Since June 2006, my friends have known me as “the lighting guy”. The building industry has called me a “lighting designer”. Eleven years of rejecting both labels and repeating that “lighting design matters”…
Much as I love it, PLD Türkiye has never brought a satisfying financial return. You can read about how PLD Türkiye works here.
While publishing PLD Türkiye, I also tried other businesses. They included Cromm, an online-only leather laptop bag brand, and kozmopoli .com, an online dermocosmetics shop. I’ve opened companies and closed them. I know what it’s like to tear up unused printed invoices, one by one, at the tax office. I still don’t understand why they don’t buy a paper shredder. Maybe it’s so entrepreneurs like me can watch their lives flash before their eyes…
Since 2012, I’d been thinking about starting another business that included the lighting I love. Things weren’t going well at the advertising agency. Everyone in Türkiye was making logos and websites, driving prices down. I also wanted to leave a sector where everyone had an “idea”. So I was looking for something else.
The confusion around LED technology worried me, as did the lack of technical knowledge. Everyone was trying to make the same thing cheaper. Nobody was trying to offer something different or make products that offered more. I thought I could find startups and technologies with innovations the “big” brands couldn’t provide. I could introduce them to Türkiye and offer something different. I discussed it with my partner and sister, Nur Güneş. We decided to close the advertising agency and change the company name to Ağustos Teknoloji. At PLDC 2013 in Copenhagen, I made agreements with innovative brands, including Soraa and LED Engin. I started trading in January 2014.
Firsts
We made our first import in February 2014 and issued our first invoice in March 2014. Our first project was the Maça Kızı Hotel restaurant in Bodrum, specified by ZKLD Studio. From 2014 through June 2015, I broke my own records for meetings. I averaged 3–4 meetings a day. I explained the technologies we brought to manufacturers, distributors, architects, electrical engineers and lighting designers. Orhun Bıçakcı joined us later.
Consultancy
Around the same time, I sat down with my friend Emrah Heper, whom I knew through the industry. We discussed how to make HEPER better known among lighting designers around the world. That’s where the consultancy idea came from. I’ve been consulting for HEPER since June 2015. At first, I went to Ankara one day a week, then two. I travelled there every week and sometimes went abroad. It was another busy, tiring period.
Orhun left us in February 2016. We sent him to Eagle Lighting in Australia. We still exchange information now and then. He’s happy there. My sister Nur Güneş and I shared the work he left behind. We’ve been carrying on with a small team again for a while.
These three years taught me about running a trading business. They also helped me refresh and develop my knowledge of light, especially LED. It was tiring. But I learned too much and enjoyed it too much to complain.
Plans for 2017 and beyond
My plans for Ağustos Teknoloji are to add 1–2 more brands. If the economy and conditions in the country allow, I’d also like to hire one experienced person.
I’ll continue consulting for HEPER this year. We haven’t renewed the contract yet, but we’ve agreed in principle. It looks as though I’ll travel to Ankara less. At least, I won’t go every week. We have monthly trips abroad planned.
In January, I had my first chance to give a talk on lighting design abroad, at ILDC (Iran Lighting Design Convention) in Iran. I’d spoken at Pecha Kucha events in Armenia and Germany before. But I hadn’t had the chance to give a seminar. I enjoyed it. I plan to find more opportunities and speak at more events.
I love explaining things to people and sharing what I know. I want to make it part of my life. Give me people who’ll listen, and I can talk about light for five hours. I have a few ideas about teaching. One-day courses for companies could be a start. I’ve occasionally given presentations lasting 1–2 hours at architecture practices or manufacturers. I could develop those presentations into courses, or create different courses for different groups. Perhaps I could teach a class as part of a university master’s programme. (If any academics reading this have ideas, I’d be happy to talk.) As I said, I want teaching to become a more natural part of my life. Time will tell what happens.
Personally, my aim this year is to carry on from where I left off last year. First I gave up smoking, then salt and sugar. I’ll try to drink fewer fizzy drinks and exercise more. Most of all, I’ll read and write much more this year. (goodreads.com/emregunes)
My only wish for the country is common sense. I hope we can turn this time of darkness, in every sense, towards a brighter future. Wishing you all good days. #HAYIR