“The key to turning dreams into reality is action”, this famous adage by Jim Rohn rings true for many aspiring entrepreneurs to stay grounded and transcend their hopes into actuality within our turbulent and uncertain business landscape. While Mr Jeemon Fernandes, founding director of Powersoft Technologies, was pursuing his Masters in Computer Application, he had a vision of starting his own software development company. As a highly ambitious and driven individual, Mr Fernandes was determined to achieve his goals. As such, he set out to accumulate a wealth of experience within the corporate world for 15 years, before starting his very own company in 2013 – Powersoft Technologies. From its humble beginning as a IT services company, Powersoft has expanded ever since to a global technology services and solutions provider, with an offshore team in India and branches in the Middle East.
In 2020, Powersoft Technologies was named as a Top 10 Oracle Solutions provider in the APAC region, a feat that was only made possible by the indomitable spirit displayed by Mr Fernandes and his team over the years.
Not Always A Bed of Roses …
When we define or measure success, we often notice the tangible, material achievements and statistics. However, we tend to overlook the intangibles, such as the amount of effort and dedication; the heart and soul poured into the development of Powersoft over the years. From its inception, “it was all about forming a good team and getting the right people on board”. He also had to establish a solid foundation of clientele and build a reputation for his company to drive sales, which was further compounded by skeptics.
Nevertheless, Mr Fernandes persevered and made a name for himself in the industry through the execution of projects and the implementation of solutions with zero defects. With a strong passion for his work, Mr Fernandes derives satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment through the completion of various projects.
“There are certain projects which we do, such as our current one to improve education systems. Demos are already rolling out and it is truly satisfying to see our project come into life to improve existing systems.“
Additionally, Mr Fernandes attended various IT related events and seminars to build connections, all of which would serve as the foundation of Powersoft, a springboard for their rapid expansion in the future. Apart from Oracle services, Powersoft also provides a myriad of services such as Cloud and Middleware solutions, SAP solutions, as well as Citrix solutions which have tapped into the demands of new customers and hit the ground running for Powersoft.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Powersoft experienced a period of downtime, which have affected their development plans and revenue. Nevertheless, Mr Fernandes viewed the crisis as an opportunity to regroup and focus on other areas. Improving on their existing software, the team worked tirelessly to optimize their processes through automation. This saw the creation of their very own payslip generator, as well as a customer tracking system to boost the efficiency of their operations.
“I think its the scale of growth. It is limitless, unlike in normal corporate work. The flexibility of making your own decisions, to be able to digitalize other businesses is phenomenal.”
A firm like no other
Since its incorporation in 2013, Mr Fernandes has always sought to develop a warm and vibrant working culture in which every employee feels included and recognized for their work. Additionally, Mr Fernandes goes the extra mile to organize team bonding activities, such as bowling and go-karting sessions which would pave the way for amiable relationships at the office. He also believes in fairness and equality amongst his staff, in which he is flexible with granting time offs to compensate those who worked tirelessly.
“The team, as I see it, is certainly having a good synergy among them. And it’s not like a hard and fast rule. We have a flexible working culture, in terms of working from home and from office.”
Aside from their team spirit, Mr Fernandes places a strong emphasis on community engagement and regularly involves his staff members to give back to society. In the past, they have provided classes for foreign workers from construction companies over the weekends, to impart useful skills on the Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel. He believes that such classes would serve to equip them with improved presentation skills, and useful tools to better track their finances.
The future and beyond
As the saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. For the flow of time is ceaseless and unrelenting, Mr Fernandes is continually aspiring to better the ambitions of other competitors to preserve its competitive edge in the industry. Moving forward, Mr Fernandes has plans to expand Powersoft into neighbouring countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia as well as Taiwan in the spirit of increasing their customer pool. Additionally, Mr Fernandes strives to recruit new staff members to his ranks with plans to scale up on their manpower and revenue growth in the coming years.
Besides, Mr Fernandes seeks to bolster the strengths of his offshore team through regular engagements to better track their progress and take up more software development projects. Nevertheless, his interpersonal skills as well as his steadfastness in the face of adversity has undoubtedly developed a robust foundation for Powersoft. With that, the future of Powersoft appears promising and propitious with Mr Fernandes at the helm.
