IN this week’s SME Focus a digital marketing entrepreneur explains how reducing the length of the working day for staff has paid dividends for his business.
Name:
Chris Torres.
Age:
40.
What is your business called?
Senshi Digital.
Where is it based?
Glasgow.
What services does it offer?
Predominantly website design and development, digital marketing and brand development.
Whom does it sell to?
We cater for many different industries and businesses, but our main focus is on international tourism, which accounts for about 70% of our business. We use a booking engine called TourCMS - it stands for content management system - and we work very closely with them.
We are cross sector, but we tend towards mid- to high-end clients, rather than small businesses. We deal with a significant a number of individual hotels and tour operators and we are targeting the bigger chains.
What is its turnover?
£450,000 last year.
How many employees?
There are now eight, up from five a year ago and we are bringing on another developer soon.
When was it formed?
February 2008.
Why did you take the plunge?
If there was just a grain of entrepreneurialism in me when I started working, it flourished when I started working for others; I began to spot any number of ways in which I felt things could be done better and more effectively. Inevitably, I had to start working for myself and, I’m delighted to say, it has grown from there.
What were you doing before you took the plunge?
I have been in the industry for 25 years, with design companies and various print companies. I left school at 16 and was picked up by Jordanhill College School to do computer artwork, which was quite novel at the time - I was using an Archimedes computer. I went from there to design companies, where I was doing much of the work and I thought why am I not doing this for myself?
How did you raise the start-up funding?
Largely through freelance work. The business was self-funded for five years until I brought in my first member of staff, for which I took a business loan. Most of the expansion since then has come from retained profits.
What was your biggest break?
Landing a breakthrough contract two years ago with Gray Line, the oldest and largest tour operator in the world. When that came along, I was struck for the first time that we were actually going places with the business. We made the connection through TourCMS, but for a company of Gray Line's global size and reputation to choose a small company in Scotland as a primary supplier is quite remarkable. Gray Line has around 150 destination specialists all over the world and we helped develop individual websites for them as well. Our association with them has helped us win work with many other big tour companies.
What was your worst moment?
Starting up in 2008, just as the recession was really starting to bite. At the same time my wife became pregnant and we had to move house. It was the year from hell. But in a perverse way, we actually started to get busier as a result of the downturn. People were being made redundant and wanting to go into business for themselves - and, of course, they needed websites and marketing.
What do you most enjoy about running the business?
It’s great to see happy customers. I rewarded my team’s efforts by moving to a six hour working day, which has resulted in a sharp rise in productivity. My team are amazing. When the work is done we share the perks - such as getting them tickets for a gig they particularly want to go to, or fixing them up with surprise holidays. I am taking them all to Iceland later in the year for example. We go out together at least once a month for lunch or dinner and we have drinks together on a regular basis.
What are your ambitions for the business?
I want to see the business grow and to be seen as the foremost company when it comes to tourism and developing tourism businesses.
My personal ambition has to do with the fact that I'm a bit of a film geek. I want to write, produce and direct a film. I have a script already for a short story, and a client who is going to help me with it, so it may come to fruition.
What are your top priorities?
I want to open satellite offices both in the UK - probably in London and Manchester - and in the US. In America, I have a notion for San Francisco, rather than New York, which is crowded with agencies. I feel San Francisco has a similar creative buzz to Glasgow. It's incredible the number of really talented people this city produces for its size. I would see the other offices having two or three people, feeding work back to Glasgow, which would remain the creative hub. I would like to build the team here to about 15, and then maintain it at that level.
What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?
The Scottish Government has shown a lot of support for the creative industries. There are a lot of incentives and help, although I feel funding could be better.
Scotland is a very creative place to live. It is amazing how much our small country has contributed to the world. One area that could be improved upon is coding. I bought my six year old daughter a Kano computer which teaches kids how to code and she loves it. We need more of this in our schools as this industry is only going to grow and evolve.
What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?
When you start in business, hire a business coach. We have an arrangement with Forbes Bryce of Freshwater Business Coaching, and I consider him as much part of Senshi as any member of staff. That extra bit of advice, or caution when you're going too far, is invaluable. It's just like sport - if you want to be good at your game, you hire a coach.
How do you relax?
Spending time with my wife, daughter and son, watching movies and script writing.
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