Determination earns Saladi best results

David Saladi is a classic example of professionals who change employers at will in their desperate search for job satisfaction.

Saladi first secured employment with Montfort Media in Balaka, then moved to Nation Publications Limited (NPL) before joining Blantyre Newspapers Limited (BNL).

But none quenched his thirst for job satisfaction. He was working merely to earn a living.

Feeling lost or overwhelmed is understandable and for many people, simply part of the process.

A degree in business does not always include training in the practical skills an entrepreneur needs to start a company, and even when it does, actually applying what you have learned can be daunting.

But having worked for three reputable media houses, Saladi had acquired requisite practical skills to apply into a new business, most especially if it fell in line with printing.

He, thus, resigned from BNL in 2010 to start his own company.

“I didn’t have enough capital, but I was determined to do it. I’ve always believed that great business starts with a great idea. And if you’ve a great idea, you’re already well on your way,” he explains.

He says he envisioned a company based on the best idea; a company he could believe in, heart, soul and wallet.

This was the force behind Saladi to partner with his long-time friend to register LinkAd  Communications—a marketing and advertising agency.

“We started this company with K800 000 worth of capital. This is the money I got from BNL as my last pay and benefits. We were only the two of us working for the company until production started picking up when we decided to recruit additional staff,” he narrates.

LinkAd Communications, which specialises in offset printing, has been growing steadily over the past three years.

And as if following in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi who once said, ‘Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible,’ LinkAd Communications appears set to achieve the unimaginable.

By November this year, its investments had grown to K10 million and Saladi owes this success to a number of companies, including Chibuku Products Limited (CPL) and Indetrust, which have been consistent in giving them business as one way of promoting local industry.

This has also helped the company create employment for 11 people who would otherwise be jobless.

Located at Mandala in Blantyre, the company boasts of a heavy duty printing machine capable of printing full colour on a A1 size paper.

“We’re set to grow big and create more jobs for the youth,” he assures.

Regarding the current economic situation, Saladi says fragility of the kwacha is the major concern to the printing industry.

He explains that the instability of the local currency has, on several occasions, led to loss of business to their company.

“This industry relies on materials made from outside this country such as plates, inks, developers and papers. Therefore, any slight slump of the kwacha against major foreign currencies calls for price adjustment.

“In the process, we lose clients because some choose to do without when prices go up. This impacts negatively on our business,” he narrates.

But Saladi reveals that inventing requires passion, perseverance and patience.

He says the country’s youth can equally achieve big things if they keep being self-motivated, enthusiastic and persistent in their business ideas.

“While passion motivates people to persevere, enthusiasm becomes essential to convince not only others of the worthiness of your ideas, but to convince yourself as well. You’ll need a lot of hard work before an idea reaches the point where a consumer realises it’s exactly what they’ve been looking for.

“Truly passionate inventors embrace the flaws in an idea, seeing them as pathways to workable solutions,” explains Saladi.