The first six months of Yasper’s life has flown by. So it felt like a good time to take a step back, on a long train ride home from a client meeting, to assess how it’s gone and what the future holds.
I’ve not moved around much in my career and setting up an agency was something that took a lot of thought and plenty of planning. But since I took that step, I’ve enjoyed every moment and I’m constantly excited about what the future holds.
The thing that strikes me six months in, is that in some ways it still feels new. The excitement of seeing what each day will bring, what conversations I’ll have and what brilliant people I’ll meet. But in other ways, it feels like Yasper is six years old, or more. The level of clients we’re working with and the success the business has seen to date, has exceeded all expectations.
Looking at our latest forecasts, we have seven clients (with multiple projects for some) and are on track to smash year one targets. We’re recruiting for a new account manager (job spec here), which has attracted some excellent candidates to date. And we’re delivering a wide variety of work across a range of comms disciplines – work that is having an impact.
Highlights? Getting those first pieces of launch coverage was very exciting and made it all feel real. Big thanks to the YP for the Business front page – you made my mother very proud. PR Week, you’re still firmly on the naughty step – you know what you did.
Winning new work and being proactively approached has also been a big personal highlight for me. We’re about to embark on an important design-led campaign in the healthcare space, which is a client project that springs to mind.
And any regrets? Honestly, not really. I could probably have done a few things differently, but I don’t regret any of the decisions I’ve made.
Do I have any wise words for anyone seeking to do the same? Have conversations – lots of them! People are genuine and want to help. Plan, revise, and plan again. You can never be too prepared. Invest in your offer. Make sure you don’t cut corners and make sure you set out as you mean to go on. And go for it. It’s the best decision you’ll ever make.