Face for Business, a UK telephone answering service, interviewed Wayne Hemingway - multi-disciplinary award-winning designer - about advice for entrepreneurs and start-ups. Wayne provided some really insightful and inspirational comments. See the full interview at: http://ffb.co.uk/sme-advice/196-wayne-hemingway-provides-face-for-business-with-advice-for-start-ups-and-entrepreneurs
2. Face for Business had the opportunity to interview Wayne Hemingway
(multi-disciplinary designer) recently following his visit to our region, for
the BIG Conference 2014 at Edge Hill University.
“Design is about improving things that matter in life”.
- Wayne Hemingway
Image Source.
3. Wayne Hemingway Bio in Brief
• Born in Morecambe, Lancashire
• Red or Dead Founded (1983)
• Red or Dead sold & Hemingway Design founded (1999)
• Becomes a MBE (2006)
• Vintage Festival concept developed (2007)
• Honorary Doctorates from Lancaster and Stafford Universities (2008)
• ‘Starter for Ten’ instigated for creative start-ups (2009)
• Multi-award winning fashion/housing designer
• Husband to business partner Geraldine with four children
For more insight into Wayne’s life and enterprises, please visit:
Source: http://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk/about/history & http://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk/teams/4
4. Why did Face for Business approach Wayne Hemingway?
• We wanted to gain his advice on starting a new business and obtain
tips for entrepreneurs.
• He is a fellow Lancastrian.
• He has been on an incredible journey in terms of starting out and he
encompasses an energetic entrepreneurial spirit.
• He has succeeded in business and is award winning in all areas of his
work.
• He believes in what he does…
5. Some of the key points he noted in his interview are…
Design is about improving things that matter in life.
You have to have a passion for what you do.
You need a good team around you.
You have to give a lot before it comes back to you.
Work within the finances you’ve got.
The more generous you are, the more chance you’ll have of success.
Get good people around you to help you deliver.
6. “What advice would you give to an entrepreneur who is thinking
about taking a leap of faith into a new area of business?”
7. What challenges do you think hinder creativity, and how have
you overcome them?
8. As a small creative business starting out, what advice would
you give in relation to managing time, budgets and expectations
of the first year?
9. And what do you think are the main factors a creative business
should consider when setting out on their ingenious journey?
11. To read Face for Business’ full interview with Wayne
Hemingway, please visit our blog:
http://ffb.co.uk/sme-advice/196-wayne-hemingway-provides-face-for-
business-with-advice-for-start-ups-and-entrepreneurs
12. With thanks to…
‘Wayne Hemingway’
•Hemingway Design - http://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk/
•Creative Lancashire - http://creativelancashire.org/
•International Festival of Business - http://www.ifb2014.com/
•Big Conference 2014 - http://bigconference.co.uk/
Editor's Notes
Experienced professional team with a telecoms background
Service went live in 2013 after a rigourous research & development phase
How we work - incoming call answered, portal completed, email to clients, bills reviewed and optimised
Different packages - Complete PA & Message Only
7 day free trial
Call handling in SME Sector
- £31bn is the amount UK businesses are loosing per year due to unanswered calls
- 72% of callers do not leave a voicemail
- 98% of people believe unaswered calls reflect badly on business
- 69% of callers never call back
- 93% of UK businesses (without a call handling service) are missing calls
- One of our key competitors has a turn over of c.£10m per year
Our objectives
- To become the UK's best virtual PA/Receptionist provider, through great serviced married with innovative technology created around our customers needs.
Our clients
- IFA's
- Mortgage Brokers
- DI's
- Maintencance Companies
- Sole Traders
SEO & Website
- Blogs on website, guest blogs, features and articles
- Built website
- Monthly investment in our SEO and key search words
Social Media
- connecting, engaging, networking and exposure
Website & Branding
- Further amendments to site - text and images, extra pages required
- Have undertook consultation with small business and obtained some feedback, but where do we go from this?
Sales Team
- Targeted audiences
- Tried IFA's, Mortgage Brokers and DI's
Word of Mouth
- XX client referrals
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