Pia Argiratos remembers the days her father used to carry the enormous shoulder-bag-sized mobile phones to his work. It was the only type of mobile phones available at the time, with a limited battery life of a few hours.
Thanks to tech thinkers and the incredibly fast-paced innovation, we now have moved on to carry our smaller and more practical smartphones. Yet even in the 21st century, mobile device’s short battery life is one of the biggest problems people face every day.
And that’s where Pia saw her niche.
She began her equipment supplier business Maximise Technology with hopes to enable people use their mobile devices with an extended battery life. Today, Pia’s business has expanded to offer her clients with many more services.
It is her job to help schools get the right computing systems and sets of iPads and tablets for classes. She helps clients waterproof their devices and find the right mount for tablets. But most importantly what her business has allowed Pia to do is to do what she loves most: help people by creating innovative products that solve people’s problems.
Advice that Pia wishes she’d been given when she started her business:
- Keep learning. It’s okay if what you learn begins to influence and change your business.
- Outsource what you don’t like to do, or what you’re not good at. It’s better to be the manager instead of the doer-of-all-things.
- Systemise from the start, as much as possible. Let the machines do the work!
Pia’s advice for someone who’s thinking about starting his or her own business:
“There are many hard days and mistakes involved when starting a business. Make sure that you have your WHY clearly defined so that you can motivate yourself to keep going, and have a support system for the days you fail to motivate yourself. Be open about how you feel so that people can help you- sometimes it’s just a kind word or a reminder of all that you have achieved that will help you take a deep breath and take the next step forward.”
For Pia, these knowledge areas and skills are essential for anyone starting in business:
- CRM (customer relationship management) and basic bookkeeping skills to help you grasp important information
- Online marketing and marketing automation
- Brand management
We asked Pia to identify the problems in her company that HerBusiness membership solves.
“[HerBusiness membership] provides me with a library of resources to build my skills, and the Roundtable events have given me the opportunity to meet and be inspired by some amazing business women.”
