The business under discussion here is related to advertising and marketing services. Further, there are two companies formed for the sake of work differentiation, focus and to manage growth in a controlled manner hence, this report is going to discuss “businesses” instead of “business”.

The two companies under discussion are Orange and Blue communications. Both have separate core businesses but the workings and functionally are such that they draw synergies from each other.

A team of great players feeling, sensing and leaping at opportunities when they see them. Commitment is the name of the game, delivering on time, and outdoing our past performances is the game-plan.

Blue is there to help client brands gain “share of relationship” through series of relevant, engaging and impactful connections

The client comes first. The clients’ success is synonymous with the agency’s success, which in turn allows Blue Communications to reward communications and PR specialists.

Both Orange and Blue have the same target market. The nature of the business is such that we provide the service of bringing a company’s products and name in direct contact with the consumers in order to enhance sales and hence all companies with anything to sell; be it banks, FMCGs, insurance, travel etc are part of our target market.

In my own words; “I have made these companies and brought them to where they are with a lot of hard work. I started off Blue Communications with scratch. In 2004 I had this craving of doing something on my own, hence like a true entrepreneur I resigned from work and took the initiative to launch a marketing services company by the name of Blue communications. With just one fax machine and a laptop as my resources I took the jump! There was no capital involvement (as I simply had no savings to invest) and there were no financers. It was a risk and I was willing to take it.

I was very clear in my objectives. I had the experience and knew the marketing industry inside out. Now the daunting task of convincing companies that I knew exactly what I was talking about and build a trust relationship where the client had to be convinced that I would deliver as I promise lay ahead.

Blue did not have any profile and developing a profile which would then sell itself was what I aimed at and that could only be done though developing a client base. One year of hard work and support from my experience, Blue Communications had a successful turnover of approx. 10 M and boasted of prestigious clients like Reckitt, Siemens, Lu, Habib Bank etc.

Further on, business grew and I felt that Blue as a single platform for both creative services and activations would de-focus and detract from the core business. Hence, nearly a year down the road Orange communications was formed. Now with the expansion of business and grace of God, Orange is focused on marketing services and Blue’s forte is creative.

Initially I shared offices with a good friend. After 2 months I needed more space and moved out. I hired my first staff exactly a month after the business and there has been no looking back from there. I still have the same people with me as when I started and can proudly say that we have all come a long way!There are times when it amazes me that so many people have their livelihood attached to me and I pray to god to help me give these people more!

Initially I even suffered a setback as my office was broken into and everything was stolen. This was towards the end of the first year of my business where I had managed to accumulate a few assets like computers, printers, scanners and cameras required in my line of business. But this also did not put a dent on my spirits at all!

I have worked very hard to bring us to where we are. Infact, I was telling my wife a few days back that I don’t even remember my younger son as a baby as I was hardly there to see him. He is exactly as old as the business!

I firmly believe in providing leadership and the right attitude to the people working for me. We work together as a team and the environment is conducive to independence. I want each one of us to believe that each one of us is a very important part of the whole and together we will walk the marathon!

We have an entire system in place now. The office opens and sharp 9. People walk into a clean office between 9:30 to 10:00. We have a proper accounts system. We had hired a team of accounting consultants last year to streamline our accounts. Now we have proper structured section with an accounts executive incharge. We file salary tax challans and yearly income tax returns also.

Born in Sialkot, I spent my early childhood in different parts of Pakistan and later in Karachi. I have lived a well-regulated life being a Colonel’s son. I am happily married with two kids. I am a member of Karachi Gymkhana and Defence Authority Club. I exercise and play squash regularly. I am 33 years old. I had never been very academically inclined but I can safely say that street smart was my forte! I did my BBA in 1996 from IBA and went on to purse an MBA degree in 1997 from IBA also.

I am a young ambitious high voltage marketer with a passion for marketing. I am one of those fortunate people, who have enjoyed an exciting marketing experience right from the beginning of the career. I am proud to say that I have always worked for category leaders, mostly progressive leading companies like Tapal Tea and Chaudhry Dairies who have groomed me to plan strategies with precision and ruthless execution. “

Based on the above premise; we intend to follow a pattern of business designed to provide the best. We will focus on differentiation i.e.

I firmly believe that the Pakistani market as a whole has matured and the consumer has certainly become more aware with the advent of mass exposure to media. Since the choice for consumers increases; the companies into the business of selling their products / services will have to become more and more diligent in making and leaving a mark on the consumer. This is exactly where companies like ours comes in. I want to be out there and drive the thrust.

Currently we are located in Defence Phase V popularly known as Khadda market. We have a main office where Blue along with the core management team of Orange functions from. Another office in the same area serves as out operational office. We also now have an operational office in Lahore.

We have come a long way. We are now offering full fledged creative and activation services. There are actions plan for future which I have marked out on a road map. I intend to go slow now but focused and concentrate on growing not only in terms of business but also in our offerings.

For Blue I want to take membership of APNS and then look into foreign affiliation as immediate action. For Orange I want to develop our services fine tuned to such an extent that we leave our customers spell bound.

We have firm belief in “sky is the limit”; the business is still in infancy and it can be moulded to grow with progression.

Blue currently employs 3 experienced creative personnel headed by a creative director. Orange employs 4 activation managers. Both companies share an accountant and a receptionist. Orange is headed by an Operations Director, Umer Farooq, also an IBA graduate. There have been times when Orange has had 200 people employed at the same time on contractual basis so the contractual staff differs according to the needs of the on-going project.

We are into the business of providing service. The business model is such that we provide a complete turnkey solution to the client; All manufacturing and productions are outsourced. We have a lot of vendors we work on a regular basis; they are not on the company’s payroll but because of the amount of business we give them; we work on mutual understanding with reference to adherence to our strict quality check and they are dependent on the business we give them.

The sound and in-depth industry knowledge lended by the entrepreneur itself offers a unique competitive advantage to the business.

Although the business is still young but there have been many learnings in terms of workflows leading to process innovations. In every instance, we firmly belief in passing on these learning’s to the client to give them maximum benefit.

We provide solutions to business problems; we take a problem and follow the cycle through from devising a strategy to activation and end result. Strategy is our forte and we offer this unique service of giving total solution to our clients. Instead of getting a brief and working within the parameters given; we think out of the box and come up with strategic solutions. We then follow through with execution of the strategy to end result in order to rectify the initial problem.

We believe what makes us unique is that we are constantly innovating in our processes, offering, products and services.

Tameer Entrepreneurs 2008