Entrepreneurs can invigorate the economy by developing new enterprises, job opportunities and increasing productivity. Most entrepreneurs prefer rich economic conditions and often overlook poor and middle-class economic countries. Dorothy Diedericks, the CEO and Founder of BlueBlox, decided to reverse the tide with her entrepreneurial venture BlueBlox.
Born and raised in South Africa, Dorothy was keen to notice the poverty and injustice in society. She was passionate about the vision of empowering individuals and increasing the economic participation of the poor and middle class in Africa and beyond the continental borders. Her vision to empower the nations led to the foundation of her business in late 2014. The venture focuses on enabling cross-border trade in Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Dorothy shares a distinctive ideology and believes that true empowerment cannot come through aid alone as it can make people potentially dependent. On the contrary, she believes that participating in the trade allows individuals to take financial control over their lives while adding value. Additionally, she believes that trade is a sustainable way to end global poverty.
Dorothy pens, “When I was founding BlueBlox, I was building an international trade compliance consultancy firm with the vision of economically empowering markets in Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. I believe it is through trade that businesses impact their nation's economy; through trade, investment in a market grows. In addition, I am firmly convinced that trade has the potential to empower people to change their lives and provide a better future for themselves and ultimately for the next generations.”
BlueBlox has proven itself to be a company that attains results against all odds. The company has been a recipient of the Switzerland Prestige Awards two times in a row and has been acknowledged as the Top Trade Compliance Company in the industry. BlueBlox aims to help clients attain their rights by law, even though this is not a common practice in emerging markets.
BlueBlox offers a myriad range of services to the clients catering to their needs for smooth, compliant, and profitable trade. It provides its clients with essential information about the specific local or international market, gives complex guidance on compliant trade, represents its clients during legal and governmental negotiations, and helps to reduce the gap between internationally agreed standards and local implementation. All solutions BlueBlox develops are tailored for specific clients' needs and country's requirements. BlueBlox ensures efficiency, compliance, flexibility, and agility with its services in Trade Consulting, Trade Facilitation, Trade Performance, Trade Training, and IOR/EOR Advisory. The highly experienced team provides excellent expertise in trade compliance that allows the clients to do what they do best: to focus on their core business.
The outstanding expertise distinguishes BlueBlox from its competitors. Its practical experience and knowledge from both local and international help the company succeed amongst its competitors. Moreover, the team greatly values the opportunity to share the knowledge to solve a country’s systematic trade-related problems. “We have seen first-hand how our technical help has assisted our client and helped government officials improve their performance on their daily tasks, streamline their procedures, and enable them to become better servants of businesses and the public at large,” asserts Dorothy.
BlueBlox is persistent and never gives up in the face of adversity. The company always listens to the clients and strives to find solutions that address the clients' needs. Dorothy states, “Our motto: because business should be easy, acknowledges the fact that in many countries business is not easy, yet. It is our mission at BlueBlox to support countries in making business and trade easier for all. Once business and trade are easy, it will encourage more people to participate in business and trade. It will create better lives, better opportunities, and better economies. Through working together to this end, we will find win-win solutions for all parties involved.”
Dorothy has built a team of purpose-driven and skillful individuals. BlueBlox is a broad network of trade experts that share common values and vision for trade. The team focuses on the goal and works with care, transparency, and persistence. It is working towards achieving results that would benefit the whole community and not just some individuals, some companies, or some governments, but all parties involved. She expresses her gratitude, “Every case we won would not be possible without the efforts of each team member working on it. I would like to thank my team for all their efforts and passion in their work.”
Persistence played an essential part in sustaining the challenges of the pandemic. COVID-19 has been one of the key challenges for BlueBlox. The trade facilitation service required representation on the ground to facilitate discussions and negotiations, especially in such countries as Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco. But the lockdowns and social distancing norms made it difficult to organize face-to-face meetings with government authorities or other relevant third parties. Adapting to the changes, BlueBlox integrated technology with its services and overcame the challenges while adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines. Despite all difficulties faced, BlueBlox supported its clients and ensured that their day-to-day operations continued smoothly.
Moving ahead from COVID chronicles, the company had an excellent year in 2021. BlueBlox reached several remarkable accomplishments. For instance, on behalf of its clients, BlueBlox obtained a Presidential Waiver in Nigeria and a Ministerial Export Approval in Pakistan. In Egypt, the company obtained a milestone valuation ruling from the Customs Authority, the first ruling issued by Customs in Egypt in 150 years. Furthermore, it also won a case at the Kenyan Tax Appeals Tribunal against the Kenya Revenue Authority. BlueBlox takes considerable delight and pride in assisting its clients in these cases, enabling them to operate smoothly, correctly, and compliantly.
The trade compliance industry is always changing. Thus, it is important to stay informed. BlueBlox constantly monitors the changes and analyses the impact on the market to stay abreast of the competitors. It utilizes the analysis in BlueBlox’s trade compliance strategy to minimize the risks of trade non-compliance and maximize the advantages that trade compliance brings to the clients.
BlueBlox will continue to invest in its team members to enhance their knowledge and skills. Alongside, the focus will remain on supporting the clients and delivering excellent services. The team is currently working on developing an outstanding line of products that will service the world of trade and address the client’s challenges and needs. BlueBlox will strive to deliver exceptional products and services to bring more economic and educational empowerment.
Dorothy summarizes, “We endeavor to grow continuously to be the best we can be and support our clients to make their business as easy as possible. At BlueBlox, we go the extra mile and never give up.”
Quote: “We believe that business should be easy, and even though business (especially trade) is not easy…we are on a mission to make business easy for our clients.”