Interview with Shiraz Khan, the Founder of Spicetree Design Agency (SDA) Private Limited.
Shiraz is an Indian entrepreneur with a rich blend of expertise and experience. Under his leadership, Spicetree Design Agency (SDA) has effectively broadened its horizons from graphic designing to digital marketing.
At Sugermint Media, our aim is to bring to our entrepreneurs community some of the inspirational success stories from the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
As part of this endeavour, we invited yet another passionate and young entrepreneur Mr. Shiraz Khan for an exclusive interview with us.
Tell us a little about yourself
Shiraz Khan: I come from a very humble background with very little to boast about but still very proud of everything that I look back to. I have a very close-knit family, deeply connected our roots and values.
What defines me, is an unquenchable thirst for creativity, to be surrounded by walls of creativity (it’s a classic irony, I know) and to indulge in the art of creativity.
Another one of my insatiable desires is to know everything there is to know about making the best impact through my work for the sake of ensuring growth through my creativity.
My Experience goes back to the times where I spent years in the marketing division of an education industry and moved on to managing teams that were responsible for growth, I then decided to start my own venture.
How did you get your idea or concept for Spicetree Design Agency?
Shiraz Khan: I have always been passionate about creativity and innovation. I have an insatiable eagerness to acquire more knowledge and to make a superior impact on growth through my work.
After realizing my penchant for creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, I decided to blend my skills with science, detail and analytics to ensure growth for all.
That’s how I embarked on the entrepreneurial journey, Spicetree Design Agency was born on the 6th of June, 2004.
What services do you offer at Spicetree Design Agency?
Shiraz Khan: SDA offers a holistic range of digital marketing, branding and web solutions that help brands to communicate, engage and grow. Digital Marketing includes SEO, SMO, SMM, e-mailers, and retargeting.
It has expertise in technologies such as LAMP stack, HTML5, CSS3, SCSS, JQuery, Angular, and other tools such as Bootstrap, WordPress, Code Ignitor, Magneto, It has its own video animation and production team to create short films, motion graphics, stop motion that are most effective in the digital space.
What is unique about your Digital Marketing Agency?
Shiraz Khan: We don’t consider ourselves to be just a digital agency, but rather a partner to our clients. We don’t just communicate, but also focus on observing the impact of the communication on the campaign performance.
For instance, if it is an outdoor activity that we have executed on the digital platforms we also visit the on-ground activation and see the kind of audience response it has generated.
This helps us to understand the consumer behaviour better and create even better solutions going forward.
What sets us apart from the competition is our core philosophy of obtaining ‘factual creativity’ by creating the perfect blend of creative thought and scientific analytics.
The general perception is that these two things are poles apart, and create an anomaly. However, our utmost emphasis is on offering practicality through creativity in a unique and previously undiscovered manner.
This approach has been instrumental in creating an image for our clients that makes them distinct in their own domains.
What made you choose Digital Marketing?
Shiraz Khan: The only factor that moves me till date is “Growth for all”. This business gives me
immense opportunity to contribute to growth.
What was your mission at the outset?
Shiraz Khan: When it comes to growth, the company is now diversifying into the foray of ad film production, in an attempt to sustain and enhance its creative brilliance, as envisioned.
This is an endeavour to bring back the notion of concept to digital marketing, that is still a crucial aspect in any form of communication.
How many employees in Spicetree Design Agency?
Shiraz Khan: Launched in 2004, over the years, the company has created a strong brand reputation in fields like web, digital and print design space.
SDA has a mix of 35+ communications, digital and analytics experts who constantly ensure that our efforts are reaping results for all.
What’s your agency’s goals?
Shiraz Khan: SDA’s goal has always been and will always be “GROWTH FOR ALL, ABOVE ALL.” Whether it is clients, team or our associates, we would always strive to add value and in turn, see growth for all above mentioned stakeholders.
For this, we have brought together a team of like-minded experts. We constantly keep looking at innovative ways to communicate most effectively.
Each day is a day to bring something new to the table, this ambitious route keeps everyone at SDA alive and kicking.
How do you build a successful customer base at Spicetree Design Agency?
Shiraz Khan: We at SDA always concentrate on our clients TG, rather than looking at what pleases our client. This ultimately leads to growth and that when our clients see value.
We are more like consultants and participate in our client’s business as and when required apart from our primary scope of effective communication.
We are highly focused and our core emphasis is on giving the client’s TG a superior experience.
The concept of customer delight has not yet been fully explored by the digital marketing arena.
Through our unorthodox mixture of creativity with analytics, we strive to deliver that WOW factor consistently.
What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
Shiraz Khan: Most of our failures have taught us lessons and acted as teachers. There were times when we lost control over the pace at which we were moving, a few days into it and we were in trouble that’s when I realised, we are going wrong and must have control over our pace (bite only as much as one can chew).
The other mistake was to participate in almost every process which ultimately leads to no one taking responsibility. Teams must be given a very definite primary KRA’s and the team should be responsible for the same.
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Shiraz Khan: Seeing companies and people grow, inspires me the most. However big or small the spike is, if it is incremental it works for me.
What are some of the biggest mistakes you’ve made?
Shiraz Khan: Not having financial expertise is the biggest blunder one can commit and I was guilty of it till some years ago.
If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Shiraz Khan: We have one life, and wasting it in the quicksand of procrastination or idleness is unfair. Those willing to enter the business world must also realize that the luxury to rest in peace is for souls from the other world.
I offer this piece of advice more than other words of wisdom; because almost all of us listen to the voice of sloth that has infiltrated and cocooned itself in our minds.
Overcoming this barrier, to attain constant exuberance will make a world of difference in terms of achieving success.
Easier said than done, but it would be advisable to critically evaluate self, ask pertinent questions, and seek inspiration to drive motivation.
I follow the saying actively ‘Be a game changer, the world is already full of players’ and live by it.
Does Spicetree Design Agency help the community or society?
Shiraz Khan: We have a CSR division in place that helps the underprivileged at regular intervals and at times when there is a dire need. It works under the banner called “STREET STORE”.
Through this, we don’t only provide them with essentials but take care of their dignity. We have provided clothes, education material and food essentials among many others.
Website: www.sda-zone.com
We hope you find the inspiring interview of Shiraz Khan, Indian Entrepreneur and Founder of Spicetree Design Agency useful and inspiring through your entrepreneurial journey and will keep you inspired.
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