my aim is to help the homeless people and families in Hungary.

BSO: Who has influenced your career the most? 

IB:

I found Shane Wallace, founder of Workapp, really influential, as well, as Cory Warfield,  the founder of Shedwool.

BSO: What is your advice for starting a business?

IB:

Find the right people with the right mindset.

Have enough cash to start.

Execute, test, test and improve.

Most importantly, have a plan and stick to it. Never lose focus and you will be successful.

Thank you very much!

Category:

Business Services, Consulting, personal branding, Videography

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