David Matias Virginia is the creator and CEO of DWorks. It was David Matias Virginia’s conviction that, in a marketplace filled with customer relationship management software and project management systems – there was nothing suited for creatives. David recognized the need for creative businesses and photographers to have better tools to help them succeed and grow without adding any more work or difficulty.
David was compelled to create DWorks out of necessity for many of his coworkers and rivals in the photography sector. DWorks is now recognized for delivering the most dependable and easy-to-use studio management system, having served hundreds of photographers.
David doesn’t think he’d ever be able to make a career as a professional photographer, but he works hard to stay on top of the game. His desire to enhance the photographer’s community and make it more efficient has driven him to grow DWorks into the workhorse it is today. Despite his company’s improved yearly growth, David is committed to maintaining his small-business attitude.
David is a philanthropist and the creator of DWorks.org, a drug rehabilitation organization. He also works as a social entrepreneur to help people in need throughout the world.
Thanks for joining us! Let’s start with getting to know who David Matias Virginia is. And What are you doing these days?
I am David Matias Virginia, a professional photographer who loves taking pictures. My need to manage the customers, pictures, editing, contracts, and invoices compelled me to create a system to handle all this. I created DWorks to solve my problem. But I later realized it was a considerable problem in the photography industry. I was fantastic at delivering quality pictures, but often failed to deliver a quality customer experience just because I didn’t have the right organizational tools to expedite my job. That’s why I started DWorks to solve this problem. These days I am working on adding new features to the photography business management software. Recently we have rolled out an Email Marketing system.
What made you decide to become an entrepreneur?
My need! As i mentioned earlier. I was doing great as a photographer but managing the customers, pictures, editing, contracts, and invoices was bogging me down. It was becoming a routine to fail to deliver on time to my customers. I discovered I required a system in place to handle all such tasks in a streamlined manner. To solve my problem, I decided to become an entrepreneur and help myself as well as fellow photographers.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
Excellent Communication Skills
I believe to become successful as an entrepreneur, one needs to be a powerful communicator. No matter if you run a Fortune 500 company or are a solo entrepreneur, you need to know how to communicate effectively to all stakeholders of your business.
As an entrepreneur, I have to communicate with investors, customers, employees, creditors, peers, and mentors on a daily basis. If I have failed to communicate the value of my company efficiently, it’s unlikely my company has ever achieved any success.
Successful entrepreneurs need to master all forms of communication, including one-on-one conversations, group discussions, written communication, and online messages or emails.
Ability To Sell
The soft skill of selling goes hand-in-hand with communication for a successful entrepreneur. If you are able to sell anything and everything, from your services, products, or ideas, you have a bright chance of becoming successful. I believe, selling a business idea to potential investors is the most important and challenging thing.
It’s customary for a budding entrepreneur to be the first salesperson at their company. Those soft selling skills are mandatory to demonstrate value for all stakeholders inside and outside the company.
Unshakable Focus
The path to success is never smooth. Every entrepreneur has his fair share of ups and downs. There are the highs of successes and the lows of setbacks. If an entrepreneur is able to focus and don’t go astray when the going gets tough, success is inevitable for them.
You sound quite passionate about your work; why? Is there a story behind it?
My story to found DWorks is simple. I needed a management system that was specific to the needs of a photographer, something which will help me work efficiently. And I believe every professional photographer faces the same problem as I did and is looking for a solution. I was different because I didn’t wait for anyone else to find the solution but created it myself. And without passion, it would never have been possible.
How do you separate DWorks from your competitors?
It’s simple! Anyone can use it! You don’t need to be tech-savvy to understand and get used to the UI.
What was the biggest problem you encountered launching your management system and how did you overcome it?
My experience of starting my DWorks has been enjoyable and satisfying from day one. I was lucky to get people who helped me build a company from bottom up and handle things perfectly from the very start. Hiring the right team was one thing that was of significant concern for me, and a friend of mine assisted me with that since then, I haven’t encountered any serious problems.
How do you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business and podcast?
My ability to stay driven and motivated to keep going in my business comes down to the seamless process that I have built at DWorks. When I started DWorks, I found it really hard to keep up with all the work, meeting clients, handling staff, and creating systems. But over the years, I have successfully built out a process that has enabled me to stay on top of it. I have mastered time management with experience. Now I try to automate the process most of the time and often spread out the tasks between myself and my team.
What’s the best part of your job?
Bringing life to my ideas! I love it when I see the reality of my imagination. It’s very similar to my work as a photographer. I used to imagine a certain picture and then worked to create it in reality and now I imagine a certain functionality to manage photography business and then strive to realize my ideas into reality.
What is your definition of success?
Everyone has their own definition of success. For me, success is determined by accomplishing the tiniest milestones and goals for my business. What may seem to be the trivial achievement for someone else, is the largest accomplishment for me as an entrepreneur.
Interviews and PR by Matt Peters.
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