Day: 27 October 2018

Over the last few months I have done so much reflecting for so many reasons. I really wanted to share this with you, to prove to you, that anything can be achieved if you put your mind to it.  Sorry, I know that sounds cliche, but its true.

July 2016 marks 10 years since I sat at home as a 16 year old boy and wondered what to do with my life. I looked at an almost empty bank account and thought ‘what can this £3 be spent on’.

I had my first major life choice to make… ‘A Big Mac’ or ‘A Domain Name’, I won’t tell you what my gut told me, but I chose a domain name.

This domain name paved the way to change my life.

Over the last decade, through tough times, and great times, that one life choice has helped me grow my web design company Damteq from absolutely nothing, to an agency with a great team of people, a modern office, and over 350 clients based all over the UK (and beyond). We have never had a business loan or any type of financial support, the business has been sustained through organic growth alone.

I grew up in a normal family, and no one had ever run a business before, so I entered into the world of unknown. The risk-taking has been high and I have often sat with my eyes closed tightly, praying that I made the right choice.

However, through the ‘mostly’ calculated risk-taking we have won various awards and in late 2015 was awarded as a Top 50 UK Based Digital Marketing Agency by TopSEO’s. Our services have grown too, we now offer everything a business needs to work and flourish online, and in total I’ve setup, invested and run a total of 11 online businesses.

All of the businesses in the group are focused on the customer. We never settle for anything less than perfect in terms of customer service and with everything we do we offer a simple, realistic and honest approach. Over the years I have learned that companies often over-complicate things for absolutely no reason, so we don’t follow the leader of what is perceived to be the right way to work. My attitude helps keep team morale high, encouraging everyone in the business to work hard, keeping productivity up and as an end result, this reflects on every project we do, and keeps the client happy.

Not only have I been busy in the office, but more recently I’ve bought a beautiful first home and in just two weeks time, I become a married man. When I look back, I think of the absolutely incredible journey I have been on in the last ten years.

Moral of the story, it’s bloody hard work but if you have the passion and drive you are capable of achieving anything. Life will often give you back what you put into it. Money is the reward that comes from the hard work, but once you get it, don’t let it go to your head, use the money to make more money. Invest wisely.

Oh, also, if you’ve got a life choice to make and only £3…
Don’t choose the cheeseburger.

Check out my businesses here: www.damteqgroup.com
Damteq: www.damteq.co.uk
Contact me/Press Enquiries: adam@adam.social

You’ve thought of a great idea, congratulations, you’re one step closer to people buying it. You need to turn an idea in your head into a business, it’s so easy and the majority of the time it doesn’t have to cost you thousands of pounds.

Here are the 7 basic things you need to do before you start trading:

1. Name

Think of a great name for your company, this is how everyone will recognise you so it’s vital that you get it right. Have a think about your long term goals and ambitions. Shorter names are usually better, they stick in people’s heads.

2. Trademark

Have you got such a good idea that someone might want to steal the name? Think about registering the name as a trademark. It costs about £170 to register one class and lasts 10 years. Don’t use a third party to register it, they will charge you up to £500 and its so simple you CAN do it yourself.

3. Ltd, Partnership or Sole Trader

If you’re intending to trade over £40,000 a year it’ll probably more more tax efficient to register as a Ltd company, and there is less personal risk to you. Get advice from a business advisor, or contact me if you want some more information.

4. Bank

Before you can see the pound signs flowing into your personal account you need to notify the bank who will set you up a business current account. I have always used Barclays, they’ve always been great.

5. HMRC

Your business is going to be great, I promise, but sadly the taxman wants a cut of your success. Register early on to save the problems later.

6. Financial planning, funding and grants

Planning ahead is vital to a successful business so you will need to think about drafting a cash flow forecast. I personally don’t believe in business plans, you’ll spend hours writing one, then it’ll sit in a drawer gathering dust for five years. You might need to write a business plan for the lenders if you’re intending to get a grant or loan to fund your business.

7. Website, Branding, Marketing

Think about how you’re going to market your product or service and plan your budgets early. Think about your target audience and how you want your brand to be perceived. Register a domain name early as well as setting up a professional email address as this will go a long way.

I have tried to consolidate the absolute basics into a very short space. I would love to have a chat with you about your business, so if you need any help at all, I am here to help. Just click the button below to get in touch.

Over the last nine years I have had lots of experiences that have been rewarding, from renting my first office, to employing my first member of staff. One of the first things I thought of when thinking of the structure of my business, was to come up with a mission statement, and it was so easy for me. I chose Simple Creativity. Short, sweet, to the point and in itself – SIMPLE.

By living and breathing these two words for a decade, it has helped me establish a great presence with business owners locally and nationally to gain trust and reassure them that we won’t baffle them with bullshit to win them over.

Here are my top 6 tips to remember when starting your business. I promise you, by doing these 6 things you WILL be successful and you WILL get long term customers.

1. Be Yourself

We are all people, no robots. People buy from people. Be yourself and make sure your personality comes across in meetings, on your website and through your branding. In my business I don’t wear a tie and I never think twice about picking my phone up and texting a client ‘How are you doing today? What did you do last night!?’

2. Be Honest

If you’re expensive, be honest… for what you’ll do for the client, you’re probably great value for money. If you’ve forgotten to hit a deadline, be honest, it’s probably not the end of the world. We can all forget sometimes, its just human error. I have won so much business through just being honest.

3. Be Transparent

Don’t beat around the bush. Be clear to your customer with what they are getting and how it will work for them. No bullshit.

4. Be Responsive

How many times have you made an enquiry to a company and they get back to you a week later with ‘Sorry, no we don’t do that.’ It’s SHIT. We have a policy in my business that we respond to all customer enquiries within 3 rings of a telephone and within 30 minutes to every email regardless of the time of day. Customer service is paramount to a successful business. Any response is fine, so if you have to wait for your supplier to get back to you, don’t worry! Just go back to your client with a message saying ‘We are just finding out from our supplier, please give us a day or two and we will get back to you properly’….. That is bringing everything together. HONESTY, TRANSPARENCY and you are BEING YOURSELF. It’ll go a long way. Trust me.

5. Be Strong

Not everyone will buy your service or product. Not everyone will like you. You won’t win every quote. You won’t hit your targets every month. Sorry to tell you but that is part of life and business, but be STRONG, you will get over it.

6. Don’t baffle to win business

It has taken me almost a decade to get my business processes right.

I sit in so many meetings with potential clients and get told the horror stories about other marketing agencies, how they baffle with bullshit to win business and to justify there £3000 a month retainer. It shouldn’t be like this. I will tell you now, marketing isn’t rocket science, and if you had time, you’d be able to do it yourself. It needs to be clever and consistent to see results. We never baffle with bullshit, if something doesn’t work quite as it should, we own up to it. We are only human after all.

I hope you have found this blog useful. If you have a horror story, or would like help with your business. Talk to me. The link is below.