Roshni Wijayasinha on Helping Entrepreneurs and Small Business Through Measured Marketing Strategies
Photo credit: Roni Levit
Roshni Wijayasinha is a trusted leader with 15 years of Marketing experience, having launched over 50 products and brands in over 20 markets worldwide, and helped companies attain 9 figure investment rounds. She is the Founder and CEO of Prosh Marketing, a Marketing Consulting agency that specializes in strategy, planning, and communications for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and startups.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
I moved to Canada when I was 7 years old. Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, I learned a lot about how to run a business. When I was old enough, I also worked in our family business, an IT consulting company, while completing my Business Administration degree at Laurier with a focus on marketing. I wanted to pursue a career in business, so I went on to do my MBA at the Schulich School of Business. I started my career working on top consumer brands on the agency side and have built my reputation by bringing my creativity and strategic insights to global technology companies such as Microsoft, Sony & Kobo. I have also worked with domestic technology leaders such as Juice Mobile, Thinking Capital, Benecaid, and Foxquilt, building out their marketing teams and brands. Throughout my career, I have launched over 50 products in over 20 markets worldwide and helped companies attain 9 figure investment rounds. Recently, I founded Prosh Marketing, a marketing consulting agency that holds expertise in strategy, planning, and communications for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and startups.
What inspired you to start your business?
Initially, I saw an opportunity in the market to help up-and-coming entrepreneurs and small businesses with their marketing strategies and I capitalized on that. Leveraging what I learned from working at big companies, I understood that my skills would be highly transferable and of great value to these smaller businesses. Dedicated and passionate about making an impact, I have been able to help transform the marketing functions of 50 companies from a variety of industries. With my parents being my role models both in life and in business, I was inspired to build something of my own and create a legacy.
Where is your business based?
My business is based in Toronto, Ontario. However, given the remote nature of my work, we work with clients across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
My business began as soon as I got my first client. Over the years of working in a corporate environment and doing my MBA, I had many connections that I could reach out to. One of the first steps I took when I began my business was reaching out to these connections and anyone that I thought could use marketing help. I also set up a brand, website, social media channels, email address, and other infrastructure pieces that I needed to run my business.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
PR and thought leadership were one of the most effective ways that I grew awareness of my business. Publishing press releases and speaking at events like DX3 and the Toronto Entrepreneurs Conference builds credibility and trust. In fact, many people present at these events inquired about Prosh Marketing following the event. From there, I was able to set up an initial call to get to know them and their business needs and take them on as a client. Posting articles on Forbes as a member of the Forbes Communication Council, and Business Insider and getting featured on credible sites allowed me to market myself better and added credentials to my name and website.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
My biggest challenge has been scaling myself and my brand to larger organizations. When I first started my business, it was just me and I had expertise in certain industries. By hiring freelance senior talent who had great reputations in the market and expertise in the industries that I did not have expertise in, I was able to overcome that challenge and scale Prosh Marketing. Prosh Marketing’s resourcing model is unique in that most of the senior consultants have full-time jobs at other companies and work at Prosh Marketing on the side. This way I am able to access a larger pool of specialized talent to service my clients at an affordable price. This directly falls in line with my vision of matching my clients with the right consultants that specialize in the focus area of the client’s business.
How do you stay focused?
As an entrepreneur, staying focused is really important. Unlike in a corporate setting, you do not have people telling you what to do and setting deadlines for you. That is why I like to calendarize everything. I allocate time to both the completion of tasks and all the meetings that I have throughout the day. I enjoy laying out clear objectives and goals that I want to accomplish that day, week, quarter and year. This gives me clarity and reduces distractions and burnout.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
An important way that we differentiate our business is through one of our customer services practices - adding value. In addition to providing Marketing strategy for our clients, we continuously provide them with learning opportunities that improve their skill sets and help them grow. From hosting educational sessions and bringing in special guests, to interactive workshops with hands-on practice, our customers feel empowered by the knowledge we are able to share and value our partnership because this is above and beyond what they are paying us for.
Additionally, other marketing agencies often charge a lot of money to do basic things like providing content to post on social media when in reality it is often more sustainable to teach the junior staff of the organization on how to create and post content. Focusing more on strategy, Prosh Marketing utilizes a sustainable approach with flexible team integration, hands-on training, and knowledge transfer.
This has not only helped us build strong relationships with the businesses we work with but has also gotten us several clients through referrals and word of mouth.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
The most effective marketing strategy to growing my business is hands down the word of mouth marketing and referral programs. I recognized that, in this industry, the best way that you can get a client is if they trust you with their business. Hearing that I am good at what I do from someone else’s mouth is more credible than hearing it from me first which is why word of mouth and referrals are so effective. In addition to that, most referrals or clients I get from word-of-mouth marketing and referral programs usually give me more business and stay loyal.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
The best piece of advice that I would give is to leverage your friends, family, and network as much as possible. They can be your support system; help refer clients to you and be early product testers and give you honest feedback. Lastly, I would say to not spend too much at the start when launching a product. Truth is that with time, many things are going to change. Depending on customer response, you may realize that the packaging needs to be changed or the logo does not resonate. Therefore, spending a lot of money, in the beginning, is usually not worth it. Instead, I would suggest building an MVP product, see how it does and make changes as you see fit.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
My favourite app is slack because it keeps me connected with my employees in a remote environment and is our primary means of communication.
My favourite blog is Seth’s Blog by Seth Godin because it is filled with really interesting stories, good consumer insights and breaks marketing concepts into bite-size pieces that are easily comprehensible.
My favourite book is Obviously Awesome as it provides a fresh look at product positioning and messaging.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
My favourite business tool has to be Google Docs. I use it every single day and it never fails to prove useful. It allows everyone to collaborate at the same time, comment, provide live feedback and maintain transparency in the collaboration process.
Who is your business role model? Why?
My business role model is my dad because he was one of my first teachers in life. He taught me how to build a company from the ground up and scale it. He taught me compassion, resilience and how to be a good leader. As an entrepreneur himself, I learned how to keep a work-life balance from him as well.
How do you balance work and life?
The key to having a work-life balance is to ask for help when you need it. Oftentimes as an entrepreneur you feel like you have to do everything yourself and that asking for help is weak. As a leader, you have to understand that you cannot do everything yourself and delegation is must if you want to scale your business. Learn how to find the right people to count on to get the job done.
Also, understand that having hobbies and passions outside of work is important to maintaining a good mental health and avoiding burnout.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
I have always been very passionate about painting and art from a young age. I even went to an art school and later on decided to pursue business as a career. As a member of the Toronto Street Art community, I have participated in many street art programs and challenges. I like to create colorful, large-scale abstract paintings and murals inspired by nature, sound and movement. Some of the pieces I have created recently include the “Modern Mandala”, a sidewalk decal on a planter box on Gerrard East and “Birth of Sound,” on a traffic control box in the Toronto Financial District. I also do art for social justice causes. I painted a butterfly-themed mural on a laneway sponsored by the David Suzuki Foundation with the objective of raising awareness about butterflies. I also painted in the Graffiti Ally of downtown Toronto as a participant in a community project dedicated to the Black Lives Matter movement
What do you have planned for the next six months?
My plans for the next six months are to launch my first product, expand hiring, create a survey to gain first-party data for entrepreneurs to understand marketing needs better, and finally grow Prosh Marketing further in the US through specific business development plans.
How can our readers connect with you?
Website: www.proshmarketing.com