Bubble

For most students university is a place for endless drinking sessions and getting up after noon. However, for Glenn Norman it seemed like the perfect time to start a new business. He tells us about his image and design consultancy, Bubble.

Name: Glenn Norman
Age: 19
Business: Bubble
Type of business: Company Image Consultancy & Design
Start date: October 2005

When did you first decide you wanted to start your own business?
It’s definitely something I’ve always wanted to do from about when I was about 14. I suppose the main inspiration was from my father, who set up a national car hire company and I noticed how much he enjoyed his work. The satisfaction from building up something from scratch has great personal rewards and I don’t believe this can be achieved from working for someone else to such an extent.

Tell us about your business.
I run a company image consultancy, which is combined with a graphic design service. We help new start-ups and small medium enterprises achieve a professional and coherent company image. We also help them broadcast to their market and prospective customers after we’ve finished working on their new image. We use three main channels to achieve this, logo, website design and stationery design. We’re very different from other ‘run of the mill graphic’ design agencies as we’re very business focused. Many, if not all graphic design artists concentrate solely on design - we believe this is the wrong approach. It’s extremely important that the image matches the client’s market place. For example, if we designed a logo for a heavy construction company we’d use heavy text with bold symbols and images. A logo should install faith in a company and reassure the prospective customer. It is representative of the company and the values it aspires to. It’s extremely important that we achieve all these things when designing a logo, something which most graphic design companies overlook.

Was it your first business idea and where did it come from?
This is the first business idea that I’ve actually implemented. When I came to university I made up my mind that I wanted to work for myself and I started to draw up ideas of things I could realistically do. I’ve got a lot of marketing and business experience and I thought why don’t I put this knowledge to use? The idea for Bubble was inspired from companies such as my father’s, and from seeing previous bosses paying massive amounts for design and websites - sometimes topping several thousands. I thought, ‘I can do that’, with the same or better quality, but for half the price.

What makes you think there’s a market for your business?
We started advertising via the internet and within one and a half weeks had secured three substantial clients. I believe this is because of the way we present ourselves via our website and the unique business service that we offer. Companies recognise that we aren’t a normal graphic design company and that we offer so much more for so much less outlay. Especially with web design, companies are usually forced to pay out thousands of pounds when paying for professional web developers. Our small business pricing strategy ensures that we can cater for start-ups and small businesses with limited budgets, but we don’t scrimp on quality or service, which fills that niche.

Once you’d decided to start a business, what did you do first?
The first thing I set about doing was designing my own logo, website and stationery. I wanted the website to look different from most graphic design agencies as I wanted to make sure that prospective clients recognised that we were different. It took quite a while to get my logo right – there’s more psychology in it than most people think.

What research did you do?
I approached graphic design companies and posed as a possible client in order to get an idea of their charges. I was getting figures back in the thousands for a relatively simple e-commerce web site build, which I thought was ludicrous.

What advice did you seek?
I’m studying for a business management degree and my tutors and lecturers at university have lots of experience in industry and in business start-ups. They have been very helpful and extremely supportive and have helped me draw up financial forecasts. Business Link were also very helpful as they paid for me to visit a private business advisor (twice) where I had the opportunity to discuss any issues I had. I’ve booked some more appointments with them as well as I’m going to need some guidance once I make the transition from a sole trader to a Ltd company.

What other help did you get?
My father helped me a lot. Apart from that I generally helped myself with most aspects. It’s all been relatively easy going so far and hopefully it will continue like that.

Does the government need to provide more help to people trying to start a business?
I certainly think that there should be more grants and low interest loans available for young people who want to set up in business. People my age are currently the least likely to set up in business and perhaps if the government invested some money in them, apart from the Prince’s Trust, this could change. We are the future of the country’s economy and we need to be actively encouraged to keep our healthy economy thriving. Perhaps a student loan style scheme would work?

Talk us through the process of writing your business plan.
I drew up some financial plans and forecasts as well as detailing my long and short-term goals. I’m now in a position to be able to accurately forecast the future, from having some trading figures. I used a template from the internet for my business plan, which proved quite a simple task – but important all the same.