Completing 10 Years in the field of web design and development -  a personal message from the CEO.

When Woody Allen, the noted comedian and actor, was asked the secret of his success, he simply said, 'Show up'. And we have being 'showing up' and delivering for the past 10 years. We have some good times and some bad times, good jobs and bad jobs, good clients and not so good clients, but throughout all of this we stuck to our belief in the potential of the internet and what it could do for our client's businesses.

In an industry where things change almost daily, 10 years has been quite a ride. We saw the dotcom boom and bust, rise and rise of Google,  the meteoric rise of Facebook and many more big and small events that have marked the past decade.

Having to make our place in an industry struggling with credibility issues.

The web design industry, especially in India, has always had a credibility problem due to fly by night operators duping clients and not delivering. To carve out a place of respect and trust took a lot of patience with delivering results for client after client.  We were lucky to get a whole bunch of clients who believed in the possibilities of the online medium and invested in their websites and their online marketing campaigns. However with an industry with no standards body, no credible institution guiding it, and basically no rules - it sometimes resembled the wild west with everyone shooting from the hip hoping to hit something. The good news is that in the last few years the web design industry has had a bit of a shake down and has left a large number of professional firms standing.

Why we never got into a dotcom business ourselves instead we stuck to our knitting

I am asked this question quite often. Being in the business everyone assumes that we would very naturally be able to do a dotcom venture. The basic truth is that I still haven't encountered an idea which has inspired me to throw my hat in the dotcom ring. I have heard literally hundreds of dotcom ideas and bid for developing a lot many of them but I am still waiting for lightening to strike. The fact is we are quite happy bringing our clients dreams to life and seeing them prosper (and we prosper too).

What our clients have taught us over the years - treasured wisdom.

'The customer is always right' is often quoted in business. Luckily on many occasions our clients have been right and we have had the good fortune to listen and learn from them. Our industry is quite unique in a way that our clients are from diversified fields. Therefore we get the benefit of a wide range of ideas and perspectives from many industries. Clients have taught us the value of reliability and that trust goes both ways. That it is ok to screw up as long as you apologize and correct it. Many clients have helped us see our own value when we could not. If we think about it, our clients have been the real heroes of our 10 year story.

The amazing and the not so amazing people we have worked with.

Over the years we have had the privilege of working with a lot of young minds. Some have been truly inspirational like the colleague who travelled 3 hours to arrive at office at 8am and left at 8pm again to travel 3 hours back home or the colleagues who stood by us even when things were at their worst, trusting us to come out of it.  There have been some lemons also but less said about them the better. I would rather put my spotlight on those amazing people who helped us along the journey. My hats off to them.

The biggest lesson of the last ten years - Communication

For me the biggest lesson from being in business for 10 years would be communication. Clear, crisp, honest and direct communication between us and clients, between colleagues, between our partners is the key. Good news or bad news, victory or screw up, communicate it clearly and honestly. Don't sweep anything under the carpet. Saying what we mean and meaning what we say.  I must admit we still have a way to go in this area but we are improving every day. Our colleagues, clients, partners truly appreciate us for this and we appreciate them for it as well. Communicate, communicate and then communicate some more.

What's in store for the next ten years?

Only a fool would predict what's next in this industry. But some things we will always stick to and although they may sound trite it's what we believe in - creating value for clients, learning new technologies and methodologies, making a difference in the industry and the world and always, always  - highly creative work.

A big thank you to all who stood by us in this 10 year journey, cheered for us, cried with us, laughed with us and grew with us - you will always be in our hearts. Thank you.