Lessons From The Next Generation Of Entrepreneurs

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with, mentoring and just chatting to a whole bunch of awesome young entrepreneurs. Connecting with someone over a shared passion and work ethic is a brilliant motivator and young entrepreneurs are filled with exciting ideas for the present and future.

Recently, I caught up with Devrath Soni, the young man behind the Parnell bespoke tailoring outfit, Devonché. Devonché has experienced phenomenal growth – over 1,000 per cent in the first two years – and looks set to continue on that trajectory.

During our conversation, I was reminded of both the difficulties and liberation that comes with being an entrepreneur and the risk we sometimes have to take to find success.

THINK GLOBAL AND SHARE YOUR IDEAS WITH THE WORLD

Once you’ve settled on an idea with such clarity that there’s no option but to pursue it, the possibility for doubt to creep in can be demotivating. Doubt can shrink the scope of your dreams and ideas, causing you to question your ambition and limit yourself in a venture.

When I first started Pure SEO, we didn’t strategise to be a global company. While it has since grown to include a large overseas client basis, this was never our intention from the start. It’s a choice I wish I’d made back when I had the chance and a crucial idea to absorb as a young entrepreneur.

This is also something demanded from today’s business world. To stand out in a crowd of high-achieving entrepreneurs, never be afraid to share your grand idea on an equal scale. Our world is connected in a way many never dreamed. Limiting a business idea to a single country or city only delays your inevitable growth and expansion.

Devrath is now looking at global expansion, utilising networking contacts and experience gained in other countries. Part of this includes gaining contacts in overseas marketing, with access to retailers – essentially tailoring store expansion to the area with most value.

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND OTHERS WILL FOLLOW

Just as it’s vital to believe in your idea, belief in yourself is just as important. As humans and entrepreneurs, our limits are set entirely by our own beliefs and expectations. Recently, I spoke about how failure can accelerate success, and how it’s the unwavering belief in yourself and what you’re doing that drives you through each setback to the inevitable goal.

Every mountain that was conquered, every piece of technology invented, every piece of art or book or business that was created, were all brought within the realms of possibility by other humans just like me and you. Without this internal belief, we fail to motivate ourselves and those around us – looking at every experience with a positive angle is just one way to strengthen the belief in ourselves.

For Devrath, there were many times doubt could have derailed his plans. When he first started on the path to Devonché, he was 19, had no fashion degree, knew little about design or how to sew. Instead of seeing this as a roadblock, he saw it as an opportunity to challenge himself. In his second year of commerce at Uni, he dedicated himself to learning how suits were made. He looked at how his knowledge could be applied to a business venture, instead of concerning himself with whether he could sew or not.

STAND OUT AND DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

Innovation as an entrepreneur is daring to be different. In a world saturated with products and services for almost everything imaginable, take note of the direction everyone is moving in and then walk your own path. This doesn’t mean neglecting the positive qualities that made you the person you are today, but enhancing the areas others may be afraid to.

Devrath is a great example of this: a 22-year old opening a bespoke luxury tailoring service in the heart of Parnell could seem risky to
many. But once you’ve settled on the plan, poured belief into both it and yourself, then shown people you can achieve your goals – they’ll kick themselves for not thinking of it. In Devrath’s case, as I mentioned earlier, the belief paid off with 1,000 per cent growth in the last two years alone. Devonché might not reinvent an industry – but it provides a necessary update for today’s society and consumer demand. For a long time, many businesses have lived by the ‘if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it’ motto, which is unfortunate if applied to every aspect of a product or service. For Devrath, this was challenging the status quo of suit design, timeframe, pricing, and the marketplace.

Traditional made-to-measure suits take three fittings. At Devonché, it takes only one. The concept of ‘a bespoke, custom suit’ has always been driven by status, to know you’re wearing a $4,000 suit instead of a $400 suit, and for others to know this too. But just as global fashion companies such as ASOS and Topshop in the U.K. have shown, affordable pricing doesn’t have to equate to a sacrifice in quality. At Devonché, custom, made-to-measure suits start at $350 and $750 – both significantly lower than other made-to-measure businesses at present.

As an entrepreneur for many years, I’ve learned the value of taking a risk and knowing when to cut your losses. Believing and trusting in yourself will help you make these decisions when the time comes, but it’s perseverance with an idea, and the optimism to make it viable, that define success for today’s entrepreneurs. To see that same unbreakable spirit and determination in a younger generation of thinkers and business leaders, makes me optimistic about the world we’ll one day live in.