ROY CHARLES C. SALANGA Co-Founder/Philippines Managing Director AARDVARK MEDIA PTE. LTD.
Gone are the days when entrepreneurship was the choice only for retirees. The young generation now has embraced entrepreneurship as a chosen career. Some are jumping into entrepreneurship long before they go into retirement.
Roy Charles C. Salanga was working in Singapore as a web designer until entrepreneurship called him. He co- founded AARDVARK Media Pte. Ltd. in Singapore with four other young friends from other ASEAN countries in the world of IT. The company will soon make a presence in the Philippines.
According to Roy, AARDVARK was formed by four friends, two Indonesians, one Singaporean and he, the Filipino partner. The company has been registered in Singapore and is undergoing registration process in the Philippines, as well.
Roy, who works as a web designer in Singapore for seven years already, has been friends with his business partners as they are all working in the island state and drawn together by the same profession.
They decided to come up with a revolutionary app that would help each person manage his schedules and events in a comprehensive and easy manner. The idea is to have initially a regional presence in ASEAN.
The Philippines was a good link to their plan because Filipinos are very active in social media being the world’s capital for SMS and is number two in FB accounts.
The group initially spent as much as $ 30,000 in development cost to come up with an innovative app that gathers together the best features of existing apps for messaging, calling and scheduling into one personal event organizer.
Roy said they need to invest because their app is not an ordinary app but a comprehensive personal events organizer.
“It is a bridge between that link both messaging and calls and connects it to one’s personal events,” says Roy.
At present, some apps offer personal planner on a daily basis. But their idea seeks to be more than a reminder app.
“What we want is to be become the ultimate personal events organizer,” says Roy.
The group wants to create a handy personal event organizer app that allows you to easily create, organize, and send out invitations. Never miss out on the most important events of your life. Thus, the word beep was more apt to be used to keep one in sync with his events.
Beep means a short, relatively high- pitched tone produced by a horn, electronic device, or the like as a signal, summons, or warning. The beep logo also comes alone with that outward signals says it all.
“With Beep, your life will be more organized. You can send email, check schedule, answer calls without going in and out of the app,” says Roy.
Aside from that, there are opportunities for merchants to post and do business. This is made possible because when you have a meeting in an establishment, you can also check in and that store can tie up with AARDVARK for promotions.
Beep can make social gatherings a breeze with these features for free.
Under INVITE, one can create and invite your friends whether it’s for personal meetings, gatherings or business functions.
The CHAT feature enables you to organize and coordinate your party with your friends across multiple mobile platforms through Beep’s instant messaging service.
FIND can easily plan an itinerary using Beep’s built- in location service that allows your guests to easily find and check- in at the destination.
You can SHARE your thoughts, experiences, and cherished moments with friends and loved ones in social networking.
Affiliated merchants can also enjoy promotions from Beep.
Already, Beep has been tapped for the upcoming Hair Asia event.
“Our vision is to become the ultimate personal event organizer app,” says Roy.
“But we can also be tapped for corporates. Companies can sign up with us if they have events,” says Roy.
They have started marketing in Singapore and so far it has attracted some users already, including in the Philippines.
Roy noted that there has been no Filipino popular app yet. The GRAB Taxi app is Malaysian while the app Flappy Bird is Vietnamese.
The company also envisions to become a successful ASEAN app. With the economic integration of ASEAN, having an app for ASEAN would be more attractive.
As the design director for Beep, Roy cited the challenges of putting up an app. It needs constant upgrading because it is also difficult to maintain your ranking.
“It really entails a lot of hard work and constant study. There are only a few apps that you really need, so if there is an opportunity grab it,” says Roy.
His involvement with Beep is also an opportunity for Roy, who has been working as web designer in Singapore for a long time, to come home to Manila more frequently.
While there have been reports of harassments of Filipinos working in Singapore, Roy says he did not personally experience one. In fact, he has enjoyed working there for seven years already in the company of other IT professionals from different nationalities.
“Respect begets respect,” says Roy, who is now focusing on user interface designer and works along with other nationalities including Singaporeans, Indians, Vietnamese and Indonesians.
He is still connected with RAZER ( Asia- Pacific) Pte Ltd. in Singapore as its UI visual designer where he manages and supports the team’s marketing collaterals and design direction.
In Singapore, Roy says, it pays to become a web designer. It has been financially rewarding for him. Thus, he has stayed there since 2007.
“Web designers are in demand in Singapore,” says Roy.
A computer science graduate at the AMA Computer University, Roy first worked for a company at the UP Ayala Technopark until 2007.
“I am of those AMA graduates who really made it,” says Roy, who stressed that it does not matter which school you finished a degree as long as you do your job well. AMA is one of the few schools in the country with focus on offering IT courses.
Roy noted that as a student in computer science, he would join competitions.
“At the end of the day, it is you the student who will make the difference not the school,” says the proud AMA graduate.
“Talent creates a lot of opportunities but hard work takes you there,” stresses Roy.
Roy is knowledgeable on the following programming/ software applications:
Advanced to Expert knowledge in Adobe Creative Products / After Effects / HTML / Javascript / PHP/ CSS / Rapid Prototyping / Photography / Image Manipulation / Freehand Drawing and Sketching.
As a web designer, Roy says, he needs to constantly hone and update his portfolio and skills.
“Lots of programs are coming up so we need to be up to date all the time,” says Roy, who keeps checking online of new programs as there have been new launches of new computer software.
According to Roy, web designing is one field where Filipinos can excel in because of their natural artistic inclination and ingenuity.
“Web designing is a work of art and most Filipinos excel in this job,” he adds citing the well- paid Filipino singers and entertainers abroad.
Most of the web designers who really excel are Indonesians, Vietnamese and Filipinos.
The job of a web designer is to make it is easier for the user to navigate a particular app. So, he is primarily in charge of all the dots and arrows that appear within a particular app.
“It is our job to make the app easier to use,” says Roy. Thus, some apps do not have lasting presence online because users have a hard time using it.
“An app must be user- friendly for it to get users,” adds Roy.
If there are no sign ups in a month, the app can easily slide down and there are only top ten apps that are top priorities. They stay on top because users find them useful and relevant. The more users, the more earnings for the app.
In the case of personal event organizer, Roy says there has been a lot who tried and failed. But he is confident Beep has a staying power because it offers a comprehensive app where one can do chat, emails, messaging, calls, scheduling in a single app. No one has done that yet.
Facebook does not have a strong feature as events organizer, “ours is a niche app.”
Beep is here to stay.