Back from Holibobs

Had a great break even if it was only 5 days. We started through the Dales on our way over to the North West with stops at Aysgarth, Hawes and Ribblehead to make it an enjoyable day out rather than a journey and also got a nice bit of Blue Wensleydale Gromit to have with tea when we arrived at Arnside, our first overnight stay.

That was followed by a few days walking in Keswick and a look at apartment prices for a future retirement. A great break, really enjoyed it.

Quantum Mechanics

Despite been a computing geek my first degree some time ago was physics and the topic I found most interesting was Quantum Mechanics. The quantum world is a strange world, one that Einstein wasn't convinced of, and a theory that underpins a number of modern inventions. There are all kinds of potential consequences, infinite universes, cats that are both dead and alive and much more.

My interest was perked up by a new series on BBC that I caught up on via the iPlayer and chats with Matt whilst he's home - he too is studying Physics at Uni but is doing better than me!

Somehow I manged to wedge Schrodinger's cat into a BNI education slot at Vision Chapter in Billingham this week, you'll have to get in touch if you want to know how.

I love science me!

Labour Leadership

I normally don't do political on here but here goes ...

First I need to make it clear that this is a personal blog not a company blog so they are my own views.

Secondly, I am an unashamed socialist which is not as unusual in the small business community as you may think.

I have signed up as a Labour supporter as I do support its aims. This means I can vote in the leadership election and also that I am bombarded via email and post with election pitches.

Today I received a "letter from Tom Blenkinsop" my local MP and a man you can talk to any time, as long as there is an election ha ha. The communication essentially urges me to back anyone but Jeremy Corbyn. There are a couple of things in the letter that have confirmed my belief that Jeremy Corbyn is the man to vote for.

1. "Labour can only help the people who need it most when we are in power..". Whilst there is a lot of truth in that a sa statement of fact, how does more austerity help the people who need it most? We are redistributing wealth from poor to rich. Why get elected if it's not what you believe in? That is power for power's sake and sums up the careerist group that my MP represents. I would rather be open and honest and try and change others' opinions than do anything for power.

2. A badly photocopied letter that is faded and makes it almost impossible to read the email address really convinces me that the MP is genuinely concerned about what I think. Try making an effort!! If I was wavering I would probably vote Corbyn purely for that reason.

I think those of us on the left have a genuine opportunity to create an alternative. I am very much in favour of having a genuine choice come election time, even if my preferred choice doesn't win and last election without the minority choice of the Green Party there was no real anti-austerity choice in England (well done Scotland).

As a result I will be voting for Jeremy Corbyn and sincerely hope this is the start of a real movement to oppose austerity and take the Labour Party back for the people its aims represent. I want to live in a society where all who are able to do contribute and those that can't are looked after. I want to part of a society that believes that educating its young for free is the route to future success, that care is for all based on need and not ability to pay, that allows working people rights and dignity at work, that champions the needs and aspirations of ordinary people above those of the rich and powerful.

That's a big dream and a seismic change from the current mainstream politics - but if we don't dream and work for better then we deserve more of the same. It's time for those, like Tom Blenkinsop, to step aside and let us build a better society.

A Couple of Days Off

An office move is pretty stressful and a couple of days relaxation has been the order of the day, therefore a trip to Scarborough for a couple of days watching the mighty Yorkshire play cricket with copious refreshments in the North Riding to boot.

A great 2 days with Matt and Dave the ex-brewer at Scarborough cricket ground including 20 wickets on day 1, a great partnership between Maxwell and Rashid on day 2 with both scoring centuries and copious amounts of North Riding's Peasholm Pale Ale, which was stunning.

Nice 2 days in the sunshine, chat, beers and Yorkshire ahead when we left - I love cricket me!

And on day 2 the Ashes were won, Sunderland lost, Hartlepool won - we just need a Boro win on TV today and all is well with the world.

Time to Move

Just a short blog to start what will be a busy week with work and moving.

On Friday, with the help of the great folks at Richardson Moving and Storage, we move from Redcar to my home town of Middlesbrough and into the thriving Digital & Creative space of the Boho Zone and specifically Boho 5 (Bridge Street East, Middlesbrough).

Our email, website, mobile number and bank details will all remain the same but we cannot port our land line number as that belongs to the Palace Hub and as soon as we are settled and got the new number we will let you know. We have a meeting on 3rd August with the MFC supplying  Cornerstone Business Solutions to sort out our telephony so should have a great solution pretty quick.

Cornerstone are part of our soon to launch BNI chapter in Middlesbrough and one of many quality businesses we will be working with over the coming years as we move to the next stage in Tad Web Solutions' growth. We have a fantastic digital and creative team in the soon-to-launch chapter which will really help us all grow including graphics/branding, print, video, an online advertising agency hand-picked by Google for mentoring (one of a very limited group) along with us and Cornerstone - going to be something special. There's also great teams in the construction and related industries and a brilliant financial and professional services team plus a couple of great health & fitness companies that will grow into a brilliant health/fitness/beauty and well-being team.

If you do business in Middlesbrough you should pop along for breakfast at the Thistle Hotel at 06:45 on Tuesday and see what you're missing out on.

Working with Colleges & Schools

I had a great meeting with Joanna, the Principle of Stockton VIth Form College, this week. We arranged it based upon a brief conversation we had at an event where I was very impressed by their plan to provide students with work experience,

We have had a few students for work experience in the past with mixed success, largely dependent upon the organisation involved. It went really well with both MacMillan College and Kings Academy but badly with Redcar College. Last summer we had a Summer Intern from Teesside Uni who was brilliant, we've had 2 French students for a while via the Uni, one was great, one wasn't and we now have Michael for almost a year as an Intern and who we plan to have as the next employee if he wants it - he's that good.

Therefore, I'm very keen to work with educational establishments to provide opportunities and experience but as a micro business it can cause problems. The reality is that a school work experience person probably ties up a member of staff for a full 5 days, a college one for  around 3 days and a uni one from the right academic background around a day tops. That is work not paying its way and significant for my business

A typical school or college work experience is for a full week and we simply cannot do that regularly as we are too busy to leave a staff member as unproductive for a week.

The solution, and a really great one from Stockton VIth Form, is to have work placements every Friday of term. That means devoting around 0.5 days of staff time per week and is manageable. The reality may be that over a year that is more staff time than we currently commit but the issue for us is more about devoting a big block in one go than spending the time which we see as valuable for us, the college and the student.

The net result is we are happy to have 1 student, either in half-term or term blocks, throughout the year. We win as we get the chance to work with some great young people and potentially cherry pick some future employees, the college gets to sell the fact that its computing, graphics and English students get the chance to work on commercial projects and have real experience, and the student gets to put that on their CV (and may even get a job out of it longer term). Win, win, win!

There is also the feel good factor we get from simply contributing. You can't ignore how much better you do as a business and personally by contributing and feeling good about what you do. Guess who is reading The Happiness Advantage at the moment!

More than that, after a good chat and meeting some key staff, we will be looking to help out by providing commercial graphics projects for students to supply "real-life" projects with payments for work used and I'm also going to be one of the businesses involved in their local board for delivering their STEM specialism.

Very happy and very excited about building this relationship and a very refreshing attitude from a  forward thinking college.

The Last Post

No, not the last time I'll be writing nonsense on here I'm afraid, but a little story about snail mail (and another reason we are moving).

We're now working with a company called QA International Certification Limited, to create some web-based software that will automate some of their back end systems allowing access for staff when they're mobile, providing limited client access and greatly increasing productivity. We're excited about the project and the potential it has for worldwide sales and a fruitful partnership. I've got to know one of the directors quite well, a really nice and down to earth fella who I have a lot of time for.

Even as a stand alone job, without it's huge potential, it's a good contract for us and like all jobs we insist on an upfront payment, in this case of 50% as we are committing time and resources to the job. Due to holidays of the financial controller the 1st payment was delayed but only a little, this was all amicably agreed and a cheque was promised in the post. I'm happy with all of that.

Our post gets "placed in our locked pigeon hole daily", we pop down and pick it up, simple system. By Friday there was no sign of a cheque nor direct payment into our account, meaning I need to chase this up which can have the potential for looking like a lack of trust. I thought I'd leave it until Monday morning, carefully think how I want to broach the subject diplomatically (really not my strong suit that) and contact the director I know.

Late on Friday expected visitor arrives and I go to Reception to pick him up to be told that there's a load of post been here for days at Reception (including aforementioned cheque and another payment).

This is to add to the new business cards for Michael which were for the Tees Valley Business Summit on Wednesday but we didn't get until Thursday, even though they came on Tuesday but we weren't informed.

Fortunately I waited before contacting clients about overdue payments.

Someone at Redcar Council asked me why we were leaving - there's not enough hours in the day to tell them everything!

The Joys of Microsoft Office 365

MS Office is pretty ubiquitous and lots of the free versions of office software are, in my opinion, pretty rubbish. So we use Office 365 on all machines whether PCs or Macs.

The good news with 365 is you automatically get updated versions and this week we have found the bad news is that you get updated versions!

The issue is we're working with a new client to create a customer management system that is web-based and automates much of their contact messages. Their old system is written in VB and uses an Access database (yes I know!). So a starting point is to get the old database (when I say database I mean single Access table) and convert it into a usable and suitably normalised format.

All good so far but when I try and access their replicated database Access won't open it as it's too old. A quick search via Google and Microsoft have answers for this, "Step 1 Open the database ..." Er it doesn't open is the problem, the solution can't start with that. It was looking like uninstall Access 2013 and install an old version with the Jet driver and then do the conversion.

Then after a good swear at Microsoft an idea popped up. Does Excel still have a Jet driver in its import from database routines? The answer was yes and the new spreadsheet can be used to import into something useful like mysql for further use with a little sql work to get everything in the right format.

A great example of "re-framing" in positive psychology jargon and we can now crack on and create the solution, no thanks to Microsoft though.

Moving Home?

Yesterday we went and had a look around the soon to open Boho 5 in Middlehaven (or "over the border" for us older folk). It's a great new building for the creative industries and we are seriously contemplating moving there despite the large increase in rent that would form part of the move.

Why?

We are a relatively big fish in the Redcar web pond but what that really tells you is how small the pond is. We have some great clients there, a great view from our office, some great people we work with and it's been our home, between the Wilton Centre and Palace Hub, since the company was formed. We have got to where we are as a growing and ambitious company by being in Redcar.

But that is also the problem - we remain ambitious and want to grow more and Redcar, I believe, is becoming a limiting factor. Larger clients who are not from East Cleveland won't come out here and even for local clients I regularly have to travel to Middlesbrough, Stockton and Darlington for meetings. That is partly due to the poor communications where as Middlesbrough is close to the A19 and has much better rail connections.

Then there's the building and the council. There are some lovely people working for the council including the staff at the Palace Hub. But it's run by the council, the water regularly goes off, the Internet is at times ropey, any changes take an eternity as the council run it how they want it not in a way that meets the needs of the creative businesses in there and THERE'S STILL NO PARKING OVER 2 YEARS SINCE OPENING (but of course the council are still looking at that one - I repeat OVER 2 YEARS SINCE OPENING). The building is also empty and it seems it will get even emptier soon regardless of whether we move or not.

So a move to the thriving Boho Zone of Middlesbrough is being considered very seriously. There would be a big increase in rent to go with the recent extra outlay on staff, hardware and software but it's starting to look like a wise move.

So watch this space, we have declared an interest in a specific room at Boho 5 that has great views of the Tranny, Riverside Stadium and Cleveland Hills (You couldn't get more Teesside). Now to find exact costs, Internet speeds, removal costs (if you're reading this Mr Burridge do get in touch) and costs associated with changes to stationary, phone, etc

No decision has yet been made but the scales are tipping toward moving.

Growing

Blooming heck!!

Good job we've teamed up with Laughing Beards to dedicate a day, probably two, next week, as we've got a lot on. We also need Michael the week after.

Not only are we busy with existing jobs, a couple of which have deadlines at the end of the month but we got an extra £9k of work in last week. Would be nice to get that every week but I'd need a few more staff.

One of those jobs has the potential for global sales following on as the company we are working with will introduce us to their worldwide clients and partners to sell on for a 20% commission. As the difficult bit, the background software, will have been created this makes it a very viable proposition.

We also have two other web applications that are close to completion that have some good potential for selling on to others and partners who will help with that.

The last few weeks have also been great for both developing our BNI business network in Middlesbrough that will I'm sure lead to great income and a support network for all involved and we now have in place partners for a great set of associated services that will allow us to offer our clients a lot more at top quality which now includes (top 6 in house):

• Web design - responsive for all devices of course
• E commerce solutions
• Mobile apps
• Bespoke software design
• Software systems integration (making different software packages talk to each other)
• Branding and graphic design
• Film quality video
• Professional photography
• Pay per click advertising
• E-marketing via SEO, social media, etc
• Network and hardware installation
• IT Support
• Signage design and integration

That's a pretty comprehensive set of features and we also work with great accountants, financial/mortgage advisers, physiotherapists, insurance brokers, scaffolders and historic building restorers and many more/

Let us know how we can help you.

Investing in Growth

I remember my last blog entry, just, where I think I promised something about blogging more regularly but that was in April.

In the meantime Tad Web Solutions have just been stupidly busy and other than a cheeky long weekend away and a trip to Wembley (#IStillBelieve) there's been little time to do other stuff and blogging has, rather unwisely, been put on the back burner. Now, having the odd week where you are too busy is fine but a couple of months is something of a habit - looks like we need more staff!

So here's the cunning plan ...

Next week we team up with Laughing Beards, purchasing their services one day per week in our office to increase and improve our graphics and branding capability. We have been outsourcing a lot of our graphics for a while and but are looking for consistent high quality and greater integration with our work. I'm really looking forward to working with them and taking a step forward in output and quality. Over the coming months we will review this and hopefully look to extend the dedicated support time.

We also have Michael, a year-long intern, starting with us on 22 June. Michael comes via the University of Teesside and it is a work placement after year 2 of his degree. The internship is the start and if all goes well we will convert that into a temporary contract some time before the end of the year and offer a long term post at the end (it would be up to Michael to either finish his degree part-time or defer the post for a year at that point). 

Its a great scheme by the Uni, that gives students experience and some money but gives businesses a cost-effective way of seeing if the person is right for them making it more likely that a graduate can get a good level of salary when they finish their degree..

I'm feeling very confident about the future and intend to go to the next level for the business in terms of turnover, project size and client size. That needs an investment in terms of staff, money and time and it's the right time to do that.

It's Been Some Time

In fact I didn't realise how long until I saw the date of the last post - rather remiss of me! I've been a bit busy with work and then had flu and then busy catching up whilst still not feeling too good.

What have we been up to?

Lots of work. We've had a bit of a push with potential clients who were thinking of getting new websites done. Quite simply, and honestly, we have told them that any projects that may be get 40% funding via the North east Business Support Fund better get a move on as the funding stops at the end of June by which point all projects must be complete and paid for. It has meant our biggest batch of part-funded projects all coming in together, and we're expecting 2 more in the next week.

So it's a busy time, so busy that I'm looking to recruit a new member of staff for a year via the University of Teesside and if all goes to plan we'll have someone in June. What that means after the year depends on how good that person is, how busy we are and whether they want to return to studies full time or part-time and work whilst they finish off their degree.

That's me done - I'll try to ensure I keep this up to date from now on.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've not posted much recently simply due to being really busy and trying to spend some time out when I can by just being with family, going for a walk or watching the mighty MFC. Yes, I know I've been neglecting my reader (I doubt that there are 2).

As we're even busier, here is a very potted resume of what I and Tad Web Solutions have been up to over the last 3 weeks.

I have seen the mighty Boro a few times and they are now top of the Championship after a very tense Tuesday night made much more tense by being on a course at Redworth Hall with no radio and very poor mobile reception. I have started on the aforementioned 9-month course, Leading Growth, run by the University of Teesside and aimed at growing small businesses in the area by growing the business leaders. Some great people on it, and me, and the 2 day residential was rather enlightening. I believe it will move Tad Web Solutions forward.

Business wise I have spent a lot of time following the advice of my business coaches from Digital City on working on acquiring new business and the efforts seem to be paying off. As part of this I have been the "star speaker" at the Redcar Enterprise Team Business breakfast which went very well apart from my contact lens falling out halfway making it impossible for me to read my bullet points to keep me on track - seemed to go OK nonetheless. We've also attended a supplier showcase at the Wilton Centre managed by NEPIC which went well and we are very hopeful of a contract with a new high tech company in Washington (Tyne & Wear not DC) whom we went to see yesterday. All that plus the usual web and software developing, networking and general business admin that underpins our hive of web and mobile activity.

That's my lot. Stuff to do and squeeze in England v Italy and Ireland v France in between on a romantic Valentine's Day where Jane is at work from 06:00 to 21:00. It's her last working day with that company tomorrow and she then embarks on a new career with Mencap and is really looking forward to it. Tomorrow we shall have a cheeky walk on the moors in the morning, I'll do a bit of planning and then off to the pub to watch Arsenal crash out of the FA Cup.

#UTB

FA Cup Round 4 #UTB

It's not over yet but Boro 1 up at the Etihad against Man City. Nothing else to say, may update when it's over

2-0 best team won, bloomin' marvellous

Je Suis Charlie

Obviously, the most important news was the horrific terrorist attacks in France. I'm impressed by the response of people to come together and refuse to give in to terrorists. The biggest worries for me are the threats of dividing people and the potential for a big crack down on civil liberties, more so than the terrorist threats.

The "Muslim" terrorists are nothing but a bunch of fascists and nothing to do with Islam in the same way that Britain First are a bunch of fascists and nothing to do with Christianity. They are two sides of the same coin who wish for a society of hatred and division. We need to counter them with a society of love, respect and unity - but I do accept hatred of fascism in all of its forms as legitimate.




The first week back at work is over and what a week it was.

As a micro-business with 3 staff including myself it's a big miss when someone is off. Holidays are bad enough but are planned for, but unexpected sickness throws things into chaos. A return to work on Monday saw the message from the legend that is young Calvi contact me saying he wouldn't be in as he was ill and that extended to the full week.

Peter's not one for going off sick willy-nilly so he's obviously unwell and I hope he gets well soon, especially as he says he won't be able to stand any more daytime TV!

It has, therefore, been a little hectic. We aim to grow a lot this year which means I need to spend a lot more time, smartly, on marketing and I have detailed plans in place over the next quarter on how to achieve this. But they do take up time and a man down this week has made that rather difficult.

Despite those difficulties it's been a great week, new contract won subject to signature, got to know some other local business people much better including Yasir from AM Electrical who won our free website on Tadvent Xmas Day.

Yasir arranged for us to meet in The Olde Young Tea House https://www.facebook.com/oldeyoungteahouse?fref=nf, great place for a cuppa and a bite to eat in Middlesbrough and genuinely local, give it a try.

We've also had a bit of great publicity. I'm a great believer that youth unemployment is ridiculously high and those of us in business have a duty to provide opportunities for local young people. This has been picked up in the press and I'm happy to be publicly espousing the view that small businesses can use the apprentice system to provide those opportunities. It's a worry that apprenticeship places in the region have plummeted over the last year.

If you'd like to read the article it's here along with a pic of our apprentice, Benjamin:

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/business/business-news/redcar-firm-urges-more-companies-8408167

Happy New Year!!

It's a new start, what's gone is gone and an ideal time to put the past behind you and look to the future.

Having said that, 2014 was a good year. For my business 2013 had been a year of chucking a bit of money at it and planning to grow the following year with a budget for a significant loss (for a micro-business) as a result. The plans were spot on for 2013 with the budgeted deficit being within a few hundred quid of target and financed by not paying myself. So what of the planned growth and profit for 2014.

Well we doubled turnover and made a small profit whilst taking on staff and paying myself. Not a bad year and I've paid me back some of the money the business owes me as well.

The plan for 2015 - another doubling of turnover, growing the team and increasing profits. Nowt if not ambitious me!! This means consciously planning more time on the business and marketing, better time management and focused and effective use of time when doing technical work for me. We've also had a re-brand, with a new website and printed materials to follow shortly.

Personally there's been lots of changes as Matt left home for Uni. Great to have him back here over the festive season and it has been a big change as he is such an important part of my life. It took a little time to adjust but it's great to have more time again with Jane doing stuff we want to do. It's almost like starting out again which is fun and nice!

Other important events of 2014 saw me getting my health in line, biting the bullet and getting diagnosed as diabetic - family history almost makes this inevitable and symptoms had been there for a while. So a lot of lifestyle changes, eating healthily, a bit more exercise and a lot less drinking. I feel much healthier as a result so it's a very positive thing. I get very focused when I decide to or need to do something (like a lifestyle change) but can be very lazy and not make changes unless I really decide to - so the diagnosis has been a big positive experience as I have changed.

More personal changes planned for 2015. I have done a lot of reading, personal development work, reflection, etc during the last year and changed a great deal as a result. So I and my company will become more involved in some local community projects including being greatly involved in 2 yet to be set up CICs. Hopefully I'll also be a bit less grumpy but I will also be removing a number of negative people and situations from my life - so if I unfriend you on Facebook or stop following you on Twitter you know why!!

Generally positivity, meticulous organisation, belief, hard-work, sharing success, helping others, making the world a better place and enjoying myself at work and play are the plans for the year. I wish you, your loved ones and friends a happy, peaceful and prosperous 2015.

And Up The Boro!!