www.evolocity.com.au
Entrepreneurial journey told by three students
Story written by Sidi Ju
“I am the founder for Evolocity, a boutique SEO consulting service company located in Sydney, Australia. I have a master’s degree in Technology Management from UNSW and multiple years of work experience in the IT field. When I first moved back to Australia from Singapore, I found it challenging to find a job. This was demoralizing at first, but then I thought: “Am I going to work in a job for the next 40 years and then die? Then I’ll look back, and what will I have achieved?” The thought of entrepreneurship came into my mind. I initially tried to create an IT service company, where I paid a few companies to do the marketing. However, I did not receive the expected quality of service. I decided to do it myself instead. I began to explore the digital marketing field, and really found myself falling into it. This is how Evolocity came into existence.
I got scammed in this field in the past, it is an industry that lacks trust. I thought I could do things differently and conduct a business ethically. I support clients’ companies, offer personalized marketing strategies according to their budget and maximize value of every dollar. I engaged in prompt communication with clients and made sure there are no misunderstandings. As a result, more than 70% of my clients entered long-term relationships with the company.
I consider my ‘stubborn’ personality as a great contributing factor to the venture’s success. During the start-up period, there were many voices around me telling me to give up. There weren’t many clients or profits then. However, I just worked harder, spending 60 hours a week on my business plus 10 hours for learning. This is a variable field that needs continuous learning to keep up. I am glad the hard work paid off. The investment is making a return, and the business is well on route to the mature stage.
Regarding further growth, I am looking to form strategic alliances/partnerships with contractors, writers, web designers, suppliers, etc., and I am open to networking. I believe that while the Covid-19 pandemic is detrimental to many, there are new opportunities in the current landscape as well. The remote environment has broken down many barriers around location for businesses. I believe we can work together to overcome these difficult times and grow together.”
Story written by Zhiwei Li
“When I was walking through the paths on campus, I probably didn’t expect that I would have my own niche in the digital marketing industry five years later.” Hey, I am David. I got my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in technology management. Perhaps this also secretly foreshadows that I may enter this industry in the future. I spent 15 years of my career in multinational financial institutions in Australia. After leaving this post, I chose to come to Singapore to provide a lot of IT services for 5G Bank’s business in the Asia-pacific region. The story with Singapore lasted eight years. I experienced perplexed moments and also fell into low point during 2016. In the days between Australia and Singapore, I had some conversations with myself, “Do you still want to build own business?” “Do you still want to continue in the IT industry?”. Maybe it was the interviews that didn’t go so well or maybe it was the passion inside of me that I couldn’t quench for the idea of starting own business. I began to try to expand my territory in the relatively less competitive IT Support industry. It was also a coincidence that I met SEO when I was expanding customers for my IT Support business, and then I fell into it naturally. “Solid professional background, passion for entrepreneurship, and money as the driving force.” That was my beginning.
Entrepreneurs are like ships sailing on the sea at some moments. There were times when I doubted myself and people close to me told me to give up, but I insisted on delivering the “Trust” that was lacking in this industry to my customers and partners. In every one-on-one conversation with customers and follow-up, in every day of continuous learning and keeping up with the latest industry trends, in the time of self-discipline according to the schedule. I continue to absorb more knowledge related to the field, learn to deal with the relationship with customers more mature, and strive to give more than their expectations every time. Maybe I didn’t plan too far ahead, but I am still enthusiastic and more comfortable doing it now. Continuing the unique principles of “To be Boutique” and “With Sincere, Transparency and High-quality”, we are opening-up a broader field in the sea of digital marketing. Evolocity’s story continues also I am still moving on.
Story written by Speedy Shatari
“Guess I’m not a very good entrepreneur”. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to say this to a student who is interviewing you for being an entrepreneur, but I did. Can I say that? Who knows? It’s true anyway. It’s true in the sense that I don’t fit into their typical mould. It’s true in the sense that when that same student asked me “How would your life change if you were given 10 million dollars”, and I simply replied with, “my life wouldn’t change”. And it’s not because I have that type of cash. It’s because I’m not driven by money. Inconceivable concept I know.
Should I start from the middle? I’ll start from the middle. I’d come back to the Land of Oz, Down Under, the home of Wallabies after eight wonderful years in Singapore. I struggled to find a job. I had no local experience. I was beginning to become desperate. I’d had extensive experience in the IT industry and decided to run with it. I started my own IT support business, but I found it difficult to get clients and market the business. I even paid a few companies to do a lot of search engine optimisation and run ads for me, but there was very little success. I’d been screwed over too many times by these companies and saw the opportunity to do better, to be better for myself and others. I sort of fell into it and then Evolocity evolved. I had to learn how to do it all myself, but I guess that’s just the nature of starting something new and doing it yourself for the first time. I was good at it though. My business aims were simple, yet perhaps revolutionary for this industry. Create a trustworthy, honest, reliable service. A space where you wouldn’t have to worry about being scammed or screwed over like I was. All my focus is on my clients. They are my number one priority. My personal aims were also simple. Earn an income, be able to work anywhere in the world and reduce my stress. I’ve been grateful that I have been able to do all of this. And so, if that means I am not a good entrepreneur, then I am truly successful.