We catch up with Chris Rivett, founder of Upton(a)way Media, a Northampton-based provider of web and print solutions. Chris has previously appeared as a Startups Profie.
I've had a good first twelve months, better than l had initially planned for. I think that this is because l was a little conservative with my original projections.
This is mainly because I have added a range of complimentary services and have evolved into more than just a web designer, which means in addition to the main area of designing and hosting web sites for small firms l have been able to utilise my media background and develop sites for companies who may already have a website but not necessarily the in-house expertise to get the most out of it.
This has meant current clients have embraced my suggestions to utilize web 2.0 opportunities like rss feeds and blogging to help market their sites and stay ahead of their competition.
At the moment, I am working with various clients to introduce branded wallpapers and screensavers (incorporating an rss feed of their news), electronic brochures to drive traffic to their site, regular maintenance contracts to develop a site’s content and fine tune search engine optimization so that there is always something on their site – this is where my media and web skills have provided an effective cross-over. It’s all very busy but interesting to work on such a diverse range of products for different clients.
It has been a real learning curve, as well as the designer, suddenly you have to be a salesman, an accountant etc - all things that I had no experience of prior to starting out.
The main benefit has to be having complete control over my own time, which means I can work around the clock to meet my client’s needs, but also to have time for myself when I have needed it.
This was particularly important last summer when I got married and needed time off to sort things out for that and for my honeymoon. The only thing I perhaps miss from previous employment, is the interaction with people, all the companies I previously worked for had a large staff base that I would be involved with at different levels on a daily basis; although that also has its benefits because I don’t get dragged down with office politics anymore!
I suppose initially, you would have to say surviving the first year, because more and more statistics are coming out stating how hard it is to do just that but for me, it would have to be the amount of referral business I picked up.
This isn’t something I had planned for and it is great to know that you have done a good enough job for a client, that they are happy to put their own reputation on the line to refer you to their contacts – that is when you know you have done a good job and so far I have been very fortunate that I haven’t spent a single penny on advertising the business.
It would be easy to say, that I didn’t set the business up sooner but the reality is, that without the experience and contacts I made at Dr. Martens, Northampton Town and Luton Town Football Club, who I had worked for since leaving school, that I would not have been able to have been as successful in the last year as I have been.
In recent months I have been involved in setting up an independent breakfast networking club in Northampton –
www.1aim.org.uk – which has resulted in me becoming Chairman of the group.
I have made some good contacts from networking and this has helped with my personal development, as well as my professional one.
I don’t think I would have done anything differently, because it has been such a learning experience along the way, it would be easy to say I’d do ‘this or that differently’ but the reality is I wouldn’t know what I know now, if I had not approached things the way that I did.
My business plan was quite simple, it was more of a projection of where I would like to be at certain points over the next three years.
So far, I have managed to hit my targets ahead of schedule and it is my intention to sit down later in the year and take the plan five years into the future.
Rather than invest in an accounts package, I set up a handful of basic spreadsheets for invoicing and keeping track of my finances, within these spreadsheets I’ve been able to project what I am likely to pay in tax and have put this money aside in a reserve account, ready to pay the tax bill when it arrives.
I have resisted the temptation to draw from these funds and pay myself a larger salary and then worry about the tax bill when it comes, this has been very important for me as its one less thing to concern myself with.
I would be very happy if I am able to continue the growth of the first year in all honesty, if I can keep the new clients I have had referred to me happy, alongside my original ones, and they continue to tell someone about me, in the same way that they first heard of me, then I will have made progress. It’s a basic business model but it is the standard of my work and customer service that I believe will set me apart from my competition.
I tend to work when I know my clients need me and I am fortunate, that with my wife’s commitments as a veterinary nurse and her shift pattern, that most of the time I can plan my work around similar hours so that I can spend time with her and our family and friends and enjoy the break from working – their support helps to keep me fresh and focused for the job in hand when I am working and encourages me to look at things from different angles.
Definitely do it, if it’s something that you have been thinking of doing for a while, then be brave and take the chance. In some cases you might be able to build your business up in your spare time, but the reality is you won’t make a proper go of it and you won’t learn as you earn, until you go full time. If you have the drive and an understanding family and friends behind you, you have the main assets you need to get yourself off the ground.
