 to why in the morning if it's Tuesday you know how we do it's entrepreneurship Tuesday a Y254 channel is where you can find us across all our social media handles at Michelle Ashira is where you can find me across all my social in this particular session we dive into an interview that looks at the art of business branding or but I had the branding of your own business because it's the most important investment that you can actually take on especially if you're starting off in a business even if you have a well-established business it's something that you continuously you know rebrand change a few things here and there so in studio I am joined by Edwin Washira who is the co-founder of space rock designs he'll be talking to us all about matters pertaining interior design and deco and you'll be majoring on matters pertaining the art of branding so make sure you stay tuned remember at Y254 channel is where you can find us across all our social media handles at Michelle Ashira is where you can find me across all my social Edwin yes happy Tuesday thank you how are you I'm fine Karibusana so take us through what is like expected of us if we come to space rock design what is there for us to see what happens at space rock designs thank you Michelle for having me here you're much very much welcome as anti so space rock design is a small business I would say small because you are aiming to be to go far absolutely and majorly we deal with the interior designs from design from installation and so on and major we major on windows that is in interior designs offering services like cutting rods installation of cutting short furnishing widow brides and so on so space rock design is a small business called by two young passionate designers one is an interior designer there the other is a marketing or a branding designer that is graphic designer that is what you normally offer so we normally measure on how we can combine the ideas of interior designer and graphic designer to come up with that something interesting in our offices and in our homes you've touched on now what the business does and definitely the marketing aspect of it but for someone who's watching this and they wonder what is the difference between interior design and interior deco exactly majorly on interior design it is from the idea you come up with idea exactly after now the house is done or the office is done we come up with that we come and share the ideas with you with the clients and you see what can be done there that's where they come now after you decide we plan the idea now they come afterward so they who is all about creating this beautiful place exactly and design is all about you know as you said idea partitioning and everything so there's one need what sort of educational background does one need to be an interior designer one has to get to have a background idea of the information of the interior design that is there's a course by name of interior design which is offered a major in our area in our town they are there and with that background you can be able to manage or to get an away on how to get ideas of interior deco or interior design so basically as you know my senior designers because in interior there are so many way one can define himself or herself but from the background with a background of interior design you call yourself a designer and that's where as special designs we are okay so for one to be a designer interior designer one has to be licensed and recognized but for want to be an interior decorator you just have to be passionate about the whole process of creating beautiful spaces yes okay in our country maybe you are not yet there but that should be the way we have to get away like we know even the engineers have to be licensed but now when you offer interior design you have to cover the background information because it's too bad when someone go and give a long information or misguide the client on how to do his planning for home for offices and so on yes it's not good it's not good okay so what is your role when it comes to the company which is space rock design being in special design for the last three years I've been there to help in building the blood I would say so and that's come from my background where major I majored in graphic design and printing and later we went to branding so in special design I'm there to help build the brand and Brad building a brad is not a one-day event so it's a process so we normally come they come up with idea we share idea with a few friends who are creative I who are in creative fields and we help build the brand that is basically what I would say so from coming coming up with a website coming up with a social media platform coming up with the e advertisement and so on so you had the marketing department exactly all right so how long does it take to build a brand when it looks sad for someone who's looking at this conversation and they're wondering probably then the stage of starting a business or actually even rebranding so how long does it take to build a brand like I've said it's not a one-day event and I would say to take it takes a lifetime it's a lifetime process because I'm always happy when I see even a big companies making their brand or renewing their brand every day every day every day and that's why we all you have to strive every day as a company even if you are well-branded or our offices are well-branded you have to keep or to keep learning more on how we can brand more so it's not a one-day event it's not a stage when maybe you're growing but even when at matured stage a company has to keep on branding you have to go back to the drawing board exactly okay so for someone because I believe like for want to get into branding if you want to brand your company you have to you want to create a certain image for your own company so how do you as a marketer as person who has done this for a couple of years what are your major tips when it comes to just creating a brand which has a favorable image for potential clients probably could give us a few tips okay first you have to understand the the current market or the target market let me say so so you have to understand if you're targeting young people you have to go with something or you have to brand something that will attract the young people your if you're targeting a certain people maybe like now how you understand this middle class there and the other class you have to know what exactly to offer when you are marketing so that the the main target can be able to or can be can be pulled closer to you so that is one of the main tip then on the other thing you have to know the product that you're offering you have to understand your product where all your services where and also you have to know like a company you have to know about your competitors let me say so you have to get those tips and see how your competitors are doing and you try to not to beat them or to fight them but to offer something unique from them so whenever you're marketing whether through a card or advertisement whether through social platform whether through in a form you have to make a way to get sure that your product or your services is being sold better than your competitor still on that aspect of products and services yes now probably if I'm selling product or even services coming up with different rate card for my services and also pricing for my products so how do I determine the what of my brand determine the word you tell by maybe the what comes from there and before that you have to know after your target after you have reached your target how is the response so one is one one way and then the other way to maybe to to know about your brand is to see maybe after your burden is there any response that is coming from the the customers or the so on and also you have to keep on maybe your brand has to be something that is interesting to everyone yes all right take me through back let me take you back to the company okay space rock I would like to find out what is your niche in the market so that even though we are still having this conversation so that we can know how you're breaking through into this competitive market when it comes to your design yes as I would say it's about uniqueness how you offer services how you how we sell our product from the what go I remember back then when we are starting as a side also we used to just to apply just to sell something or to make a sale but after they realized we have a big plan to grow and to become a big brand probably maybe over there in the whole world that is our dream and when you are selling a product our uniqueness is to give the best product from the time we meet our client when you are sharing with them the ideas that you want to offer we start by giving them the best from their houses we analyze the houses we check on their rooms we check on their likes what they like most from the colors and so on and that's what we normally offer so our uniqueness is how we approaches so we approach people differently our client differently I always say they are different type of let me say interior designers there are different type of people who sell let me say like an example cuttings there are people who are suppliers and then they are designers who are us so when you are selling the suppliers just sell the product as we try to give something that you'll be looking the next ten years and you're happy that you got the best but you're not just making the sale for you just to get the product of me just to make the sale even when you offer in the services like when you are doing our widows when you do our vertical braids for the offices make sure it give you something that in the next ten years we relate why this was done so from from the bridge that you offer someone can understand there was an aspect of understanding the theme of the company understanding the the corporate them and so on from for the cutting rods we make sure that you give that some that is of good finish today there are so many things the product especially in our market some are just too maybe they will not last for more than a year but the product we strive to offer or the surface is it is safe to offer is something that will stay for years okay what I'm hearing is that you're speaking about quality and number two that you're putting your clients desires into heart when we're just coming up with these different plants of their spaces yes okay take us through when it comes to marketing and I own a business and I've you know set aside what I'm bringing to the table the market gap the niche so where should I majorly focus on when it comes to marketing especially especially during the early stages of my business maybe it's a business startup yes so where should I focus majorly on when it comes to marketing in order to attract new clients and also retain the existing ones exactly first marketing is wide and I always tell all our partners business first of all the best marketing strategy is to offer the product the best product that is number one okay then the second one is when you offer the best product how do you relate to the client that you are giving the service so majorly is good to offer an after sale service that will make sure that after you leave to that client he or she is a happy person and that person will definitely refer you to the other person so that is one of the strategy before even you go to how to reach many people first of all the one that you have whether you are I remember first first say rose to our self we made our say to our self so we had to do our installation in our own home so and we paid our self so from us what we offered to our self we were happy and you are sure that when whoever you visit our place we like that that product and that is number one when you offer a good quality product then number two when the customer is happy and get referral is now how you approach you are and talk about the after sale after sale is after you have done the sale you have finished with that client as we try to engage our client even afterward to say thank you and so on and also to get feedback yeah exactly to get their feedback that is always our number one process that you normally try to get you get there they have feedback then from there after now you get the referrals how you had the other client so after add you our marketing strategy or how I can maybe help the other person we are starting is always to show what you had offered this hour a very unique way today if you're offering an installation you show an after and after and before and after what how the place was before and after your installation that is a very very very number one let me say number one way to market yourself people has to see what exactly you do and always a new starter always tell him or her to always be persistent never get tired to tell people what you do every year you go I remember us everywhere even after you go to church after you are stepping out to make sure one or two people knows what you do in your social media make sure everyone understand what you are yes the word of mouth then from there you reach out to all your friends your colleagues wherever you are working your family members that is always a good way to market yourself when once you grow people will be coming to you will not be there to reach out to them but people will be coming because of how you have been persistent also you have to learn to be very patient you cannot make a sale in a maybe after our first advertisement maybe we need to make advertisement for the whole of the year one year before make one sale so you have to be very patient a new starter you have to be very patient that one I have to repeat and how is the business during the first year because you guys have been there for approximately now getting to four four years so how was the business during the first year in first year I was very tough let me see so I remember I remember I remember even during our first year our first year I remember I was working somewhere so I was not able to be there full-time and my partner was the one who was running the business you know our challenges you offer services so services need people to be there absolutely I remember one time we got a good project somewhere outside town it was in a like keep here there and it was a big house a hotel and you had to go for all the services in that house and that person was just available as my partner and I remember that period you had to move around from town to there and you remember when you're starting there are so many challenges and now you are somehow disappointed because he never managed to offer the way the best product that was supposed to be and our project project for from our rates we say it was not very successful but from that we learned a lot we learned from our mistake from that and that is what has helped us even from the the projects that are followed so every time you have to understand that there are mistakes that come when you're in business they are failures there are some time you fall down but you have to learn always to to to stand up and make another step there's no feeling it's actually learning exactly so what would be your advice for someone who has started a business and it's not doing well things are very tough and like they had this mentality after I registered my business I'm in operation I'll be you know my sales will be skyrocketing everything will be just so good on my side so I'll be advice for that person who is at the verge of just giving up exactly to everyone who is starting this one is to you that it's never easy in a business it takes courage it takes someone to be very patient it takes someone to be very persistent so even if the business is not working how you expected you have to learn maybe to make another step you have to learn from those mistakes and redefine yourself see how you check but look back and see how you can at least strategize yourself see whoever the mistake maybe your mistake was how maybe you offered the product or you offered the service see on how maybe you can prove your product see how you can reach out to your clients in a unique way and definitely whenever you give your best you always get best resort so and finally in business don't maybe look on how to make money that one I always tell people look on how you are going to be a brad look on how you are going to empower the people yeah and solving problems exactly make sure you empower everyone whoever is on your side whoever you are working with look on how you can strengthen your team the team you are working with maybe you ever sometimes you normally think that our team it's a very big team like a large working working team but whether you are to or you are really that is enough team to empower each other so you have to strive to empower each other and is the time whereby if you are the you are the founder you are the accountant you are the HR and also you are the person to go for installation and so on basis you do everything at this particular point so I'm one person who advocates for business startups so I'll still stick on ties who are starting off in their businesses and for someone who's starting off in their business and they're looking at branding and how can they brand on you know reasonable budget exactly it all it always starts small but they branding sometime we always did maybe it's a big billboards we see on our roots but having a small business card or a small e-card with the flyer with all the details of what you offer is enough for the starters then a very unique way is to brand through a social platform you can just do a naked and post there make sure your your every day someone's get to know what you are offering so for starters don't just think that you big a branding is a big something you see on our road or you seem vehicles branded but that's more than you can brand yourself with is very enough make sure someone if you have a business by the you have a registered name of you have a business name make sure everyone is getting to get that name every time whenever you once one wake up get to see your name that is for us I would say that is what you have been doing every morning you have to make sure when someone's get to Facebook when someone's get to Instagram when someone's get to Twitter has to get our names there in the morning when you speak about just branding on a budget yes most people go for social media which is an amazing platform apart from that well I like what you've mentioned which is the business card I believe most of us especially young people we we don't really think on that yes aspect of just having business cards we think business cards in quotes they're supposed to be for you know big business owners well established businesses but the fact that you've brought it up it's very very important so when looking at when it comes to interior design I learn when you're having this conversation you guys were here also we're differentiating between interior design and interior decor yes and one thing that's just called my attention is the fact that you out here we might meet people who claim to be interior designers and interior decorators how can we ensure that we don't get scammed and we actually get to work with the credible company or individuals yes first of all for interior designers like like you said there's a difference between design and decor from the words you can understand this design and decor design is actually coming up with an idea yes yeah so we you sit down and you draw you come up with a design of exactly what is expected and deco is now the final resort yes and most of the interior designers or rather interior designers should be professionals so they have to be the people who are disturbed the actual thing that is now let me just use an example of the house these are the people who can come in and study the room study the house and see what is supposed to be put here then when you come to deco now deco are the actual things is an implemented implementation of what was designs before so the people who do deco or people who do the final thing I don't want to say that they are not profession but there is not necessary that they have to be from a certain field of that interior design but interior designers have to get there the field have to be well prepared or well maintained with the interior designs services all right take us through couple as you wind up take us to some of the challenges that comes with this particular space of business there's so many challenges number one is especially in your planning because you have to understand the ideas that can't have so many at the time that you find the ideas that you have are not the actual idea that the current is having so those are one of the major challenges that you face because you have to convince or we try to work well with a client to be able to understand the idea that you are trying to come up with then the other challenges now the actual thing when implementing our market today we have to get the like now we work with the uniqueness I don't want to come and do a design in your house the same that I did for another house so you have to come up with something unique so even the product that I market you have to get very unique product but you can see some charges are there so you find the the same fabric that were there 10 years ago as to the ones that are here do you feel like your client or potential clients people were watching this if they ever go for consultation in a design firm interior design firm and they go all your advice for them before they get into should they have like a specific something they want to help you guys or yes sometime we like that when someone's come with an idea first then we can sit down and share the ideas together we share views together so from from your idea we can see the ones that can work the ones that cannot so my advice is it's good even if your client maybe don't have a background it's good to get an idea of your house to know like preference of what you want like colors or the furniture that maybe you may prefer then we can come and sit with you and see which are okay with you which are maybe it may not be fitting also back to the offices where maybe sometime you forget because our interior designers stay in the offices we always like when there's something a company or maybe a business has that is an idea so once when we come and share with you we always feel good when before you had an idea like now maybe you want to partition your office you have to know maybe I want a reception area I want to have a manager desk I want to all those idea you just get the ideas then as you come and sit down and now come with the and come up with a blueprint exactly okay so what a couple of mistakes that you have seen when it comes to branding that probably people should look out for especially on branding sometime we forget to set up product well there are so many way you have seen our branding and they fail because like I said when you are doing branding you have to know your target market so whatever your branding whether it's something to something to do with the maybe clothing or any business you have to know where how you are you reach out the target market so so many mistakes are done when you are doing marketing or you are doing branding sometime it's because people are not aware of their product so I always tell people to study the product even if you are person who is doing branding and you have been given a business by someone or a business outside there stay and study their business ten start what they offer and try to study it exactly so whatever you're offering it can relate to whatever you are firing yes okay because it's funny enough it's actually transmit because if you're not as much as involved in the business then we comes to marketing and branding when it comes to just you know putting out the message out that wouldn't be the same yes you have to be involved in fact I like when I see a business where there is someone who is on maybe PR who is there to sell the product so you have to get someone who study or who understand the operations of their business so when you are doing the final branding you can be able to offer exactly what is supposed to be offered but when you just rush somewhere give someone a job to do branding someone who is not even aware of what you're offering may be a bit difficult and may come up with some mistakes all right yes where does the future look like when it comes to the company I don't give a time frame but you can give us your time frame so what does the vision look like our dream you have been working on five years let me say not the specific strategic plan but our idea was to in the five in a period of five years of this time we are growing we want to see a business which has changed made of many people especially in our homes we want to see a business which is offering offering some solution for some things we've seen our houses so our future is to try and convince people to work on their homes many times they forget to work on their homes so that is the future that you are working on then you are looking on a future where a business that can empower young people basically I say young people because our field or the interior design business is wide it's a business that is calling almost all careers or professions because this is a business that will call electrician this a business that will call painters this a business that will call carpenters and so on so we are looking on a business on a business that will empower all those people especially those who are trying to come up and it's a business that I believe and I pray that is will come to offer back to the society because all the materials that you use is a business there is a business that getting from a local market so we believe that in our in the in future our business will be given back to the society creating job opportunities creating all job opportunities and so on so how can people find across all social media handles if they want to reach out to you to have you know this conversation or even be potential clients yes so we are on Facebook we are on Instagram we are on Twitter by name space rock designs we have our website that is www.spacerock.co.ke and we have a phone number business number okay and that is 0719 874818 and the other one is 0731 491 292 all right thank you very much Edwin Washera for creating time to be with us talking about the art of business branding all right so that is Edwin Washera co-founder of space rock designs we were having a conversation about the art of business branding so make sure you stay tuned we have so much coming your way right here on why in the morning on entrepreneurship Tuesday so make sure you head on to all our social media handles that is at why too far for a channel at Michelle Ashera is where you can find me across all my socials so make sure you don't touch that die I will be right back with so much more right here on why in the morning