Meet Clifford Dessables From Focused Media – Offering Digital Marketing Services To Small Businesses

Clifford Dessables has founded and is currently managing Focused Media, a company he created to support small business owners and entrepreneurs to reach momentum in the digital marketing era. While he continues to seek more ways to help his clients, he is also passionate in bringing technology to the inopportune areas in Haiti by developing computer labs. He tells us more of his journey with Focused Media and his plans for the next few years in this interview below. 

Tell us about yourself?

My Name is Clifford Dessables but mostly go by Cliff. Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and moved to the States at the age of 16. Completed the last two years of High School and went to follow my passion for technologies. I have a degree in Information Technology and have worked in IT for about 15 years. The last eight years were exciting, I worked as a Network and Security Engineer for a fortune 500 company. Haiti has always been in my heart, and sometimes I feel as if I never left. I feel very proud and grateful to be Haitian, being Haitian has taught me many principles and life lessons.

I am also a philanthropist. I founded a nonprofit Rebuild Haiti Now in 2012 to give back to my community. The goal is to build computer labs in less fortunate schools in the countryside of Haiti; however, we wanted to start somewhere. We have done many different social activities in Haiti, helped children with their school tuition, organized yearly summer camps, back to school and Christmas parties in different country-side towns.  I am on a long journey to improve myself every day, so I am always learning. I am also a husband and father of 2 beautiful daughters.

What inspired you to start Focused Media?

Nothing but demands. It’s funny how this whole thing started.

After emotionally shutting down my previous very successful venture, I was asking myself what’s next for me. I didn’t know what it is that I could offer to consumers or small business owners. The Technologies that I was exposed to or have been working with cost thousands of thousands of dollars and are only affordable by big enterprises. I wanted to bring a solution that a small business can afford, and I kept searching and searching.

Digital marketing is something that I’ve always liked, and I was the only one doing it in my past ventures. One thing I failed to realize is that friends and family were always reaching out to me for advice on branding and how to promote their business on social media. One Day then I told my friend that calls me all the time for advice “Pay me then I ‘ll handle it all for you, and she said, “Ok Sure.” She thought it was a joke, but then the conversation went on.

I didn’t even know how much to charge, so I told her then let me work for you for two weeks for free to see if you like what I do. It was a done deal, that was my very first client, and I realized there are thousands of other entrepreneurs who don’t have the time and skills to market their businesses online.

Who are your clients today?

We are focused on small business owners; solopreneurs and we recently built a product aiming specifically at restaurants and gyms (We have the secret sauce for them).

How does your professional background help you in founding your business?

I work for about 15 years in IT. Digital marketing involves a lot of different pieces of technologies but still, I had to learn many new things that did not exist before, and I am still learning a lot every day. I spend much money on coaching and mentors.

How do you compare Digital marketing in Haiti and the U.S.?

I think the businesses in Haiti are not yet entirely taking advantage of the Digital Marketing space whereas in the States companies are cutting off traditional marketing and going fully Digital.

What are some of the current personal and business projects you are working on?

I am trying to engage more now in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Haiti. We are a Team of 10 and 7 of my talented staff work remotely in Haiti.

I have also been working on a virtual call center with a partner. Recently finished our phase 1. Secured some contracts and we have a few agents working now from home. We are currently working on stage 2 to launch officially.

What are some current challenges in your industry?

We love Small business! We love helping new entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life, but they often don’t have a marketing budget.

Our secret sauce “Our Customer Value Journey” is an eight-step process that turns strangers into clients. This cannot be done halfway, and you won’t get the results overnight. It means that an entire team and different pieces of technologies must be involved. Our CVJ focuses on getting clients not likes, shares or comments only. After helping new businesses with their logo, branded collaterals, and website, it is often a challenge to continue the journey with them.

What do you hope to achieve with Focused Media in the next five years?

We are on a mission to help 1000 Businesses grow by 2020, with a global team of 30 and hopefully generate 25% of our revenue from Haiti.

What is one piece of advice you wish you had received when you started your business?

I would say invest as much as possible in coaches and mentors. They can save you a lot of time and money. A simple decision can have a significant impact on your business.

Any advice for young CEOs?

1) Everything will never be clear at the beginning. You need to start. Collaborate as much as possible.

2) Read, Read and Read. Some of the most successful people on Earth often summarize many years of experience in one single book.