Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Gustavo Billo, Founder of BDS | Breathe Design & Strategy, located in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My business is a design and strategy studio. A strategic consultancy that helps brands and businesses discover their real reason for existing and put all their essence into a genuine, true, and unique positioning. We work with the dimensions of innovation, brand, and experience in order to help businesses evolve in all these areas.
My clients are entrepreneurs who need to create brands for the market or businesses who need to rethink their positioning, brand, portfolio, products, and communication. BDS helps people who are at the forefront of their businesses to establish an increasingly strategic relationship with their value delivery.
Tell us about yourself
I'm a designer specializing in the industrial design segment, but my experiences were multiple in the area of design, from strategic design, branding, communication, product design, packaging, and stands, among others. I've been working in the industry for 20 years since the beginning. I've been passionate about shapes, meaning, stories and concepts. I believe that design has the power to materialize everything invisible but felt by people.
Before opening BDS, I was also an entrepreneur at another design company, but when I left, I knew I needed to put all my personality and essence into my business, something that represented me, and that's how BDS came about, a studio that breathes design and strategy to transform businesses and organizations. My daily motivation is to learn every day, and I am very grateful for having the opportunity to experience countless businesses from the most different segments possible; it is a daily entrepreneurship class.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My biggest achievement is that we are always evolving as a company in the sense of our deliveries, our team, our space, and the impact we generate in each company we work with. It is very fulfilling to witness the materialization of our work in a new business, and there are many people involved who are part of that organization and who, in a way, are helping to rescue everything that is significant and put it out into the world.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Without a doubt, one of the challenging things in having a business in the creative segment is managing people. We deal with different generations, expectations, and different realities, having a difficult factor in teaching that is sensitivity, so the human factor is one of our pillars, but it takes a lot of time and daily dedication. But we know that without people, we will not grow or evolve, so we dedicate ourselves to listening, teaching, and being very empathetic in every situation within the company.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Know that to be an entrepreneur, you need a huge dose of interpersonal skills beyond technique. Each day we are challenged to find creative solutions to unfold relationship problems.
- It is essential to have a very rich network to open a company. Connections with the market are essential at this time. And be very clear that the commercial pillar is the driving force for any business. We can have the best delivery, but if we don't have a customer, it's no use.
- Seek to have control and vision of all points that make the company grow, I mean in the administrative sense. Having good financial management and project management software is essential for you to master the business, leaving no loose ends and knowing and seeing each step you are taking toward the future.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://bds.is/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gustavobillo/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gustavobillo/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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