We wanted to just get our thoughts down on paper as we mark the end of our first financial year. It’s been quite a journey – it’s been more fun than we could’ve ever imagined, more hard work, more empowering, more exciting and at times a big headache – but on reflection and on balance, we’re absolutely delighted with year 1.
An idea without a plan is just a wish! So, what did we plan to achieve in year 1?
Looking back through our extensive business plan – we can be proud that we have exceeded several of the aims that we put in place and delivered more than we could’ve envisaged in a relatively short space of time.
And it’s true – time flies! We have been overwhelmed with the support and the response to what we’re doing. It was hard to know how year 1 would work out… but it’s been more than we could’ve ever anticipated!
And we are delighted.
Key achievements:
New office opened
All back-office functions set up
Appointment of key business partners including a CRM and marketing support
Branding & website development
Recruitment success
Strong geographical presence across the region
Relationship building with key people in the market
Recommendations and referrals from loyal job seekers and customers
So, our 3 key strategies for year 1 were:
Service: Develop a strong base of clients and candidates who are loyal to our business – to be gauged by repeat business and testimonials of excellent service.
We have worked with housebuilders, contractors, architecture practices, planning consultants and housing associations since we began trading. We have secure repeat business from 4 major clients and have built lasting relationships with candidates who we have secured work for but crucially, also those who we have worked with to upskill them prior to their career moves who may not have secured work through Drayton Fox. We have testimonials from people who feel we have gone above and beyond to support their job search and have said that we were supportive, knowledgeable and honest in our approach. We have been blessed with recommendations from a number of those candidates and clients. We are very proud of that.
Commercial growth: Build a commercial base in order for us to be able to take on additional staff in year 2.
Clearly, building our revenue, reputation and sales base was always going to be vital to the success of year 1. We researched, took advice, listened to the marketplace and invested in various areas to support our revenue growth. We will continue to monitor this but, overall, we feel we have achieved this aim and look forward to growing the team further in the next 6 months.
Marketing: Develop and action a sustainable and clear marketing strategy.
We are delighted with how our marketing strategy has taken shape. We have nearly 2500 Linked In followers and have started to cement ongoing relevant, business-critical relationships via networking and marketing. We have put face to face contact at the heart of what we do and will continue to be a presence in the marketplace – favouring meaningful conversations to blanket marketing of any form. We thought carefully about which platforms we were keen to be visible on and that has certainly paid off in our first year. Clearly – marketing, content and social media continue to play a crucial role in any business growth and year 2 planning has begun to ensure we’re focussed and clear on how to move that even further forwards.
Our combination of online-based marketing, technology support and the human approach to recruitment will remain at the heart of what we do.
Thank you to all our supporters – family, friends and business partners across our network. We couldn’t have made it to our 1st birthday without you all.
We appreciate the ongoing support and take on board all feedback to make Drayton Fox a strong, agile and successful business.