On this week’s edition of ‘The Founder’, we feature Dian Baduge; a young entrepreneur with expertise in Marketing, Human Resource Management, Publishing and Corporate Training, His recent venture of launching the country's only career guidance and higher education networking institution has made a significant change in the industry, and has changed the way young professionals perceive career guidance. At present, Dian is also building Sri Lanka's first ever virtual exhibition platform, and is attempting to bring ‘Augmented Reality’ in to the educational sector. 

What inspired you to start your business?

Hunger to seek solutions, for problems I have no real attachments with. After having a somewhat successful career in training and recruitment, I closely witnessed the gap we had as a nation in terms of career guidance and access for reliable information for young students across the country. I always thought, if we could build a comprehensive solution to understand the skills and the passion of a student at a young age, and if we can help the student to develop his or her higher education and employability around their true capacities, we can develop an intelligent workforce in the country.

What was the journey like, from the start to building the business up to where it is right now?
Pretty challenging. I think every person who has established a business, in any part of the world, will have their own stories to relate which are full of complex challenges. We had started this venture at a very challenging time in the country and the situation in the country just kept getting worse. We were on a mission to build a national organization and we needed to expedite the awareness process. We had to create awareness on the importance of career guidance amongst students and young professionals. Overtime, we built a network of over 200 higher education entities, including state and non-state institutions. We added reputed Education and Career Counselors to our network alongside Occupational Counselors and Academics to build a universally accepted and reputed career guidance solution. Today, we offer career guidance for over 80,000 students annually and we own the country's only complete virtual education networking platform. We host hundreds of unique events annually. We have also built mechanism whereby we are able to offer a significant number of scholarships annually for students. We have also just launched a special scholarship program in affiliation with the University of Bolton and the University of Northwood to provide Rs. 300 million worth of scholarships to local students.

What were the hardships you faced as an Entrepreneur and what was the toughest one yet?
Decision making. It's a double-edged sword. Every single decision you make has a great impact not just for you, but for your entire team and the brand you want to build. Future Lanka Research and Development Foundation was established in 2019. I don't think we ever had a luxury to sail in normal calm water, even for a day. We had to deal with the Easter bombings at the inception, then Covid19 which was swiftly followed by an economic collapse. Hence, every decision we made in the last few years were crucial for the growth and survival of the organization. The more difficult decision we made was to go entirely virtual at the beginning of the pandemic. I believe this was the gamechanger for us as an organization. 

Being an Entrepreneur, what was it like facing the global pandemic? How did it affect the business?
We were a very small entity at the start of the pandemic. In a way, this helped us to execute and maneuver with more ease. We self-taught ourselves how to survive the crisis effectively; prediction, anticipation and resistance. Our team adapted a tech savvy approach.

Explain a few marketing strategies you have implemented, and what makes them successful?
Our marketing strategy was quite simple. We created an organization with a large network of students, which gave us an enormous advantage. We created an unprecedented solution for career guidance in terms of comprehensiveness. This was the ultimate positioning of a brand in education, where exclusivity mattered on top of everything else. 

What motivates you to wake up in the morning and do what you do on daily basis?
I consider myself lucky; I get to wake up each day and do what I love. I get to work on my passion whilst making money. If that doesn’t motivate me, I don’t know what else could. 
What separates your company from its competitors?
The trust, reliability and uniqueness.

What is your definition of the word “success”?
Success is a lousy preacher, it seduces smart people into thinking that they can't lose. Hence, I don't get motivated by success. I get motivated by the process.

How did you discover your passion for your business?
Ever since my childhood, I struggled to be a follower. I always wanted to lead. Hence, it was natural for me to start my own business that would enable me to carve my own niche in an industry.

What advice would you give other start-ups?
Understand your passion. Get yourself educated. Seek support. Embrace the risk. Never give up on your dreams.