Go Furness

Raking It In!

Ian started his working life in BAE in the IT department, but left after a year to do a degree in software engineering at Teeside Uni. He followed this with an OU course which was also IT and software based. He travelled, then worked at Tronic and then seized a more unusual opportunity. He began working from home, for an American company who set him up with the equipment and provided weekly conference calls. Home-working was not as popular in those days, and people were a little sceptical about the concept of not having a ‘proper’ job. But Ian was astute, and saw the opportunity and the longer term potential.

He furthered his knowledge in his field, recognised that there was a big demand for his skills and expertise, and learned how to operate within the international market. This was an excellent platform for him to start his own business.

He saved up some capital, and got ready to take a risk. In 2003, he gave up his day job, and launched his company SLR Software.

Since then, he has managed his company growth well, farming out some of the software development and the marketing. He now has 2 people in America, 1 in Germany and 1 in Manchester working with him. He has tapped into the international market, particularly the American market where there is a faster buying cycle.

They are currently marketing a very exciting product called RAKE. RAKE makes it possible to send huge email files (up to 15 GIGs) that are completely secure. The information is sent in a highly encrypted zipped file, but it is user friendly at the receiving end where it can be unpacked and downloaded to a chosen directory. The sophisticated process of RAKE is patent pending.

His Challenges?
Ian has had to work out marketing strategies to sell his products to the organisations who need it. He has tried various methods of marketing, trying them out on a small scale first and monitoring results. Currently he is using a company that sells opt-in data bases of email addresses. He targets appropriate businesses with emails detailing his ‘off the shelf’ and bespoke software packages.
RAKE has a link to his website, and as satisfied and impressed customers receive the huge files easily and securely, they can then click to his site to order it for themselves. This has a ‘viral marketing effect’ and works even as he sleeps!

His Ethos?

Look for ways to constantly improve products and services
Listen to feedback and get testimonials
Provide excellent customer service
Don’t expand too quickly
Don’t over staff
Take on other staff who are entrepreneurial
Advice to other entrepreneurs?

Research what’s needed, what’s already there and improve on it rather than trying to come up with something completely new
Get an idea and then take action. Keep taking action, work hard
Don’t give up the day job until you are ready for the risk
His secrets?

Good ideas
Good products
Hard work
Determination
Self-belief
Not crumbling and panicking at the hurdles
His plans?
To continue developing the company, and move into new markets in Europe, and Australia.
And there is no reason to doubt that he will achieve his goals!

Posted by Kay Hebbourn on 12th December.