(Sri Lanka) Abdullah Jasmin: ZaVolt helps businesses bridge the gap between their innovative ideas and turning them into reality.

ZaVolt (PVT) Ltd is a premier agency offering design, marketing, and development services. We specialise in UI/UX design and digital marketing and excel in delivering custom solutions to drive online success. Our team of experts in web development, UI/UX and digital marketing work closely with clients to achieve their goals. We also develop in-house software products such as our award-winning project, “BODO | Hostel Booking and Management System”, which serves to bridge the gap between undergraduates and boarding owners, making the boarding experience simple and convenient.VisionUnleashing the Power of Technology to Drive Success.MissionFoster, empower and positively impact enterprise success through transformative IT solutions.ValuesExcellence-driven team delivering top-tier solutions for brand success.Passionate and creative digital magicians tailoring innovative solutions to unique needs.Empowering businesses with tools to thrive in the digital landscape.Collaborative approach, creating seamless experiences aligned with your vision.Upholding integrity through transparency, reliability, and honestyConstantly innovating with cutting-edge technology for market standout.

Tell us about yourself?

I am Abdullah Jasmin, the founder of ZaVolt and one of the Public Relations Directors of Rotaract in RID 3220 (Sri Lanka & Maldives). Currently, I am a final year Computer Science undergraduate at the University of Colombo (UoC), Sri Lanka. ZaVolt is technically not my first startup rodeo; in fact, back in 2019, just after my Advanced Level examinations (akin to SATs), my friend invited me to join him in founding a startup. I left that startup sometime later, as I was selected for a scholarship at UoC. I participated in and became a part of the champions team in a lot of university-level and industry competitions, and I joined many community service and youth organisations such as AIESEC, Rotaract, and IEEE. This made me develop my skill set, both technical and non-technical, mainly UX Design, Business Analysis, Software Engineering, Problem Solving, Communication, Teamwork and Resilience, as well as understand my passion for service. This also made me understand that I have to make use of these skills for the betterment of society, and eventually, towards the 2nd year of my university journey, I realised that I should start something of my own, so I started ZaVolt with some of my batch mates, and it has been a fantastic ride ever since.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

I would first ask myself to start today and not to put anything for later because building anything takes time, so you might as well fail early rather than delay your failure as it would result in more time and resources lost. I would ask myself to keep hustling and strive to develop my skills even further because hard work always pays off. I would also advise myself to enjoy the journey and take all the opportunities that come your way because you will never know what may end up changing you for the better, and every experience is vital towards making you who you are today.

What problem does your business solve?

ZaVolt helps businesses bridge the gap between their innovative ideas and turning them into reality. Many businesses struggle to translate their vision into functional software due to a lack of internal design expertise or the complexities of software development. We act as an extension of their team, handling the design and software intricacies so they can focus on their core business strengths. Through BODO, a product developed with user-centred design principles honed at ZaVolt, we empower students, especially those from rural areas, to pursue their education by facilitating a smoother transition to university life through easier and faster boarding placement. BODO helps students reduce commuting time, but more importantly, it allows them to focus on their studies by finding suitable accommodations closer to their university much faster. We also address the challenges faced by boarding owners by making it easier to find reliable tenants.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

Our passion for design fuelled our desire to create exceptional solutions. This led us to start ZaVolt, where we help businesses bridge the gap between their innovative ideas and turning them into reality. We target companies looking to develop software solutions or elevate their marketing presence with a focus on design.BODO, a product born from our own struggles, tackles the challenge faced by students, especially those from rural areas, in finding suitable boarding placements. It also addresses the difficulties boarding owners face in finding reliable tenants.

What is your magic sauce?

As mentioned throughout the interview, it’s all design… We believe in creating products that go beyond aesthetics to create software that’s intuitive, efficient, and truly solves user problems while being highly functional and scalable. We also undergo stringent quality assurance to ensure that the products we develop are of high standard.In terms of BODO, our innovation is the fact that there are multiple touchpoints, not just limited to a basic search, but also an AI assistant, a social feed where both students and boarding owners can post advertisements, and the ability to find not boarded friends and invite them to join a boarding place and split costs. It’s not just another listing platform.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

Our vision for ZaVolt is to become a global leader in user-centered design and innovative solutions within the next 5 years. We plan to achieve this by:– Expanding our reach: We aim to establish branches in 5 new countries, allowing us to serve a wider global audience and showcase Sri Lankan innovation on the world stage.– Building impactful solutions: We will leverage our design expertise to continuously develop many innovative in-house solutions that address critical societal needs and improve people’s lives.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

One of the biggest challenges we faced initially was client acquisition. The service market was saturated, and with a focus solely on UX design services, which is a low-demand niche in Sri Lanka, our conversion rate was literally 0%. Recognising this limited demand in Sri Lanka, we strategically expanded our service offerings to include software development, which caters to a broader market need and leverages our design expertise. this helped us attract more customers and made us able to reach where we are today.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

We believe our design expertise and innovative solutions can benefit businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re looking to develop a new software solution, improve your user experience, build your brand or explore design-thinking strategies, we’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us for a free consultation and discuss how ZaVolt can help your business thrive.You can contact us via email at contact@zavolt.com.You can also reach out to us via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/zavolt Looking forward to an amazing partnership.