"Be flexible and adapt to the change, no matter what curveball is thrown at you, with a bit of patience, perseverance, and subject grip you can overcome the odds and prevail."
Meet Athar Gilani. A creative mind and soul with a never-ending thirst for perfection.
Athar is set on a journey to revolutionize the digital media industry with ideas and craft that synergizes creativity and purpose. Currently working as the Business Unit Head at Buzzflick, he has completely re-energized and re-structured the company to perform at its best.
With the hands-on knowledge of design, audio, video, and production techniques, he is complimented with his business acumen and marketing foresight, enabling him to have a vision and direction for the unit’s bright future.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Athar Gilani: Hello, my name is Athar Gilani, and I work with BuzzFlick as a Business Unit Head. I have almost a decade’s worth of experience and vast expertise in managing brands and projects in the realms of digital communication, media, and design. I hold a master’s degree in Media Sciences (Advertising) along with a bachelors in Film & TV production.
Here at BuzzFlick we are all about adding the ‘Buzz’ into your business. We provide B2B services in the realm of digital media creation, from design to all sorts of 2D/3D media applications. A video animation agency presently based in Houston, USA, and has franchises in Dover, and New York.
What began as a small startup is regarded today as one of the industry’s leading video animation businesses, making substantial contributions to the digital landscape.
The company specializes in producing high-quality and engaging animated video solutions. We are a renowned agency that uses artistic video content to bring brands to life and assist them in their growth. We have honed our craft over many years, and do nothing short of utmost perfection.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Athar Gilani: Businesses worldwide have been impacted by the pandemic, from tiny start-ups to major companies; each firm has suffered significantly.
However, these two years have taught me a great deal. If we’re talking business, one thing I’ve learned is to have an optimistic attitude regardless of how bad things become.
When you are positive, it is much easier to overcome adversity since it does not have a detrimental effect on you. Additionally, it assists you in seeking out more effective solutions and motivates you to keep going on until things get better.
The key here is to be focused, motivated, and strive for the best. Be flexible and adapt to the change, no matter what curveball is thrown at you, with a bit of patience, perseverance, and subject grip you can overcome the odds and prevail.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Athar Gilani: With the repercussions of the pandemic on the global economy in mind, I would strongly encourage all company owners to reconsider their business models and marketing efforts.
Since the pandemic, the whole digital environment has shifted. Numerous businesses, for example, were substantially impacted by the pandemic and presumably lasting shocks to the global market.
Concentrating on these two areas, I believe, will benefit firms in the upcoming years.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Athar Gilani: Being in the digital media and marketing industry, there has been an uptake of business here. Since more and more businesses are moving into the digital realm and away from the traditional ways, there has been an increase in demand for services like digital media marketing, digital asset creation, and overall, more awareness has been created to explore these new technologies.
So naturally, this results in a greater demand for services like ours and we have adapted by exploring these venues, being updated with the technologies, making ourselves easily available for the opportunity seekers, and offering some competitive and bundled services for a quick adaptation and ease of mind. This adds to our vision of being a one-stop solution for a complete range of branding and digital media asset creation services providers.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Athar Gilani: Generally speaking, advice on what to expect would have been nice. This pandemic really took us by surprise and we are left with no choice but to abide by the general health guidelines. We all know that the uptake and acceptance of the health guidelines have been low by the general public, which resulted in catastrophic numbers of deaths and new cases.
Moving ahead in 2022, I would intend to work extensively on adapting these health practices at the workplace, inform and make sure that the team is able to perform without any hindrance despite the ongoing pandemic and wish for the nation to recover as soon as possible.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Athar Gilani: Well, I am very optimistic in this regard. You might be familiar with the fact that video is the most commonly used medium to communicate and deliver messages to the audience.
We are a video animation and production company, and this is can be a great opportunity for us. Even today, I consider us to be one of the industry’s leaders. But by the end of 2022, I believe we will have risen to the top of the world’s animation industry with a tenfold increase in MRR.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Athar Gilani: I wish I could find that out myself, and reduce it but I would think a good 10-12 hours, all devices combined.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Athar Gilani: I use stories and examples that my team can really relate to. These are mostly real-life examples and scenarios, related to the digital industry. Some noticeable names that usually come up are Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates, Branson, etc … as their stories are really inspiring and hold a key to envisioning greatness and actually achieving it…
Sometimes you do have to give them a more fictional story, especially when it’s about client relations, where I put them in the center and then ask them to roleplay and create scenarios and numbers… ‘what would you do if it was you‘ type deal. This really keeps them connected, involved, motivated, and recently showed great results in terms of client retention.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Athar Gilani: COVID-19 is keeping people on the tip of their toes. Businesses have been confronted with new obstacles during the last two years.
The real challenge, as I see it at the moment, is ‘Finding the Right Customers.’ As a result of their significant losses over the last two years, people now lack the funds necessary to complete their tasks, creating problems for businesses like ours, who are unable to complete tasks for such clients due to their unwillingness to pay the required amount to deliver a particular service.
Apart from that, educating and informing clients to uptake new ways and explore new opportunities is also a challenge on its own. The convincing and reasoning part is one thing, presenting them with a solution is another, and this is where the real opportunity exists for both parties.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Athar Gilani: We have always kept a balanced approach towards employing all available technologies to our leverage, but moving forward, I believe in NFTs, especially being a tech-driven digital assets creation company and a bunch of some of the most creatives buzz artists onboard… I believe with the power of NFT we can transform the digital landscape.
I believe BuzzFlick can capitalize on this emerging opportunity. We’re already working on it and will soon begin offering services for ‘Custom Digital Art (NFT) Development.’
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Athar Gilani: This is indeed a sad set of numbers, but that’s right, people don’t leave jobs, they leave their bosses.
Data can tell you many things, but you will need a huge amount of it over a large span of time to see how individuals are performing. but let’s keep data aside, I believe that talking, mentoring, and getting to know your employee is the key here, especially in challenging times like these, I have seen it myself, and it is quite difficult to watch your coworkers suffer in such difficult situations. We are aware that the COVID-19 is still in existence and that anything can happen, maybe something worse.
Therefore, it is essential to have an empathic attitude toward your staff and to strive to be an active listener. This is the one change I feel can make a significant difference and help to strengthen your relationship with your employees and retain the good ones for a long time.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Athar Gilani: I would say, super-sight is a superpower I would love for my business to have so that we can be well aware of what is to come and then plan and execute accordingly. I believe time is the real asset and difference-maker for a services company like ours. If you are able to market an offer or a solution ahead of its time, you get the first mover’s advantage and can capitalize on the opportunity better.
So with ‘super-sight’, we will be able to foresee what is trending in terms of technologies, topics, practices, etc, and offer specific solutions to allow our customers to get an advantage in adapting that revolutionary practice and capitalize on it.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Athar Gilani: Success in 2022 is to be known, viable, and sought-after business or idea one can be.
Having good numbers in all aspects is of course desirable, but being there at top of the mind in everything that’s new and in-demand is the key to being successful. So as I have been saying, being ahead of the curve with new practices, experiments and adaptation are I think what real success metrics are in this day and age .. being a trendsetter for others to follow.
The real success for me is to see BuzzFlick excel in the animation industry. I highly look forward to working on feature-length films, animated titles, and documentaries with renowned movie producers and Hollywood stars. The end goal is to become an active part of Hollywood and reach the pinnacles of the animation industry.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Athar Gilani for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Buzzflick Videos, you can do it through their – Linkedin Page
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