BEING an entrepreneur was written in the stars, so to speak, for Julio Miguel P. Azurin.
After an internship with an information and communications technology conglomerate, the 24-year-old CEO of Huskee Digital realized he was not cut out to be an employee.
“I had this deep sense of awareness that working as an employee is not my line. At first, I applied at fast-moving consumer goods [FMCG] companies, banks and multinational companies,” Azurin told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview in Makati City. “Later, I contemplated on my options and decided to pursue my path to entrepreneurship.”
His parents were initially surprised by the leap of faith undertaken by Azurin, considering he was a tyro in entrepreneurial field. Nevertheless, his passion on entrepreneurship cannot be denied because his father Jorge is a famous technopreneur in the country.
“I guess being an entrepreneur is in my DNA,” Azurin said. “Back in high school in Ateneo [de Manila University], I was active in buying and selling products during school fairs.”
In May 2015 he formed “Platoph” with his cousin. It is an app-based business in the mold of AirBnB for chefs.
“You can book a chef to cook for you for a certain function,” Azurin said of the mobile application.
Other ventures
IN August last year he stepped down from the business to pursue other ventures.
“I was suddenly left with nothing to do,” he quipped.
Azurin embarked on freelancing as a marketing consultant. To attract clients, he dangled free service for a month for interested clients. He had a great start as a dozen people availed his services.
“It came from a wide variety of businesses and age groups. Out of the original 12, three clients decided to continue the consultancy services for three months.
On April this year Azurin decided to raise the bar of his entrepreneurial goal by forming his own marketing consulting company called Huskee Digital.
“We named it after the Siberian Husky; they’re very intuitive and agile,” he said. “That’s how we want to work. They’re also very energetic and full of life—also the values we want to exhibit in our work.”
To get started, he hired four people— Ysa Tabian, Mikee Fernando, Kerwin Yaolim and Bianca Felipe. Huskee Digital offers services, such as audit and playbook, content creation, social-media engagement and training and workshops. Furthermore, it is also offer search engine optimization, high-quality technology marketing service, blogging, Web design and product shooting.
Acceler8 aid
BEING a doting parent, the older Azurin gives his son some tips on mentorship.
“I appreciate the way he works,” Azurin’s father said.
To boost their market visibility, Azurin got a coworking space in Acceler8 in the space provider’s Paseo de Roxas branch. He said Acceler8 served as their connection to get their first few clients.
“They also gave us an opportunity to do their digital marketing. They continuously provide us with support in many aspects— through events, networking and connecting us with the right people,” he said.
Huskee Digital will leverage its familiarity with digital technology to push their business, especially on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups. He pointed out the company’s biggest value is not the service engine but the youthful enthusiasm and energy of the team.
“If somebody hires us, we will not be on a transactional mode but provide relational value,” Azurin said. “We will help you embrace digital marketing. Our goal is to be the go-to agency of SMEs and start-ups.”
He added going digital complemented by proper approach and technique in the current environment is advantageous for SMEs because they can now compete in a more level playing field.
Blaming Ateneo
BEING exposed to social media for the past decade, Azurin believes he and his team can articulate and expound on the value of digital marketing to their clients. Belonging to the millennials and Generation Z, the group can promote the significance and impact of digital marketing to their audience, he said.
Aside from running Huskee Digital, Azurin is also a lecturer on “Cross Culture” for undergraduate students at the Admu campus in Quezon City. This is his version of paying it forward to serve other people.
“I blame Ateneo for being service oriented,” he said. “It gives you high satisfaction when you made a difference.”