Dilshan is the Founder/CEO of Cyaniq, a Colombo-based communications consultancy and writing service. A former nationally ranked squash player, Dilshan represented Royal College, the Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka for many years of his life. A creative writer and marketer by profession, he has successfully established himself and his consultancy with an illustrious clientele and bragging rights of many breakthrough commercial projects. 

How did Cyaniq start out? 

Cyaniq as a concept has been around for a little over five years, but operations formally launched in 2013. At the time, I had got around to finally setting up a business as was the plan in the years that I was freelancing in my free hours. I took a year off from working and bootstrapped the business, building it up from scratch. I had one client and zero capital when I started out. Today, we have completed over 200 projects and worked with just over 60 clients. We’ve been fortunate to have engaged clients who represent the top tier of state and private sector organizations in the country. The numbers to me are impressive only and only because they weren’t achieved through a heavy marketing spend, capital intensity, nor any form of political or personal connections. All of our clients heard about us from other clients we worked with. To date, happy customers are the secret to our success, and we are yet to engage in any formal marketing or advertising. 

Cyaniq is no longer just a writing service. How has the business evolved over the years? 

I think something that we got perfectly right from the start was that we focused on our core competencies. It was never a matter of expanding or diversifying for us. At the start, I wanted to right and when we introduced design, photography, production and even scheduling to our service equation, we were simply complementing our core service which was - content writing. In essence we were a jack of all trades, but a master of one. 

Today, from a business perspective, we are not in competition with the giant ad agencies, the multitude of digital marketing firms nor the small-time design houses. But, we are a distinctly preferred writing service and communication consultancy for some of the biggest names engaged in a variety of industries. In fact, we believe in doing inclusive business with any individual or team who specializes in a complementary service. This in-sourced business model has worked perfectly in delivering results for our clients. 

What are some of the most recent projects that Cyaniq was involved in? 

One of the things that we are really focusing on this year is catering to the growing start-up sector in the country. Branding and communications are often neglected aspects of a start-up, due to financial restrictions, lack of awareness and unfamiliarity. Cyaniq has really begun to come to its own in this niche and we are keen to pursue it. 

We recently concluded the preliminary round of communications for Kasper Zhark, a bleeding-edge home-automation system designed and developed with luxury apartment complexes and high-end residential properties in mind. We were involved in getting the founder – Kasun Dissanayake and his business proposition investor-ready. We are now looking at market-readiness of their communications. Further, we also contributed to setting up a revolutionary virtual beautycare reservation platform and a disruptive audiobook mobile app. We’ve been keeping busy with some very promising projects in the pipeline, and are really looking forward to the completion of these projects and the ones to come. 

Is there a particular set of experiences that account for your success? 

Certainly. There are many, many experiences that have really led me to where things are right now. If I had to list a few, I’d say my school has been instrumental in the shaping of my person. I’m a proud product of Royal College, Colombo and I’m eternally indebted to my school. My time as a copywriter at Triad is certainly among the most powerful influences of my subsequent career. I learned most of what I know today from my time there and I was privileged to have worked with some of the most amazingly talented people known to me, in a highly conducive environment and work culture. 

I’m also really grateful for the Light and Shade Engineering Group, where I’m contracted as a consultant. Light and Shade and its SBUs embrace change and innovation readily, from entry level all the way to the management. The empowerment and creative freedom entrusted to me by the management at Light and Shade has enabled me to innovate, experiment and most importantly learn. 

What’s in store for the future for you and Cyaniq? 

It’s a really exciting year ahead for me and Cyaniq both. While it may come as a surprise at this juncture, we are actually downsizing our operation to focus more intensely on content creation and consultation. It was always important to me that Cyaniq stayed lean, hungry, effective and relevant. We are sizing down the team and transferring a lot of our existing clientele to ThinkSpace, a venture that I part-own with a small team of very talented individuals. 

Cyaniq will remain what we always said we were pitched to be – a small consultancy with a big vision and a passion for flawless written content. The aspiration is to position Cyaniq as the most preferred writing service and communications consultancy in the country. 

For myself personally, I’m pursuing my academics at BMS on the path to a Marketing MBA. I’ve also been granted the distinct privilege of a position at Aitken Spence. I’m humbled and excited to take on my new role there. In many ways for me, this is the year.

Dilshan Senaratne

0775375041
www.dilshansenaratne.com
[email protected] 

By Upeksha Hettiarachchi