Lessons from setting up a small business
As we look back at some of the activity from Small Business Saturday (3rd December), Echelon Group CEO, Mathew Baxter, reflects on his experiences of setting up and growing the company.
When I started Echelon, there was no great masterplan; the circumstances were just right. I was working for another consultant and had decided to go out on my own, and by chance an ex-client phoned up and said they had a large project they wanted me to support.
Being my own boss appealed to me and I took the project on, with the family dining room doubling up as my office for the first six months, and it just grew from there.
I never thought that the business would become what it is today, but I fell into it at the right time. The concept of “partnering” (collaborative working between clients and contractors) was really new and because I’d done it as both a client and a contractor, I had the skills and experience from both sides, which was fairly unusual, so I was able to put myself in the middle and share my experiences both ways.
Initially, I employed a part-time administrator and then began recruiting and engaging associate fee earning staff, starting with our systems consultant, Tony, who is still with us 18 years later!
After the second year of trading, I made the decision to bring Aaron John, who went on to become Managing Director, on board. Aaron, who had had a similar career path to myself at that point, also purchased equity in the business, which was what attracted him to the role.
It was apparent after the first year of starting Echelon, that we would benefit from having defined office space to work from, both to support the growth of the business and my work/life balance.
After looking at several options, we took out a lease on a great loft office in Welwyn Garden City and invested heavily in IT, purchasing a dedicated server and associated hardware and software, supported by a local IT provider, Assign, who remain with us to this day. This would be the last time I would work at home – I have a very clear rule with the family, when I am at work I am at work, when I am at home, I am at home.
Within two years of taking the initial lease, it was clear that we were going to need more space, and a facility to host clients for meetings.
We had built up enough cash in the business to place a deposit on premises and were able to buy a property in St Albans that suited our requirements, with space for expansion to match our aspirations for growth. We also took the opportunity as part of the move to update our IT equipment.
We remain in the office today and it includes a large meeting room that has enabled us to host many clients over the 10 years we have been here.
The move enabled us to start planning for long-term growth and we subsequently took on two rented satellite offices in Chatham and Towcester (we have now moved away from Towcester), primarily to reduce travel time for staff living in the surrounding areas.
Growing your brand
A big part of building a successful business is growing your brand awareness, and I was very lucky to be able to combine one of my great passions – motorsport – with raising the company’s profile, when we started sponsoring the Sam Cox racing team in the early days.
As Echelon has grown, we’ve continued to invest in marketing and now have a dedicated team, helping us to promote our offer and achievements to a wider audience.
But building brand awareness is not enough on its own, you also have to build confidence in your brand and forge strong relationships, which is something that Echelon has achieved successfully. In the early days, we did a lot of work with Constructing Excellence, and I travelled around the UK delivering KPI master classes, which was a real door opener for us.
We’ve continued to place ourselves at the forefront of the issues affecting the sector, from our best practice and networking club AMIP and its associated industry subgroups, such as disrepair, to our regenerative sustainability programme and annual conference.
Through these groups, we share best practice, bringing in experts to impart their knowledge. We continuously engage with wider stakeholders and have developed connections with organisations, including Tpas, HACT and the CIH.
Today, there are three companies within the Echelon Group – Echelon Consultancy, Pretium Frameworks and Echelon Improvement Partnerships – and although we’ve grown significantly, the ethos has remained the same.
The business has been built around its people, and having a happy and fulfilled workforce is key for me. We’ve always offered flexible working patterns, long before Covid made it commonplace, and most of our team is home-based.
Importance of mental wellbeing
The mental health of our staff is extremely important, and everyone is encouraged to take an hour out of their working week to focus on wellbeing.
Echelon is a sociable business, and we get together as often as possible, which I think is particularly important when people are working from home. We’ve always held regular in-person meetings and every other meeting involves a team building activity.
While the focus of our business will always be people, we have also built a reputation for developing unique products and models. Establishing go-to methodologies, such as our now widely used Price per Property model and social value matrix, has helped us to make a name for ourselves.
The business has most certainly come a long way and I’ve learned some valuable lessons. One of those is having that demarcation line between home and work. When you’re starting a business and putting in ridiculous hours, it is vital to make sure you have quality time with your family as well.
Also, when running a business, you’re so busy doing that, you don’t always have time to process things and it is so important to put blocks of time in your diary where you can just reflect and do the thinking that you don’t have time for when you’re doing the doing.
Find a mentor outside of the business
The final thing is to find yourself a mentor, somebody outside of the business who you can bounce ideas off who will always give you an honest opinion.
I’ve had a few mentors over the years and when you’re in the middle of something, it is nice just to get out of it and get an alternative perspective. I have also gone to be a mentor to others, and I find this incredibly rewarding.
It hasn’t always been easy, and I didn’t have any grey hairs when I started the business, but it’s been an amazing journey so far and I wouldn’t change a thing. Looking ahead, we will continue to innovate and support the sector to find better ways of working and most importantly of all, we will continue to invest in our people and I’m excited to see what the future brings.
