Shorter working hours pay off for digital marketing firm
Six-hour days and sharing out the perks – including gig tickets and holidays – brings productivity rise
hell. But in a perverse way, we actually started to get busier as a result of the downturn.
People were being made redundant and wanting to go into business for themselves – and, of course, they needed websites and marketing. What do you most enjoy about running the business? It’s great to see happy customers. I rewarded my team’s efforts by moving to a six-hour working day, which has resulted in a sharp rise in productivity.
My team are amazing. When the work is done we share the perks – such as getting them tickets for a gig they particularly want to go to, or fixing them up with surprise holidays.
I am taking them all to Iceland later in the year, for example. We go out together at least once a month for lunch or dinner and we have drinks together on a regular basis. What are your ambitions for the business? I want to see the business grow and to be seen as the foremost company when it comes to tourism and developing tourism businesses.
My personal ambition has to do with the fact that I’m a bit of a film geek. I want to write, produce and direct a film. I have a script already for a short story, and a client who is going to help me with it, so it may come to fruition. What are your top priorities? I want to open satellite offices both in the UK – probably in London and Manchester – and in the US.
In America, I have a notion for San Francisco, rather than New York, which is crowded with agencies. I feel San Francisco has a similar creative buzz to Glasgow. It’s incredible the number of really talented people this city produces for its size.
I would see the other offices having two or three people, feeding work back to Glasgow, which would remain the creative hub. I would like to build the team here to about 15, and then maintain it at that level. What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help? The Scottish government has shown a lot of support for the creative industries. There are a lot of incentives and help, although I feel funding could be better.
Scotland is a very creative place to live. It is amazing how much our small country has contributed to the world.
One area that could be improved upon is coding. I bought my six-year-old daughter a Kano computer, which teaches kids how to code, and she loves it. We need more of this in our schools as this industry is only going to grow and evolve. What was the most valuable lesson that you learned? When you start in business, hire a business coach. We have an arrangement with Forbes Bryce, of Freshwater Business Coaching, and I consider him as much part of Senshi as any member of staff.
That extra bit of advice, or caution when you’re going too far, is invaluable. It’s just like sport – if you want to be good at your game, you hire a coach. How do you relax? Spending time with my wife, daughter and son, watching movies and scriptwriting.