The Year Has Begun

A strange title for 25th January but there is a reason for it.

In previous years both as the owner of a limited company and as a sole trader I never really had any work to do between mid- December and the end of January. I used to twiddle my thumbs, catch up on paperwork, maybe redo our own website, put nothing that directly earned money.

This year has been different in one main aspect in that we have had work on the go from 2nd January when I returned to the office. We're busier than we've ever been and there are a number of reasons for this I think:

• We've been trading for 2 years so more people know we're here
• Many organisations in Redcar and Cleveland like dealing with local businesses and we're now seen as a genuine player in the Web field over here
• The economy is picking up
• Being part of BNI Links Chapter in Redcar is generating regular work that means there's a constant base level of work so the the old peaks and troughs have become peaks and a good general level of work - it's a massive part of our growth strategy in terms of generating work directly and providing a great support network
• I'm learning to do business better, after all I'm naturally a geek not a businessman, again BNI training and events they are involved in have massively improved my business skills (still a long way to go though)
• Outsourcing of stuff that's not our core - print design, animation, servers, bookkeeping, payroll, personnel policies, H&S policies, contracts - all to local companies who do that better/more efficiently than me and my team (we'll give you a list at the end of our local suppliers)
• People come into our office and it has a great Wow Factor - there's space in the Palace Hub so get yourself in there if you're a creative business
• BNI and the Palace Hub have provided us with a set of quality collaborators that allows us to pitch for bigger and more complex jobs that we can't do purely on our own
• A lot of last year was spent trying to move up the level of work we do so that projects are generally larger. As we primarily charge for our time this means they take longer to complete and therefore there is also a more constant level of work.
• Peter has grown in confidence and learns very quickly. He now does a lot of work unaided which has freed me up to bring work in
• And you know what, we're really good at what we do

So why do I say the year has now begun?

Well despite having a good level of work to do the new contracts weren't coming in until this week, which has been a great week for new customers. 

We've taken over the management of websites for local accountants and a joiner including search engine optimisation work for both and a massive clean up of the very malicious code for the joiner whose site was blacklisted by Google - it's now fully functioning and safe to use.

We've also won new contracts for a website for local companies including roofers, a crime writing site, an office supplies company plus some further e-marketing for a wedding company in Wales. There's also an agreed contract for a wedding event company subject to their funding application which we expect to be successful.

Next week we've got meetings regarding potential work for an e-commerce solution, updating and managing a website for a children's play centre, meeting with our two partners in a planned social media venture and an eBay shop to sort out for a client. Lot's of other quotes out awaiting client feedback and funding applications including a couple of nice 4 figure sites, a 5 figure site and early talks on a complex site that would integrate with back office software.

So a big thanks to our suppliers, collaborators and just people and organisation who have helped us get where we are and are taking us forward. A list is below, massive apologies if I miss anyone as it is Saturday morning at home and I don't have a list of everyone with me. 

Suppliers and Collaborators

• Ambrose & Co Accounting Solutions
• BE Group
• Binary Techniques
• BNI Durham & Teesside
• Cake Temptations
• Dee Danks
• Di Fox
• i2i Business Solutions
• JG Office Supplies
• Nash Russell
• Peak Image Photography
• Philxam
• Redcar & Cleveland Council/Palace Hub
• Richardson Removals
• Smooth Print
• Sphera Consulting
• World Sight Media

Thank You!

Wigs in Wigton

A quick post today as I've got a lot of work to do and want to pop and see my mum and try and sneak in a bit of Heineken Cup after a day gallivanting in Cumbria yesterday.

Matt's first away trip since 2012 rather strangely and bus to Wigton kindly supplied for free by Middlesbrough RUFC. Always have enjoyed the away trips for Matt's rugby especially when there's a coach to get there, good banter, great set of parents and coaches and at Wigton there was a great bunch of opponents and supporters from the opposition. Big difference with the colts is that the players drink more than the parents. It was great to meet up again with old friends and make some new ones in the joint age group team.

So the match saw a first half with Boro playing poorly and being down 24-5 at half-time, a fair reflection of the game at this point despite some random reffing which more often than not was in our favour. Second half saw the same set of players move up a notch and be more aggressive and play some good rugby. Pleased with a really good 2nd half scrummaging performance from Matty, really dominant and not bad for the world's lightest loose-head. Young lad on the wing from our U-16s is a bit special as well. With about 5 mins to go we had gone ahead 24-27 and had all the momentum but a sending off (ref was more than justified in his decision) left us on the back foot and we went down 31-27.

Barring the embarrassment of the sending off incident, it was a great game and Boro colts should be really proud of their 2nd half performance, some wins to come if they play like that for 70 mins.

As for the wigs, Wincey seemed too comfortable in his, reminding him of his Kajagoogoo days.

Laters!

What No Rugby?

I was expecting a nice day off and a trip to Ponteland to watch Matt play for Middlesbrough RUFC colts but after a pitch inspection it's off. Matt's probably more disappointed as he was planning a Saturday night out in Newcastle with mates but declined as he had a rugby match on Sun - impressive dedication. I'm secretly quite glad as his formerly knackered knee is a little swollen, may have been overdoing the gym this week.

So a bit of work and general business doings and then I'll watch the Heineken Cup on Sky Sports.

It's been a busy week but largely of meetings and catching up on admin and planning. It was also the week when Peter switched from being apprentice and general dogsbody to Small Business Manager (and better paid general dogsbody) - great to have Peter on a permanent basis, he'll play a big part in our growth.

Another thing playing a big part in our growth is BNI. I've never had a January where I'm not concerned about being able to pay wages and all bills - well this is it. Obviously we're not awash with cash but I have no worries this month and one thing BNI has done so far is remove any deep troughs in activity, there's always something ticking over. I expect over the year to have given a significant amount of business to my fellow members and as it runs on the Givers Gain philosophy that will only be good for us, we all grow together.

We had our first BNI meeting of 2014 over breakfast on Wed, great to see all the folks again, we've got a great set of people at Links Chapter and always good to see them. That very evening most of us went to BNI training at the Riverside Stadium - not only does BNI generate business it provides lots of free training to help you run your business better and also get more from BNI. Great event and got to meet lots of people from other chapters also resulting in a bigger personal business network.

If you've not been to our BNI chapter come a long and have a look and see how we can help you, we are especially looking for an IFA, electrical contractor, florist and photographer who we can pass business to.

OK so rugby hasn't started on TV yet so time to put some quotes together. A busy week next week with meetings with some other businesses and public sector organisation, hopeful of some decent sized contracts from them.

Happy New Year

Here's a very quick post to wish everyone a peaceful, healthy and prosperous 2014. I hope you all had a great break, I had a bad cold and didn't get anywhere near as much achieved as I meant to and hence am working all day today (Sunday).

So that's it until next week :)

Shut for Xmas

But that doesn't mean I'm not working and I'm still contactable via telephone and email. We open again on 2 Jan with only me in the office until 7 Jan when everything's fully operational and Peter moves from apprentice to full employee - great to have him on board.

So what does the festive season hold? It started with doing that "Friday before Xmas" thing, i.e. drinking. Night out in Middlesbrough last night which was fun but there was a downside as one of our number had a car crash on the way to work in the morning and has a fractured spine - here's hoping Paul makes a full recovery.

Along with the family time, eating and drinking I'll be up to a few things:

• A couple of websites to finish off before Xmas Day
• Work on a joint project with a couple of business partners
• Complete rehash of a project which I'm quite excited about but is taking a lot longer to launch than anticipated, mainly due to contract negotiations
• Starting my book (that's writing not reading - though I am reading "How to Teach Your Dog Quantum Physics")
• Some general planning

It's a fair bit to do but being married to a care worker means having a partner who works a lot over Xmas including Xmas Day itself - so I'd better make a great Christmas Dinner and get it out on time!

I hope everyone has a great Xmas and wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

When Do You Stop For Xmas?

Not long until Santa arrives but when should the office shut for the festive holiday?

I'm planning on Friday 20th being the last day of "proper" work but may open up on 23rd Dec to tie up some loose ends, get the paperwork in order and the like. The problem is Mrs E, who is working Xmas Day and Boxing Day (care workers don't necessarily get those days off) and off on 23rd so it would be wise to take that day off.

How much of a holiday will it be?

I've got a few things I want to work on that aren't part of our core business. There's the development of a project with a couple of partners and I plan to start the book I'm intending to write so there'll be lots to do. It's also a great time to catch up on changes in Web technologies and get up to speed with them when there's seldom time in normal working weeks as we're too busy doing stuff for our clients.

When do we open again?

We're not opening between Xmas and New Year but the mobile will be on for anything urgent. So plenty of time to work on the side projects, which I'm looking forward to, and recharge the batteries.

Probably the last 6 days of the year to go then starting now. The Tadvent calendar (http://www.tadvent.co.uk) will be running right through until Xmas Day though.

Getting Help for the Business

When I started out as a one man band I thought I could do everything myself from the technical stuff that we sell on to clients to the internal running of the business. As I decided to move into doing this full time a couple of years ago, rather than still doing a bit of lecturing to give a financial safety net, the first bit of help was to get a professional marketing plan. It's nearly 3 years ago now that I engaged the services of i2i Business Solutions which led to the formation of Tad Web Solutions Ltd and we've used the plan created then as a framework to get us where we are now. Obviously plans need amending in line with events and opportunities but it has been successful so far and I'm still very much in touch with David Laud who drafted that plan (thank you David).

That was the first lesson I had in the need to use the services of other people who, in my occasional moments of clarity, I recognise as better than me at a particular skill or knowledge area - not always easy when you are as (over) confident as me. The problem with all of this is that there are other "experts" out there who have rather erroneously had that particular epithet applied. I obviously won't mention any names but I have in the past dismissed "expert" help after a brief session when it became clear that they believe that repeating jargon and buzz words in their particular field without any underpinning knowledge makes them an expert.

Past experiences have demonstrated a few things.

Free support via business support packages, e.g. from councils, is not always worth the time you devote to it. We have had some very good support via Redcar & Cleveland Council's expert provider companies but we have also had some very bad advice from other "experts" - we now check out who may be providing the support before even considering taking it, even if it's free.

Cheapest is not best. Before engaging David of i2i we obtained several quotes and spoke to the potential providers. We went for the provider that was significantly more expensive than the others. Why? It wasn't based on price, though there may be a subconscious correlation of price and quality, but on our opinion of the providers after initial discussions. We know we made the right decision in that case.

Most importantly, and it's a lesson I don't always remember, you can buy in services that will save you money even though it appears that you are spending. It's cost effective to have things done properly and quickly by an expert and leaves you to concentrate on what you are good at which will generate income instead of spending a lot of time doing "stuff" that you don't do so well.

So where am I going with this? I have always done my own bookkeeping, though not formal accounts, and my quarterly VAT period ended on 30 Nov.

How much do I owe? No idea as my bookkeeping isn't up to date as we've been really busy.

How long would it take me to get it up to date? Several days.

Have I got time? No we've got a lot of work on, stuff I'm good at.

What's the answer? The brilliant Jo at Ambrose Accounting to the rescue.

I've been ignoring the most important lesson above when it comes to my accounts and am now addressing it. I have no idea why it's taken me so long to come to this decision (that's a lie, tight Yorkshireman is the real reason).

So apologies to Jo, please sort out my mess!