June 1, 2015 – DCKAP is celebrating its 10th Anniversary. This is a milestone achievement for us (a bootstrapped company). I am so glad that we were able to sustain our business and learn the nuances. Business is a roller coaster ride – I have heard but never experienced it before. However, DCKAP let me experience the roller coaster journey and it is thoroughly enjoyable.
In the last 10 years, we have made significant progress but also had down times struggling to pay the monthly bills. Problems are good and it helps get the best out of you. I am so grateful we were able to calm the storms and make the foundation even stronger. Thanks to our fantastic team!
Finding a niche: When we started, we were figuring out what to do and tried many things and were quite successful. But, when you do everything, it is hard to focus and sell in this competitive landscape. We cannot be another services provider as there are already too many of those.
We figured that our niche was ‘Commerce and Content’ and scaled down everything else. It was a strategic decision and yielded great results.
No Substitute for excellence / WOW your Customers: You have to have an A+ team and they need to deliver A++ quality – no matter what. Ordinary people achieve extraordinary results with motivation and support. Success brings more Success and helps you feel more confident.
When I meet clients, it is so nice to hear about the great work about our folks. Our clients have been great ambassadors of our work. Thanks to our A+ team for wowing our customers. We have made this as a practice. We still make mistakes and always learn from them.
Failures are good: I am happy to fail because it means that we are in for something bigger. It also tells us what not to do. Our biggest strategic success came when we were in a tough spot and there was a lot of turbulence. But it brought out the best from our entire team. The person who makes the most mistakes wins.
Face Time with Clients: CEOs are on the road all the time. Great Salesmen are on the road all the time. Great work creates necessity for more work and clients give you the time. Thanks to DCKAP, I was able to experience this first hand travelling the world. We also got better in scheduling meetings and planning trips. It is nothing like Face Time and you learn a lot.
Next Milestones:
Here are our immediate priorities:
1. Play to our strength, stay focused on Commerce, Content & Consulting and be a $10M company in the next 3 years. 2. Create a product that makes an impact and create new revenue streams (we are still figuring this out). 3. Create a world class company culture and make DCKAP one of the best places to work.
Thanks to DCKAP. I am proud of the fact that we were able to create a difference in the life-styles of our people and most of our great talent is home-grown. I feel good when they travel the world and experience what is out there.
50+ employees worldwide. 25% of our staff travel across the world and the goal is to make everyone travel. Most of our talent is home grown. 75% of our hiring happens through employee referrals. 90% of business is generated through word of mouth and referrals. Industry Certifications from 0 to 20+ in different technologies & domains.
A BIG THANK YOU to our esteemed clients, colleagues, past colleagues who worked at DCKAP, business partners, vendors, well wishers and everyone associated with DCKAP.
We are super excited about the future and it feels like we just started. We would like to create a world class entity and understand that it will be a result of years of good work, good will, innovation, strategy and more. We are game for it.
THANK YOU.
