WTM chats to Bindu Titus, co-founder of DreamMakers, one of the island’s premier technology businesses, about her role and what comes next.
DreamMakers specialises in website and app development but Bindu wasn’t always the techy expert she is today. In fact she was initially much more drawn to science.
She explains: “I graduated from Christ University, Bangalore, in 2002 with an MBA in marketing and human resources (HR). But it wasn’t my first choice. I had already done a degree in biology but everyone was talking about business and admin and that was the field my father was pushing me towards. I went and took the entrance exam for the MBA because my friend was going. I didn’t expect to get in, I didn’t even want to do it, I wanted to stay in sciences but my father pushed me because he felt I would do well. I got the highest score on the exam!”
For a year, she fought with her dad and confesses: “I didn’t really study.” But a marketing project in the second year proved to be a turning point. She says: “I did an internship with Gulf Air which involved behaviour analysis of travellers looking at why they choose particular airlines. That made me more interested in pursuing marketing and HR.
“In the third year my lecturer was Professor Dixit who taught us in entrepreneurship, he gave me a project on the impact of technology in communications. I had to set up a small company, do a business study and present a financial analysis. It was a hypothetical situation but from that company DreamMakers was eventually formed.”
After completing her studies she married husband Titus. He has an IT background and very solid experience in the latest developments and together they founded DreamMakers with operations in Dubai, Bangalore, USA and Hong Kong.
But how does a marketing and biology grad fit into a tech company? She explains: “I enjoy the marketing side, anything that lets you give life to a company. Everybody comes up with desires and dreams of how they want to see themselves in five years. I transfer that into reality by using the knowledge that I have in marketing and branding.
“I still find it challenging because now the area has shifted to online, it’s not so much about print. A lot depends on the skills you put into the website.”
As well as large-scale clients such as Bahrain Airport Services, Bahrain Pharma, Alroaya Group in Saudi Arabia and many government organisations, the company, and in particular Bindu as a business coach, is also currently working with around 15 young Bahraini entrepreneurs who have come up with ideas and these will all be launched the next year or so.
“We teach them how to promote their business online and what to sell or not,” says Bindu. “For example, someone who has a boutique online has a lot of things to sell – we would put them into specific collections bringing items from different brands together. It’s about developing a unique selling point and identity.”
And the business is continually evolving and developing. She continues: “We have new projects coming up all the time in both apps and websites. Nowadays it’s not enough to just have a website, you need a website that’s responsive with social media and apps running alongside it.
“Some of our meetings will start at 7.30am and go through to 9.30pm in the initial phases when we are discovering exactly what the client wants. We bring the concept together and take it live.”
She also uses her marketing skills in other ways to help clients who may be struggling. She explains: “For example a business which is at a stagnant stage or has suffered a setback. We would look at their existing technology and possibly redesign the whole concept to breathe life into the system by social media marketing, SEO (search engine optimization) and blogging.
“If the client is a doctor, then I do a lot of reading about the latest happenings in the industry and research on the technology that’s available and combine it with the website and apps with trend-setting articles and social media optimisation.”
Bindu is a proponent of female empowerment and keen to work with high-energy women who want to start businesses that will have a positive impact. She is a strong believer that it’s possible to create a highly profitable business while staying true to your ethics and goals.
She points out that most entrepreneurs have many passions and numerous ideas but they may need someone to offer guidance to bring those ideas to fruition. That is the expertise of DreamMakers and Bindu herself who, in her role as a business coach, can help would-be entrepreneurs find and focus their strengths turning immediate goals into long-term success with actionable business strategies.
For smart women who have ideas but don’t know where to start, Bindu can offer guidance towards success both professional and financial which can be achieved while doing something you love.
But it’s not all work for her. She has big plans to use her skills in community-based projects. She says: “When I’m not working, one of my interests is music, I’m into melodious sounds and I write songs, which I give to other people.
“I also love to pray and worship and I like to get involved with charitable events. I visit people in hospital to offer company. They may not know me but it does make a difference. So, I want to take this further to find other ways of using my skills, outside of business, to help people.”
Call Bindu today on 36 750-275.
