#StartupStory: Young entrepreneur aims to help SMEs

Jean-Luc Pugin, founder of Eikon-Industries

We chat to the young entrepreneur who believes that through his company, he can affect the change that needs to happen for future generations to come.

Can you tell us a bit about Eikon-Design?

Eikon-Design is a division of Eikon-Industries, a multi-divisional entity with interests in environmental sustainability, energy, ICT, automotive, aerospace and construction.

Our mission is to propel the Eikon brand to become a leader of innovation in our respective areas of interest and promote a sustainable business to business collaboration for future generations.

I ideally want SMEs to see the real-world applications of why they should be online and why they should be engaging with new and potential customers, building strong brand awareness using platforms like Google, social media, SEO, SEM, SERP as well as using multi-omnichannel techniques.

What sparked the idea? When and how did you get started?

Eikon-Design was created in light of two contributing factors. Firstly, the huge price tag associated with website and mobile app development and secondly, the Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing regulations set forth by governments.

A study recently published showcased that the majority of South African was fast adapting to the use of the internet on their mobile and desktop devices to receive their daily source of news, entertainment, purchasing of goods and services online during the nationwide lockdown.

I have always been playing around with the idea but I did not implement it because I first had to develop the process of making website and mobile app development free. So, tons of research and technology literacy about page builders, AI and machine learning needed to be understood so that it could be used to mimic the human element to bring the cost of having a full-scale design agency to be affordable for SMEs before I could bring the concept to market.

I officially started with the concept in the third week of the nationwide lockdown when many South Africans were urged to stay at home. The Covid-19 pandemic has somewhat been a benefit to my business because small businesses, who now under Level 3 restrictions, can operate online stores and deliver a service to the public which has catapulted the digital revolution that would have taken perhaps seven years to adapt but now is in full swing within a span of just three months.

What is the core purpose of Eikon-Design?

Eikon-Design core purpose is to offer SME’s access to free website development, mobile app development and web support for their online presence. We also want to help all SMEs (informal and formal) expand their knowledge base on all things technology to align themselves and their business to be more agile for any future market disruption.

What are some of the obstacles you've had to overcome since starting out?

Eikon-Design is still facing a few obstacles with informing the market about our service offering and because we are not fully using social media and traditional media just yet. We have however taken the 'word of mouth approach' to find our first 15 customers.

Once we have reached our first 15 customers, we will then kickstart a marketing campaign to reach out to more SMEs.

What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

My advice is to be consistent and to not be easily distracted by negative naysayers who cannot understand what you trying to achieve. I would also say, do the things that scare you the most because fear is a great motivator to achieve your goals.

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What has been your proudest achievement thus far?

My proudest achievement thus far is being consistent with the goals I have set out for Eikon-Design. I made sure that I was not distracted by disruption and set out to lay a new knowledge brick every day on my path to business success.

What does the future of entrepreneurship look like to you?

The future of entrepreneurship is one were African gives birth to innovators who will give the rest of the world a run for its money - as well as being a leader of industries, adaptable thinking entrepreneurs who can grow Africa for future generations while still playing an active role with strengthening their connection with communities and build one another to achieve a greater goal.

What would you like to see changed in the South African startup landscape?

This is an easy question for me. I would like to see the following: Access to different types of funding and funders; Less red tape; Ease of doing business; Access to market opportunities and Better tax structuring for SMEs.

Once these five identifiers have been successfully implemented I can say with a 100% confidence that the South African startup landscape will start to boom exponentially.

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What do you think it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?

To be a successful entrepreneur you need courage; will power to overcome unforeseen obstacles; a strong support system in place to guarantee the success of the entrepreneurial journey.

Would you encourage someone to become an entrepreneur? Why?Yes I would! South Africa is a gold mine of innovative talent and only we can solve the problems that South Africa and Africa face every day.

Where would you like to see Eikon-Design in the next 5 years?

Eikon-Design's five-year plan is to accelerate itself to become a Pan-African website infrastructure deployment agency (WIDA) provider to help build all the amazing digital presence of future entrepreneurs.