To begin with we needed a name; short, catchy, meaningful and preferably impactful both on and off the page. Unlike naming children or animals, we had to come up with one that hadn’t already been registered (in this case with Companies House). We arrived at Skin Communications after many hours of intense deliberation with a belief that the name reflected the pillars or rather layers of our business. It also resonated strongly when we put it to prospective clients and media owners.
After the name, we turned to the logo and colours. Again, what will be noticed and stand out being of the utmost importance. From there to social media handles and the website – it is vital to have your creative director leading from the front on that one.
Once those necessities had been bought, created and uploaded, then came a plethora of official requirements such as; insurance, an accountant, registering for VAT, and, the P&L. Setting realistic, attainable goals, both financially and culturally, were important to us.
From an actual office, to Microsoft Office 365 or Apple Mail, iCal and Dropbox, all needed to be considered and implemented. We are eternally grateful for all the help and support we received from friends and business colleagues including Alex, Gary and those at The Grove Media.
Having been a MIPA (Accredited Member of the IPA) for a number of years, I knew that our industry body, the IPA would offer excellent advice. So it proved and I can highly recommend their Accelerator scheme for start up agencies.
There were, of course, a few issues. IT always requires an amount of patience that I don’t possess and opening a bank account turned out to be harder than getting a release date fixed for James Bond!
Was it worth it? Definitely. Every day you wake up wanting to go to work and wanting to do the best that you can for those that have engaged your services. And, when you win your first client, there is nothing more satisfying.
