An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Keep the door, And your mind, Open
When you are getting successful, people are starting reach out to you because they want to collaborate or wants to use your services. I never looked at experience but only at the results. Results never lie and maybe you can learn something about it.
Startups usually start with a small cohort of close colleagues. But what happens when you add a bunch of new people into this close cohort? How do you maintain the company culture? In addition, what is needed to successfully scale a business to increase market share or to increase offerings? How can a small startup grow successfully to a midsize and then large company? To address these questions, we are talking to successful business leaders who can share stories and insights from their experiences about the “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business”. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Didier Rooms.
Didier Rooms is a serial entrepreneur with a main focus on branding — Social media and Google marketing. He has business interests in over 3 continents.
Didier Rooms has been described as a true innovator in his industries. He created a B2B matching platform “Experts at Expo” where businesses can meet during expo 2020 Dubai.
He is also founder of ADD-Design, a leading digital marketing agency based in Belgium, Europe.
Thank you for joining us in this interview series. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
Started with nothing.
Now just 9 years later, Serial Entrepreneur and closed business in the U.A.E. , U.S. and Europe.
He became one of the innovators by teaching the art of branding, social media and Google marketing.
Even though his recognition and success in business, his true passion is reaching out to those who dream of achieving their digital goals.
You’ve had a remarkable career journey. Can you highlight a key decision in your career that helped you get to where you are today?
A key decision in my career that helped me get where I am today is visiting the U.A.E. and get inspired by the thought to be always the number 1 in everything you do.
What’s the most impactful initiative you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of?
In the beginning we were only selling websites and we were just one of a dozen. After endless strategic thinking I believe that we found the golden nugget, Creating an ecosystem for our clients.
Sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a mistake you’ve made and the lesson you took away from it?
It’s easy to start a new service but you always need to keep in mind if the new service will bring you more revenue. This was a mistake in the beginning.. We were not focussed enough on the return on investment from a single project.
How has mentorship played a role in your career, whether receiving mentorship or offering it to others?
I think it is both.. From the start of the Pandemic I met JT Foxx, he is an American business coach and has also several global businesses. Still he is coaching me and it brings me motivation and also a clear view from people that are more successful than me. I use this learnings to teach our clients and bring their mindset and also their businesses to the next level.
Developing your leadership style takes time and practice. Who do you model your leadership style after? What are some key character traits you try to emulate?
Steve Jobs is my big example. He was always trying things were nobody in believed. Innovation is key in our industry and you don’t need to copy your competition but you need to create your own path. That’s also what Apple did.
Thank you for sharing that with us. Let’s talk about scaling a business from a small startup to a midsize and then large company. Based on your experience, can you share with our readers the “5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business”? Please give a story or example for each.
- Keep the door, And your mind, Open
When you are getting successful, people are starting reach out to you because they want to collaborate or wants to use your services. I never looked at experience but only at the results. Results never lie and maybe you can learn something about it.
2. Change Or Be Changed
Try to do a daily 5 minute strategic thinking session. You need to think about your existing work and what you think that is needed to implement in the future. If you don’t think about changing yourself or your business, your competition will overrule you.
3. A talent obsession
I believe in commitment to my clients. When we promise to deliver something, in 99% of the cases it will be delivered on time. I only attract staff with the same mindset. It’s not about education, but about the willing to succeed and do whatever it takes.
4. Nurturing talent Locally And Internationally
In our industry it is impossible to have all the knowledge locally. That’s why we started early in our scale up phase with nurturing talent from other continents. Also we are able to work the clock around because our staff is in different timezones.
5. Innovate or perish
This year we have won already 2 global innovation awards so I think innovation is in my DNA. You always need to be 8 steps ahead of your competition. If you combine this with the daily strategic thinking, I believe that this is my succes formula.
Can you share a few of the mistakes that companies make when they try to scale a business? What would you suggest to address those errors?
I see a lot of scale ups raising money, but only a few will survive after 5 years. A clear business plan with milestones can maybe help them to survive. It’s not only about raising capital and burn that money, only with dedication to your business plan you will survive.
Scaling includes bringing new people into the organization. How can a company preserve its company culture and ethos when new people are brought in?
There is always a single point of contact within our company. New people are getting the smaller tasks so they can prove themselves. I am standing in for the quality control before the delivery to our clients so our brand will not be impacted.
Many times, a key aspect of scaling your business is scaling your team’s knowledge and internal procedures. What tools or techniques have helped your teams be successful at scaling internally?
Write clear procedures from the intake to the delivery of a project. In most cases there is also a timeline involved.
What software or tools do you recommend to help onboard new hires?
monday.com and Hubspot
Because of your role, you are a person of significant influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most people, what would that be? You never know what your ideas can trigger.
Be Decisive And Don’t look back
How can our readers further follow your work online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/didier-rooms/
This was truly meaningful! Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise!
Didier Rooms Of ADD-Design On 5 Things You Need To Know To Successfully Scale Your Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
