Pratap Mendonca, the Co-Founder of Design Infinity LLC, tells us about his exceptional experience throughout the years and the business pathway of Design Infinity. Pratap has over 25 years of experience in the design and sales field.
After starting his company along with the Co-Founders, Pratap Mendonca has used his expertise in Management and sales to ensure exceptional business growth.
Design Infinity provides turnkey design, fit-out, and furniture solutions throughout the UAE. The company started in 2012 and has been evolving exceptionally ever since.
They also have social media presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Learn more about Pratap Mendonca and his company through the interview below.
How did you start your entrepreneurship journey? Do you have some advice for beginners?
After getting an Architecture degree from India, I worked for a year in Goa for an Architecture firm. Then, I went to Qatar and worked as an office furniture dealer for a year. Came to Dubai in April 1998 and worked as an Architect for a Canadian furniture company taking care of the Middle East and India region for 6 years. Later on, I worked as an Architect and then as Head of the Design Dept. and area manager for office furniture dealers in Dubai for 5 years. Before establishing Design Infinity, I worked in the sales and leasing department for a year with Dubai Properties.
While I was working, in 2007, I started investing in Real estate in India along with my brother. After getting 15 years of work experience in design and sales, I realized that now I could start a company and make it big.
In July 2012, along with my wife Scytle Fernandes and Geetha Nayak founded Design Infinity.
We started with 2 people and now we have grown to 700 plus.
In October 2015, we established a joinery factory, and now we have our own state-of-the-art 60,000 sqft Joinery, Metal, Glass, Upholstery and signage factory in Dubai Investment Park.
Further, in Jan 2016 established the Abu Dhabi branch of Design Infinity.
I also co-founded Grand Infinity Medical Centre in March 2014, and at present, we have 2 medical centers and 2 Pharmacies in Dubai.
Advice for beginners:
Work hard, keep learning, improve daily, and impact society by surpassing your capabilities and limitations.
What do you believe is the most crucial part of continuing business seamlessly?
Team members and client-centric approach, focus on high quality and adding value to the clients.
We saw that you are active as a leader in multiple companies. What are your goals through your companies, and how do you plan to help individuals with them?
Growing and expanding business to GCC countries. Making design Infinity billion-dollar company in next 10 years. Founding a new business, heading it, and making it successful.
Describe yourself in one word.
COACH – Inspiring team members to do and give their best.
Do employees’ energy and enthusiasm have a hand in business success? How do you plan to motivate your team to go the extra mile?
I truly believe that whatever Design Infinity has achieved and become today is because of our team member’s cooperation, hard work, and dedication. We don’t like to use the word employee. We call them team members.
Below are some initiatives we do to motivate our team to go the extra mile.
Design Infinity Team At The New Joinery Factory
Open and friendly atmosphere. We celebrate birthdays and all festivals like EID, Diwali, and Christmas. We actively participate in month-long Dubai fitness challenges. In addition, we have regular lunches for the team members. Every year we have an appraisal and give bonuses to all team members. In spite of the difficult 2020 year because of covid -19, we retained all the team members. In addition, we always celebrate team members’ achievements.
How would you describe your leadership style?
Leadership style- Democratic, participative, risk-taking, hands-on, open, fair, and reliable.
Did you face any challenges during your career span? If so, how were you able to overcome them?
Yes. Initially, as a new company, we struggled to get the business. Then, we started working on being competitive and delivering the project on time with high quality. We had to start from scratch and build our team and infrastructure. Our client base grew over time, and we started getting repeat business.
Are you adapting to digital transformation? How is it helping your business?
Yes. We do. We have an in-house IT Team, and we ensure our team is up to date with technological advances. Furthermore we introduce and adopt emerging technologies regularly. During the covid-19 pandemic, we could manage 100% of our team members to work from home within a week. We also have an in-house ERP.
Do you use innovative ideas to be unique?
We ensure we are always innovative. Our designs are always innovative, and we use a lot of innovative materials in our projects.
Further, we encourage and support innovative ideas in our organization. Every year we have the best idea competition for all team members and the best 5 ideas we will implement.
Where is your leadership going? What benefits do your clients get from your company in this competitive world?
To make Design Infinity the number 1 design-build company in the Middle East.
Benefits to clients:
- On-time delivery of the project, High quality, competitive pricing, and client-centric approach.
- All in-house capabilities like Design, MEP, IT, Office Furniture, Project Management, HSE, QA & QC, and Approvals
- We are the first in the UAE to introduce a 2 years Defects Liability Period ( DLP ) for our clients. The industry standard is 1-year DLP.
- We are the first in the UAE to introduce Complementary Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED ) certification for our clients.
Connect with Pratap Mendonca on LinkedIn.
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