Profile: Piers Daniell, Fluidata
Nerves of steel aren't a pre-requisite for being a successful entrepreneur, but they certainly help. Piers Daniell, managing director of high-speed internet services company, Fluidata, should know.
After finishing his A Levels and spending two years at Softcat, an entrepreneurial IT company, Piers decided to go it alone and resurrect the IT consultancy business he had first formed at the age of 15. He lived on £300-400 a month for two years – and all on credit cards.
Piers says: "I was £35,000 in debt with no tangible business. I could have declared myself bankrupt but I thought if I don't do this now, I'm going to have to save a lot more to try again in the future." So, armed with the sales skills he had learnt at Softcat, he pushed on, cold calling and trying to drum up business.
"The problem was my business model," he says. "I knew I would need to bring in a lot more business in order to grow. What I needed was a recurring revenue model. Broadband was being rolled out across the country and off the back of this I launched Fluidata in February 2004."
Growing the business
Piers set about writing a business plan and exploring funding options. "I was always careful to leave a third of revenue in the business to grow and reinvest, but if you have good ideas and need scale then you need outside investment. We took on angel investment when the company was turning over £200,000 and still relying on credit cards. But we were able to demonstrate 'proof of concept' to investors, which bettered our negotiating position and allowed us to borrow £150,000. Today, our turnover is £5.1m."
Up until now, growth has been organic as the company follows its principle of "build small and demonstrate success". Strong business processes were established from the start, as it was felt it would be harder to install these as the company grew. Piers also had the experience of doing most of Fluidata's job roles himself. Because of this, he's able to recognise the challenges his employees face, and question and support them more effectively.
"That's definitely a positive to organic growth," explains Piers. "With M&A activity and incoming management, for example, it can be difficult for leaders to understand fully the different layers of the organisation. That's not to say we're not looking at acquisitions. In fact, it's the next step for us. But it's important that we maintain our culture and, above all, our service levels."
Customer experience
Piers was quick to realise that when setting up a business the product didn't have to be unique. "Usually a market is big enough for more than one player," he says. "So, in the early years we were copying others and playing catch up, but now we're focused on developing new technologies and reinventing products to keep the business fresh.
"But fundamental to our business is customer care – and now more so than ever," Piers says. "When it comes to the services we offer, customers are less concerned about cost and more focused on our service offering. It's vital that we continue to meet their expectations.
"Of course, if we acquire a company we won't automatically win the loyalty of our new customers. That will be tricky. But we'll have to work at the relationship and make sure we get it right."
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