If I had a pound for every individual I have met since I started Impress who wanted to pack in their day job and form their own business... Most of them never do of course. The stark reality of pursuing a dream, a passion or even a calling often dissolves in the face of the practical realities of a guaranteed income, the mythical comfort of a job for life or the sheer fear of taking the ultimate risk.
This is by no means a criticism of those who ultimately decide to stay within the comfort zone. From experience, I can tell you that working for yourself is far harder than taking the fixed monthly dollar from an employer. The hours are longer, the responsibilities greater and the fear of failure all the more acute. And if you do initially succeed, the nightmare of actually employing people can make even the most inspired, passionate and visionary entrepreneur question their sanity.
The Impress client list is dominated by such free thinking entrepreneurs and their biggest gripe is always the frustrations caused by staffing issues. The topic dominates the Impress meeting room as some of the most inspiring business people I have ever met curse their employees, recruitment agencies and the restrictions of employment law. So anyone that truly takes the plunge and jacks in the day job in favour of following their heart has my absolute admiration.
One such individual is Sue Kingston who has just realised the first phase of her dream. Sue is a mum, wife and an employee of Nationwide in Swindon. She is a keen tri-athlete and this is where her vision initially took shape. Like many women, Sue wanted to buy stylish fitness clothing to enable her to work out and compete without feeling like her appearance or femininity was being compromised. Frustrated at the lack of retail outlets stocking a range of suitable apparel, she decided to form her own online store targeting women like her.
Being the woman she is, Sue wanted to do things properly and she was recommended to Impress via Andy Poulton at Business Link. Determined not to cut corners, Sue accepted the brand approach we presented and allowed the agency to develop an appropriate corporate identity that soon wove its way into logo, stationary, initial website design, posters, emailers and even stickers. The uniformity of the designs presented a strong, confident and professional image long before the company even started trading this week.
www.fit2bseen. co.uk was launched on May 9th and the reaction from friends and initial customers has already been positive in the extreme. The site itself is a dream: contemporary, stylish, user-friendly and equipped with full ecommerce facility and a content management system that enables Sue to upload new products, pictures and other content. She is in total control.
The site was launched via a promotional emailer and web traffic is already high. In less than 24 hours she has received her first wave of online purchases and we are about to promote the site via Google Adwords. Impress is a recognised Google agency and we are formulating an adword strategy directly with the search engine gods to maximise commercial returns on the campaign. PR and traditional advertising will follow shortly and word of mouth will undoubtedly do the rest.
Sue has now handed in her notice at Nationwide and is committed to Fit2bseen on a full time basis. All at Impress take off our metaphorical hats to her spirit, ambition and attention to detail. She now has an online business that has evolved in just three months since we sat down together for the first time with a blank sheet of paper.
It can be done and Sue's excitement, determination and desire to embrace proven, top-level marketing principles almost guarantees the success of her business. Impress is delighted to have helped make her dream a reality and remains committed to helping it succeed.
Congratulations Sue, enjoy the ride and I look forward to future meetings when we can both enjoy a moan about the joys of running our respective businesses. You are joining an elite club of 'Impress entrepreneurs'!!!!!
