• Blog

• • Looking back
  • 01/04/2009
  • • Looking back
    • 01/04/2009

    • I can't believe that my blogging duties are drawing to a close.  It's been a great discipline thinking and writing about Brighter Creative twice a week.  It has been an opportunity to really think about how to solve problems and why I run the business the way I do.  I have been looking back at my old blogs, wondering whether I have managed to reach any of the goals I set myself.  I'm pleased to think that I probably have; my main aim was to try and step the business up to another level, get out of my comfort zone and start to attract a different calibre of client and things have certainly gone in that direction over the last few months.  Today I had a great meeting with a potential new client - it would be the biggest client to date and certainly give our annual turnover a big boost.

      When I started my blog, the intention was to embark on a more structured marketing campaign.  To some degree I have done more marketing but not to the level that I thought I'd have to.  This is partly because we're absolutely flat out with business generated through networking and word of mouth.  I'm really proud of that and someone actually commented that they envied the way I had built a business on good reputation.  I want to build on that and still intend to push forward with marketing.  Sometimes I feel a little phoney telling clients to invest in marketing and advertising when we have little need to do it ourselves.  However, I see marketing as being the catalyst for real growth for Brighter Creative, providing we overcome the constant battle of balancing being with doing and selling with delivering.

      To conclude my blog, I have a Jerry Springer-style thought of the day which is this; It is really good to set yourself clear goals when you run a business.  It helps you to focus when you have something to aim for.  You will tackle and eliminate problems along the way, but there are always other problems ahead, so you just have to always be prepared to change tack, try and see what's coming and respond to things the best you can.  I don't think I will ever be able to completely relax running a business, but I know that I will be happy if the problems I face today aren't the problems I face tomorrow.  Growing isn't always easy, but it is a lot of fun.  I only hope that one of the problems I face over the next year is finding a new office to accommodate the growing team.  Fingers crossed!

• • Learning my Lesson
  • 27/03/2009
  • • Learning my Lesson
    • 27/03/2009

    • After my son's first week at school he said the most hilarious thing; "Daddy I don't need to go to school next week, I've learned my lesson".  If only life was that simple.

      Now that it has been made public on the LiveBusiness website I'm pleased to be able to talk about the most wonderful and useful time I spent with Rachel Elnaugh.  I left our meeting feeling that I will probably never learn my lesson; that I guess, is a lesson in itself.  There is always so much to learn with running a business and I find that really exciting - every day there are fresh problems and challenges to keep you on your toes.  I suppose the measure of progress is that you don't continue to encounter, or cause the same problems over and over again.

      I will probably write in my next blog about how I have started to implement some of the advice that Rachel gave me, but today I feel really encouraged that the problems I am facing this week, are not the ones I faced this time last year.  I have a real sense that the business is growing and moving in a positive direction.

• • Bunching Up
  • 25/03/2009
  • • Bunching Up
    • 25/03/2009

    • Ronnie is fitting in well.  He's a bit wedged in to the final corner of manageable space.  I'm glad he's of diminutive stature otherwise we'd have to be moving offices.  It's good to have somebody else easing a few of our administrative burdens - giving James and I more time to focus on delivery and getting through our huge workload.

      Gladly, we're pretty much keeping up with everything on the books and the orders are still coming in at a pleasing, yet manageable pace.

      We're working on some projects that we hope will be really great showcases for us.  It's great to have the opportunity to express ideas, knowing that they are just right to help someone's business flourish.

      I have a busy week ahead and as usual I have to balance the being and the doing.  I hope by the end of the week I can feel ok about relaxing over the weekend.

• • Pace is the trick
  • 13/03/2009
  • • Pace is the trick
    • 13/03/2009

    • Our work is flowing in and out at a really nice pace this week.  I love weeks like this and I realise that it is a great benchmark for how to schedule work in the future; we know what needs to be done and how long we have to do it.  It feels like this week could well be the holy grail of work scheduling.  We've been really busy without rushing or feeling stressed.  I have noticed that we have both been more productive in the absence of stress and pressure.  My problem is how to reproduce it next week.

      We're taking on another trainee next week for a couple of days a week.  James' role is becoming too important for him to simply be the office monkey and I feel that it is imperative for him to start focussing more on production and delivery.  So the office monkey baton will be passed to Ronnie for two days a week from next Tuesday.  Hopefully he will play an integral role in helping us flow through our work.

      Growing a business is a slow process sometimes and it can be really tough, but it's always fun.

• • Off to Basingstoke
  • 11/03/2009
  • • Off to Basingstoke
    • 11/03/2009

    • Today I'm travelling there on the train for a meeting with a client and it is a total come- down from my honeymoon.  This time last week, I was in a campervan in the Lake District, enjoying the stunning views and reliving the best moments from our gorgeous wedding day.  But life goes on and sometimes it moves at a blistering pace.  James has done a sterling job of holding the fort and it is great to see him grow in confidence as he takes on more responsibility.  However, I've had to hit the ground running at get right back up to speed with all the work we have on.  I've had to write four quotes today (no complaints) and get back to grips with all the current projects.

      The Sunday-blues feeling I had has well and truly vanished in the wake of getting back in to the swing of things.  I'm tackling work with a renewed vigour and excitement.  We have some really interesting things happening.  I feel refreshed and ready to push the business to the next level.

       

• • By the time you read this...
  • 03/03/2009
  • • By the time you read this...
    • 03/03/2009

    • I will be long gone - not gone, gone - just on honeymoon.  My wife and I (that'll take some getting used to) are taking my parents campervan to the Lake District for the week and we intend to do nothing but relax and enjoy ourselves.  I'm even taking the risky step of leaving my laptop at home.  I'm leaving the office in James' capable hands.  I'm learning that relaxing and spending time away from the office is really important, so I'm putting myself to the test.  Can I leave the office and forget about it?  Well, I'll have my phone for real emergencies - I'll be OK.  I hope.

      Leaving your business in someone else's hands is a tough thing to do, but I think it is a lesson that every business owner has to learn in order to grow and succeed.  As work pressures grow, you have to be able to delegate more jobs and business responsibilities to other people and rely on skills that you don't have.

      James - the helm of good ship Brighter is yours for the week.  Enjoy.

• • Win some, lose some
  • 26/02/2009
  • • Win some, lose some
    • 26/02/2009

    • I have been working on a tender over the last few weeks for a project that could have given Brighter Creative a really big boost.  Sadly and very disappointingly we didn't win it.  I was sure we'd have it in the bag.  The document we produced was great and we had put together an amazing team of people to deliver the product.  But as the saying goes, you win some, you lose some.  I am trying to remain positive about the situation as there is an awful lot to be learnt from not winning a competitive tender.  So I am trying to gather as much feedback from the potential client so that we can refine our offer for the next time.

      Lately we're doing an awful lot of quoting and it takes up a considerable amount of my time.  This is good; I have seen a significant increase in the number of enquiries we're generating through marketing and networking.  I have also noticed that we are not converting the same ratio of quotes in to business as we might have done previously.  My thoughts are twofold.  Firstly that we're following an upward trend and the business is growing (we've turned over twice as much this year as the same period last year).  Secondly, perhaps as a business grows it becomes more competitive and difficult to win clients - the stakes are higher.  I also think that the current economic downturn is causing people to shop around a little bit too.  I need some way of identifying which prospects are serious and which ones are simply shopping.  To comment on the shopping side, I am expecting to win some business in the next few months from people who are looking to get a better deal from their agency.  Everyone is looking for value for money and that's something we offer in spades.

• • Creative on tap
  • 25/02/2009
  • • Creative on tap
    • 25/02/2009

    • I'm back to the land of the living.  Sitting in bed with flu (well it wasn't really flu - more of a bad cold but flu is quicker to type) gives you time to reflect on life, the universe and everything.  For some reason, I thought of the Chinese proverb that if you find a job you love, you never have to work a day in your life.  I love my job, but I feel like I work very hard.  I often think about how people start businesses and why.  For me, making money out of design was a natural step.  I'm a creative person and design is what I'm good at.  I also relish the challenge of running a business, so I put the two together.  However, I think that there is a snag in running a business that relies so heavily on being creative - you have to be creative on tap.  I know a lot of musicians, designers and writers and without exception; they have dry periods in their creative outputs.  Some days, they simply get out of bed and struggle to be creative.  I'm no different and it can be very tough sitting behind a desk with a deadline looming and no inspiration to boot.  This is probably not too relevant to many people reading this but I'd like to offer a solution which is this;

      The type of design that we do is informed by our Clients' commercial objectives.  We have to create work that will appeal to their target audiences and engage with their key markets - it might not be our bag at all, but there is satisfaction in taking a pragmatic approach and getting it right.  Take a Ford Focus as an example.  Its aesthetic qualities aren't going to set the world alight, but it has been designed with a particular market in mind and has been one of the best selling cars in history.  So if you can't be creative, be pragmatic.  Pragmatism often rules the day.

• • Cold Stops Play
  • 20/02/2009
  • • Cold Stops Play
    • 20/02/2009

    • I finally succumbed to the dreaded lurgy yesterday and spent the day hauled up in bed with a flask of honey and lemon.  Its frustrating being ill, but I guess it can't be helped.  I am trying to concentrate on getting better by resting up as much as possible and I'm sitting up in bed writing this blog.  However, when I'm ill (which isn't often thankfully), a sense of impending panic always grips me.  If I'm ill, who's doing the work?  Sadly I have to be resigned to the fact that we will get a little behind on projects again.

      I have to be grateful that I'm generally a pretty healthy person but it does make me wonder what would happen to the business if I was seriously ill.  Perhaps I need to look in some detail.

      You'll excuse me for making this a short one, I'm going to snuggle back under the duvet and feel sorry for myself a little more.

• • Making Progress
  • 13/02/2009
  • • Making Progress
    • 13/02/2009

    • Everything changes by degrees but sometimes it's hard to see that anything changes at all, until you measure it against something else. This week, the subtle changes have become really apparent and it's very satisfying. I'll try to explain how. When I first took James on, he was a trainee through a local employment agency. He was really keen and technically minded but had no experience. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me saying that he wouldn't have said boo to a goose.
      
      Today, I have sent James off to conduct a client training session all by himself.  In just over a year, I have seen him grow in confidence and ability - it makes me really proud.  Yesterday, I was given the opportunity to take on another trainee; a really keen local guy with no experience. He was just like James was 12 months ago and suddenly I had a yard-stick with which to see James' progress.
      
      I was really pleased this week to be able to confirm that we've more than doubled our first year turnover and we're almost 60 per cent up on our first quarter turnover from last year too. This is great news.  It means that we're going in the right direction and are poised to do really well by the end of this financial year.  It's satisfying to know that we're performing much better financially, but I realise that what's really getting me excited is the progress we've made in other areas; James gets better and better, the quality of work we're producing is constantly improving and the calibre of contacts, enquiries and clients is always increasing.

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