While Proudly SA has painted a bleak picture of how small businesses are closing their doors quicker than they opened, a Nelson Mandela Bay business has survived three economic meltdowns.
Design@Bay in Gqeberha survived the fallout brought about by the 2008 recession, the 2015 economic downturn, and the devastation caused by COVID-19.
Owner, Dipti Varghese, counts surviving two recessions and coping during the global pandemic as her toughest challenges since she went into business 21 years ago.
It has been a turbulent time for the business sector in Nelson Mandela Bay.
A discussion on the impact the coronavirus on small businesses:
Many have had to shut down the doors because of the pandemic, but Varghese has wavered the storm and managed to stay afloat.
Design@Bay specialises in marketing communications, strategic branding, and design, and digital and social media marketing.
But, Varghese says her 30 years of experience working in India, Japan, and SA had prepared her for the many challenges that come with being an entrepreneur.
Dipti believes what has sustained her business is a combination of excellent strategic and design skills which is a must to consistently deliver excellent customer service.
“Our perseverance, and I would say resilient approach in terms of tackling the obstacles, being a child, adapting to a child’s approach, adapting to technology all the time and really growing and sifting through the environment, looking through the possibilities and challenges. Also upgrading and unlinking yourself, adapting to those challenges. Also keeping our system lean. I think a very important part that we were able to survive these turbulent times, was being lean on our financial systems and our operational systems.”
Dipti regards it as important to consciously build a conducive environment in which lasting relationships thrive, both with clients and employee. She has appointed university graduates as her staff with sound qualifications.
Her employees say that as a leader and mentor, Dipti has been nurturing young minds into multi-skilled and well-grounded individuals.
“Design@Bay is a very nurturing environment and personal improvement is encouraged. So, because of that, you learn to also learn to get into the habit of that. So, we work in the broad spectrum of corporate communication. So, in that way, it’s always important that you are always up-skilling yourself and that has been something that I have been doing since I started at Design@Bay,” says one of the students.
Marketing strategist, Jody Naidoo says Dipti’s resilience is admirable.
“Dipti is a leader and individual of exceptionally high personal and professional standards. This pre-empts everything she does and everything that she is associated with. She has stamped this culture into the agency as is evident in the many years if disagreeably. This attribute has both been inspirational and admirable for professionals like me. As female business leader, she is perfectly balanced, being able to work with young and old, individuals, teams in that she unlocks their potential with empathy, patience, and professionalism.”
Dipti says all women have in them the tremendous strength to do anything they set their minds to, tapping into that is the key to that success.
