That’s all we are trying to do. I have been doing this whole marketing thing for a while now and Ron has been designing even longer. What we care about is helping people, specifically business owners. The reason for business owners is because the whole entrepreneurial business world is an extremely personal one for Ron and I. Every business had a dream behind it, a person behind it. People seem to forget that. There is this common notion that all businesses are just an entity of four walls and conniving owners behind them, scheming to milk every dollar out of you. Of course, there are always bad apples, but the small business community is so much more than that.
Every business you see out there has a person who dreamt every night of one day opening those doors in the morning, to feel like they were something.
They dreamed of accomplishing the success that so many people told them was unattainable. So many reasons existed to stand in their way. Feelings of doubt and insecurity often shrouded their daily thoughts. Of course they were scared. They had terrible nights. Tears, happy or sad, were common. But this is their dream, and it is what they have. It gives them purpose, a reason to smile.
Why do I know this? Because Ron Wave Design is the same thing. Ron is an immigrant from Ecuador, leaving behind a community in order to pursue a better life for his wife and kids. I, myself have a father who came from Malaysia to try and start a business in America. Having broken English, a pregnant wife (with yours truly) and a young daughter, my father opened a computer business with the utmost fear and reservations. It got to the point where he had to open up a large yellow book and start cold calling, anticipating multiple hang ups, people scolding him and awkward conversations. He had to do it, he needed to support his family. Despite it all, he made it through, for 14 years and that is quite an achievement.
So why do I say that a business has a person and a family behind it, because I was one of those families.
Now that I’m at this point in my life, equipped with knowledge and drive along with the creative tool chest that is Ron, we are here to help those businesses, owners, and families make it. We aren’t here to promise get rich quick campaigns or “pay us this and you will magically get more customers”. We’re not here to sell you just another package that tells you exactly what you need before even knowing your current situation.
Here, Ron and I are all about educating and assisting the people behind the business. Not the manipulative, profit gauging suits, but rather the small families and dreamers behind them. How we are going to do this? By educating the community about plausible, actionable, honest digital marketing and design strategies.
Marketing is necessary and integral part of any business’s success, but somehow so many business owners are sold outrageous marketing promises they don’t understand. We don’t stand for that.
I constantly find myself, thinking back to my dad telling me about his cold calling days. I always shudder as a cold feeling spikes through my spine. This is always amplified by images of the days when he had to eventually close those doors and try to keep everything afloat from our apartment, knowing in the end it wouldn’t work out. It’s not a great feeling, but I always think what if I could use what I know now to have helped him? What if he could have hired a marketing company to help him? Of course, that wasn’t an option for him. Partly due to the vagueness of what they were selling and my parents’ lack of knowledge of why they needed something like that. What could he have done, shell out a bunch of money on companies selling enormous packages without telling him what exactly they would do. Too much money and risk, without transparency.
So my personal mission is to help all those businesses, people and families understand what good marketing is, how to do it right and why it is important. Ron is right there with me too.
We want to educate and give the community a window to the complex world of marketing tools and strategies, so that they can compete and stay open. My father’s business has long been closed, but the journey he endured is no different from people today, and hopefully we can help others stay longer. When I go about the what if’s. Like what if I could have helped him. Or what if he had someone helping him, but I know now that now is where I am and I have the tools necessary to help other families keep those doors open.
