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Filip Ristevski creates a success story with Piksel and builds a digital transformation trend among companies. Together with his team, he helps companies achieve the highest successes and change the world, offering expertise that gives them the tools to start thinking differently from their competition and digitally transform their companies and grow their business using the latest web development strategies, marketing, and technologies.  

Filip Ristevski, you have an enviable portfolio and experience. How did you come up with the idea for Piksel? How did you encourage yourself to start the trend of digital companies in Macedonia?  

The desire to try something on our own exists in all of us. It just takes a small initial capsule, an idea, faith, and a little luck to make it come true. Piksel, which has three partners in the background, sprouted from a process of creating an idea for a product. Fortunately or not, that start was not successful, so we decided to start with providing digital services until our next product story. It turned out that such a turn was not so unfortunate, so in April, Piksel will celebrate eight years of existence on the market with an already recognizable image of a digital company that unites the service of digital transformation of companies, the two carriers of digital values, development, and marketing.  

As a software/website development and digital marketing agency, Piksel aims to help companies grow their business and create lasting partnerships and value on their way to success through digital channels. What does it mean to have a company handed over to you? How do you gain trust?  

Starting cooperation is also the beginning of a completely transparent and honest relationship with the client. That alone is the first step towards building trust and partnership, which as a company, we make sure to upgrade in every segment of cooperation. We build trust through positive and negative experiences that we face jointly with the clients giving them full support and appropriate solutions.  

Finally, the most important thing for us is the human segment of cooperation and the creation of sincere partnerships that will last for years.  

Your experience spans projects from digital monetization, the cinema industry, the banking and finance sector, FMCG, healthcare, and education. Which segment or industry would you distinguish for your team as a favorite and why?  

This one is similar to the question – which of your children is your favorite? 😊 Although we work with clients from various fields of activity, we do not have a segment that stands out as a favorite. It is natural that some industries, such as film, FMCG, and all others related to modern trends and technologies, are more interesting for the teams. At the same time, we see all other industries as a challenge and an opportunity to learn something new while helping the client achieve his business goals.  

The Piksel team is made of creatives and is expanding quickly. What is crucial for you to be part of the team, what skills do you prefer, and do you organize training for your employees?  

It builds on the human aspect I mentioned earlier. The first character trait of our team members is honesty and transparency, as well as indispensable team spirit and energy.  

It is a foundation that each of our employees must have to build their expertise and professionalism on. 

Regarding the training part, each internal level in the company has to master some training for the employees to be more ready to meet the next level in their development.  

In 2018, we saw big headlines announcing that Filip Ristevski received recognition for “Entrepreneur of the Year.” How much did this award motivate you? Did it open new perspectives for you? What are your future challenges?  

Ugh, how far 2018 seems from this perspective, ha ha ha. Of course, any award received pleases and motivates, especially when it is unexpected and based on statistical indicators of the company’s growth for that year. The award strengthened Pixel’s recognition in the local market, opening an opportunity to cooperate with even more clients.  

But, like all other companies, we “struggled” for most of the last and this year with the challenges brought by the pandemic and the new way of functioning. With this fact in mind, the direction is in the further regulation of internal procedures and further automation of all processes inside the company that should help in smoother functioning daily and thereby provide added value in providing services to customers. At the same time, it needs to facilitate the employees’ work. 

It was expected that in 2020 I would receive another task at the end of the year – the annual recap, Piksel in 2020.  

And as the year was, so was my completion of this task in the same year – it just wasn’t happening. So here I am in 2021, with a fresh perspective on what happened in the previous 12 months.  

I must admit that it’s still unreal that I’m writing a review for 2020. I’m still in my right mind in March when all the madness started. But let’s not jump too much through the timeline, let’s go back to the beginning.  

As usual, we started the year with a new round of Piksel memes.  

And yes, even in such a year, we enriched the Piksel team with more Piksels. We welcomed to the team Filip – the SEO wizard, Angela – the all-round kick a** account manager, Trajko called Dziki – the copywriter & #hehence master, Ivana – the office manager/organizational guru and two reinforcements from abroad, Kate – the pro account handler & content creator and Nate – the all round design & marketing pro.  

And now, back to work…  

In 2020, we already started the story with Tikvesh and Bohemian’s conversations. Something that came to us naturally as self-proclaimed bohemians and lovers of good tikveska brandy and exceptional wines.  

Before the lockdown happened, we managed to organize an event together with EOS Matrix for the presentation of their “European Payment Habits” survey that EOS has been conducting for 12 years in a row.  

From there, we learned a lot of valuable information, from which our team singled out: 5 steps to learn how to film events!  

On the subject of live events, for well-known reasons, it was the first and last Piksel live event of 2020.  

In the first months of the year, our development and web design team was quite busy. We developed a landing page for Bimilk’s new product, Bitolsko fresh milk with vitamin D3, and a very addictive game for the refreshed and upgraded product portfolio of Bimilk – Bitolsko with 10 vitamins. Months later, we’re still playing it.  🙂

Aaaand, this is where the COVID-19 crisis started. Of course, not knowing how to deal with the new situation, we did what we knew best. A new round of memes, this time Quarantine edition, as the most effective medicine in the battle against the virus.  

After the phase of creating memes and getting used to the new situation, the real challenges for Piksel in 2020 have begun.  

I won’t lie and tell you that we managed easily and that working from home was great for us. At first, it sounded fun, great, we will all work from home… But soon, communication challenges started in the team. To find a way to communicate and be up-to-date with all the new requests from customers, and at the same time learn to function in a world where you can’t see your loved ones, you have to sit at home, and you have to disinfect everything that you order online was not easy.  

There were a lot of meetings, a lot of calls, a lot of nerve-racking… Something that, as a team, took time to overcome, but…

With a Piksel team like this, I think anything can be overcome.  

After strengthening our team’s communication and finding a way of functioning in the “new normal,” the challenge was to do the same with customers. Let’s find a way to be active and not stop with marketing activities but be careful with the social component and keep in mind all aspects of the situation.  

A topic elaborated by Vladimir Ristevski, our CMO, in the interview for Business Info under the title: “If you have a product that responds to the crisis, you must not allow yourself not to advertise.” Take a minute to read it – the information shared in the interview may still be useful to you.  

During the quarantine, our design team decided to present “Piksel Quarantine Cosmetics.” Stranger things were happening during the quarantine, don’t judge.  

The idea was to make up for the things that we missed the most during the quarantine in an interesting way. The smell of linden trees in spring in Skopje, hugs with your best friends, or the smell of your favorite pub… cosmetics intended for maintaining a healthy body and a healthy spirit.  

Check out the entire collection at the link.  

Sometime in May, we became (again, self-proclaimed) work-from-home experts. We even wrote a whole blog post about it. Like any good written word, we had our critics.  

*Part of the Piksel team can relate to this. 🙂  

Contributions of Piksel in 2020

Knowing that many businesses are in a difficult and unpredictable situation, we wanted to contribute to their promotion and survival efforts in a quickly digitized world. For this purpose, we have created an e-book with practical tips for the survival of your business. You can still download the free e-book.  

This was also the right time to look back and ask our customers what they think of us. Like every digital person in 2020, we decided to put those nice words on social networks. Yes, on all social networks!  

We are grateful to have such collaborators and even more satisfied when we receive positive comments on our invested work.  

To keep up with the trends, Piksel in 2020 held the Piksel elections in which the Go-green team emerged victorious.  

Naturally, during the heightened effects of the crisis caused by Covid-19, it was necessary to pay more attention to prevention to protect public health.  

Therefore, with Ohridska Banka, we have encouraged digital habits among the population, such as using contactless payment cards for quick payments, avoiding queues, and using the website, mobile and electronic banking as products that offer complete banking services.  

At the start of the new academic year, we presented something fresh. Complete design and development of Skopje East Gate website – the first project of its kind in the country, which incorporates a shopping mall, residential complex, and business park, to introduce new standards of urban living.  

Since we are nearing the end of the year, I will summarize it through our work, and it looks like this:  

We started the year properly with a toast to our loved ones with the best Macedonian wines of Tikvesh.  

We strengthened immunity with Bitolsko milk with 10 vitamins, cooled down with Bitolski ice cream with 10 vitamins, and enjoyed moments with the little ones with Bitolosko chocolate milk.  

We educated and raised awareness about COVID-19 and protection measures with Roche Macedonia.  

With InPlayer, we have brought the world of online streaming services to an ever-increasing number of people worldwide.  

With Taskforce, we proved that “Macedonian value” has its own special meaning, brought their team closer to the world, and celebrated all their successes.  

During the quarantine period, we increased our friendship with the wines of Tikvesh. As expected.  

We began to think seriously about the future when we started the partnership with Sava Pension Company and Sava Insurance.  

With Sava Insurance, we ensured your pets are always insured with Pet Vet. With Sava Pension Company, we launched a micro-blog so that you are never alone, and we tried to make you Savers with a Plan!  

We continued to create healthy habits with Balans Plus Immuno and Balans Plus Meals.  

We laughed and played with Oho Productions and their Prespav and 5+ family.  

A strong finish for Piksel in 2020

The end of the year was somehow connected with the beginning of the heating season, so the success story with Aircon led to a great promotion and highlighted why Aircon is #1 on the market in Macedonia and globally.  

As the year was ending the team that worked tirelessly to create a new website for CityFashion finished the final preparations needed to successfully launch a completely new online web shop that brings together some of the world’s most famous brands in one place.  

With the achieved results, in a really short time, it turned out that although we spent a large part of the time at home this past year, we still cannot resist unique pieces of clothing. Especially when they can reach us at our home address. And, of course, style cannot and must not suffer.  

But that’s not all. The very end of 2020 also brought us a socially responsible campaign, developed with the European Business Association, for promoting the Circular Economy, its importance, and the importance of recycling and reusing – something that we as a team try to do in our offices, too.  

Some of the challenges remained in 2020, while some continued in 2021. I am sure it will not be easy, but it is a challenge that I believe our team will overcome.  

And in 2021, I hope we will also leave our #FirstWorldZoomProblems behind us. 

Welcome! This is the survival guide for all of you (and us) focusing on working from home during this emergency.  

Let us start with the morning rituals.  

Every start is easier after you take the first dose of coffee. The only difference from before is that we no longer need to prepare for work or travel to our workplace.  

We just need to put on some comfortable clothes that we usually wear around the house (sweatpants, ahem – pajamas) and then nest in front of our computer screen to start working.  

Completing tasks  

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to working from home. The question is: How to be productive and complete all (or most) tasks?  

First, you must show enough respect for the work on an individual and team level. Try to improve yourself as a person who works from home and build a team culture (even though you are at home).  

We’re in this together (except for those who decide not to participate and then go watch Netflix instead of getting work done). The team must develop an awareness that everyone plays by the same rules, but also that each member of the team has their own rituals.  

This actually means that each team member is synchronized with the others (like gears in a machine).  

Second, you must develop a flexible schedule. If you don’t get up every day on time and complete the assigned tasks, you will scr*w things up, and everything will collapse.  

For example, I have to set 3 alarms to get up on time. But that’s the way I have adapted to. I also try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night.  

Third, you have to have focus. To achieve that, I drink coffee, and it works for me. Also, whenever I work, I listen to some background instrumental music that doesn’t distract me.  

My point is, without focus, you won’t be able to follow the team directions or the customers needs. This leads me to the following conclusion:  

Communication is key.  

We are fortunate to live in a time when technology is at our disposal. We can use Skype / Zoom / Microsoft Teams to communicate. On the plus side, instead of fumbling through 159318651 million messages in a group chat, we save significantly more time by having a video call with the team, client, etc.  

We can communicate through software like Skype, where everyone can participate in the decision-making. We also report regularly to our superiors to keep them up-to-date.  

What also helps us coordinate is that we use Trello to delegate tasks to all departments.  

And finally (in this part, not in this article), deadlines and the responsibility you have are motivators for your productivity. These are the things that make you more aware and more agile.  

You know you have no room for error because customers are counting on you (especially during the current global crisis), but also because you don’t want to let down your team that trusts your ability to get the job done.  

Time management tips for working from home  

Set boundaries for yourself.  

I’m sure someone thinks: Because I’m at home 24/7, I can work whenever I want. No, no, no. Don’t do that. Don’t allow yourself to mix your work with your private time.  

You are either working or not. There is no third option. Answering emails while working out at home is totally unproductive.  

Take control of your schedule.  

If your day is not structured you will not have a good time. Therefore, take care of your calendar and update it in a way that will optimize your productivity.  

Optimize your work environment.  

Some people like to work in total chaos, with piles of objects everywhere, next to them, on them and under them (as if a hurricane had passed through the room). On the other hand, some people like to have a desk in front of them, on which only work-related objects will sit.  

The purpose of this is to arrange your workspace in a way that will increase your productivity. It’s a matter of taste so to each their own.  

Mythbusters (Work From Home Edition)  

There are people who “mock” those who work from home. They were like this, like that, they didn’t work hard enough… Let’s prove them it’s not how it is.   

Myth no. 1: Those who work from home don’t work enough  

If you don’t physically see people working from home, then they are 100% useless and totally unproductive. Realistically, any employee can neglect work if management does not delegate tasks well or if there is a communication breakdown, regardless of the employee’s location.  

If I know exactly what my responsibilities are, when my tasks are due, and if I regularly inform my team/superiors, then there is no theoretical chance that I will be labeled a “work slacker” no matter where I work.  

A little intermezzo. Never work from bed. Don’t be a “couch potato” like me. That is, in this case, a “bed potato.”  

Why? Because if you regularly work from bed, you will reduce the mental connection between sleep and the bedroom, which makes falling asleep more difficult. You will start to feel you are constantly at work and will no longer have a place to “recover” from work.  

Also, if you use electronic devices before bed, your melatonin level will decrease, and your sleep quality will be impaired.  

Myth no. 2: Those who work from home constantly have to prove themselves  

Some people working from home constantly need to prove they are actually working. They think they have to answer every possible email within two minutes or that they have to be present at every possible meeting.  

Don’t you think this is too much? Instead of working, these people worry excessively about how their work is perceived, which results in unnecessary anxiety due to the excessive pressure they put on themselves.  

The reality is that people who work from home go to work like any other employee (minus the time it takes to get to work).  

Myth no. 3: Home-based workers are available 24/7  

It’s great to assume that people who work from home can answer work-related questions anytime, but in reality, it’s not great at all. Just because I’m working from home doesn’t mean I’m available and on the hook.   

Because of this, the best practice is to determine which part of the day will be dedicated to work, just as it happens in the office. Don’t turn into a workaholic.  

We all need a break occasionally to get out of the working space. Separating work and private life is possible, even if you work from home.  

As for the end  

Take care of yourself and #StayHome. Not as bad as you think. Now you have time to watch all the movies and binge all the series. You even have time to find your talent for a hobby. You can have fun with your loved ones (if they live with you and if they keep a distance from you).  

We hope this pandemic will end soon, but for that to happen, we must do our part by #StayingAtHome.  

There are many more topics to cover, but let’s leave something for the future. 🙂