Wednesday 3 November 2010

The Basics of Starting a New Business

I was asked a series of questions by a 15-year old, as part of his Business Studies GCSE course-work. He had to research a local company and, of the three he short-listed, he chose mine.

Q. Why did you start the business?
A. Because the company I worked for closed its UK office in the previous recession.

Q. How did you choose what type of company to start?
A. I offered services in which I had proven experience.

Q. How did you get customers?
A. At first, through my contacts, they then recommended me to their contacts, and so on.

Q. Have the company's services stayed the same or changed?
A. At first, it was primarily marketing and graphic design. When the Internet started to become popular, web site design evolved from graphic design. Currently, most of the new work is Internet marketing.

This completed the Start-Up element of the project. As he had no more questions, I asked if he had any comments. He said that the web site wasn't very impressive.

Out of the mouths of babes ... 

Excuses, excuses! I've been meaning to do something about the web site for about four years but never made the time, putting clients' needs first then, Wham! Twice in the past few days I've had the same comment - one was from a prospective client. Yet here I am, spending a few minutes on this blog that could really be better spent on redesigning the website.