Improved Focus and Growth Strategy as a Guiding Light

We talked to William de Torvy-Ballou on how DTB Carbyne provides creative design and technical solutions and here is what he said about it.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

William de Torvy-Ballou: My immediate family is fine and healthy – thank God. The virus has affected my extended family with varying degrees of severity, but by and large, we are doing well.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded DTB Carbyne.

William de Torvy-Ballou: I’m a human; passionate about humanitarian causes. I’m also a maverick and love business. For me, business is a vehicle to help me solve the problems I care about. I’ve always been entrepreneurially minded, and I first started working at 12 years old – out at 5 am for my paper-round 364 days a year. I’d then reinvest earnings into my trainers selling the business at school, then moved up to more high priced products, continuing this pattern for 5 years. Loads of little things in between that and now with varying successes, but that was my starting point.

Fast-forward to 2018, DTB Carbyne is here because I got to the point where I had learned a valuable skill in coding, having been a Software Engineer by trade for 4-5 years at that point, and I was ready to add value and solve problems with it under my own direction. Having a vague idea that I wanted to give my career towards primarily working on African problems through Createch innovations was my guiding principle.

How does DTB Carbyne innovate? 

William de Torvy-Ballou: The creative talent we have here in the UK is second to none in the world combined with extremely talented designers and engineers in the UK and Africa, we solve problems in spaces we understand, creatively fusing different inputs together. We work with companies that share our values and that want to explore ways to showcase something new to the world with newly found synthesis. We are innovative by design, and co-innovate through our clients by proxy.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

William de Torvy-Ballou: The truth here is – our pipeline disintegrated, and some exciting collaborations didn’t happen as budgets were halved, and I had to take a step back to find my footing. It was a big blow, and most of 2020 felt like we were driving with a foot on the gas, with either no gas in the tank or the other foot on the brakes. It was tough. But in that adversity, we’ve grown by repositioning ourselves, and vastly improving our growth strategy.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

William de Torvy-Ballou: but nothing too difficult for anyone other than myself. The lessons learned were to grow an even thicker skin, bite down into the gum shield and fight back even harder than before.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety?

William de Torvy-Ballou: Partly through taking action; usually stress builds up when I’m thinking about a concern, and there’s not enough or no action towards solving it. Acting on the problem stops me from overthinking, which in turn causes stress and anxiety.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

William de Torvy-Ballou: There are a few who provide some of the services we provide, but the aim is to grow quicker, more strategically and move from the checker’s board to the chessboard and remain focused on our mission.

Your final thoughts?

William de Torvy-Ballou: Find ways for rapid revenue recovery or seek ways to exit your business rather than fold; take advantage of Gov initiatives relating to the pandemic, review your business insurance closely to see if you could get a business interruption payout. Feel free to reach out, and I will expand on this for you.

Your website?

www.dtbcarbyne.io | Creative digital product studio