Meet the founder of Antiques Boutique
I'm Rob Watson, 38, and from South East London originally but living in Derby since 2009 after moving up here to look after my grandma. I've also lived in Scandinavia for a few years, and spent some time in the States. I'm married to a nurse and have a little girl; Eva.
Growing up, I went to the 7th worst secondary school in the UK so I didn't have the greatest opportunity to learn but left with GCSEs and dropped out after that. I have no A levels or degree but managed to talk myself into my first web development job in central London when I was 18. They didn't have a desk or computer for me to work at, but I found half a desk and told them I'd bring my own laptop. Back in those days, 2001, the web was very basic and I still only had dial up at home!
I've always been really passionate about making computers and the web easy to use. I'm a firm believer that computers are here to make our lives easier, and when I see people shouting and swearing at them because they don't understand them or find them hard to use it drives me to do something to make them easier.
I started ph9 in 2004 with that mission; to make computers and the web easy.
I'm creative, and I believe that I was lucky enough to be born with that. I've always been bustling with ideas of things I want to make and do, with ideas regularly popping into my mind, and I love the feeling of looking at the finished result.
What’s the most common problem your customers approach you with?
Our clients want to be able to sell online easily, and they're usually not able to do that either because their website is hard to update, they don't know how to operate it, or it just isn't performing well.
We focus on making the whole experience as easy and enjoyable as possible, and providing a personal service.
Keeping an eye on the numbers in any business is important. How do you ensure that you’re always up to date?
KPIs!
It's so easy to get distracted in the nitty gritty of every single thing happening in your business but if you try and do that you'll never get anything done, making scaling your business simply impossible.
Ultimately KPIs are something you need to set up so you can monitor at a glance how your business is doing.
We track our KPIs monthly and include items like how many leads we've had, how many sales we've made, how many clients lost, the net result of clients, money owed, etc. We also look at these KPIs every week as a team so that we all know where we're at.
With our antiques marketplace Antiques Boutique, we track KPIs including number of new dealer applications, number of enquiries through the site, number of items on the site, etc.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
It sounds cheesy; but to follow your gut instinct. I've ignored it on many occasions and lived to regret it.
What are your thoughts on failure?
I used to absolutely hate it, and get embarrassed about it. As I've gotten older I've realised through experience that every failure is an opportunity; either an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to grow, or something fairly standard like an opportunity to improve things like business processes.
As a business owner, do you know when to walk away from a sale?
It's always really important to know when to "sack" a client, or simply walk away from a sale. A bad client is usually one who has expectations that either far exceed their budget, or simply far exceed reality. Bad clients also include those that are rude, highly impatient, or simply have a bad attitude. I've learnt the hard way that one bad client can ruin the mood of your entire team, cause them a huge amount of stress, and mean that because your team is stressed out and unhappy. This results in the delivery of sub-par service to the rest of your clients.
One of our core values is "happy". I want to make sure that my team is happy, and that my clients are happy. If we have one bad egg which is causing either our clients or team to be unhappy, then it's something we know we need to deal with to achieve our values... it's that simple.
So taking on board that one bad client is simply not worth the risk, follow your gut instinct and don't do it as it will cost you in the long run!
We also do not accept any clients who are in any way racist, sexist or misogynistic and I make sure that my team know that they have the right and my full backing to refuse to deal with any clients like that.
Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?
Nope! I'm not a morning person! Like many creative people I'm a night owl and always have been.
I should probably have "fuelled by caffeine" tattooed somewhere.
How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?
Vital. Although I've only learnt that through hindsight.
I've found that having core values, we're able to ensure that we have a team that is aligned to those values, and that decisions we make are based on those values. It also gives the team the freedom to make decisions on their own without me.... if their decision conforms to our values, then they know it's the right decision.
I've also found it really important to make sure you act and get rid of team members who don't conform to your values or fit in with your culture as they end up being the poison that ruins it for everyone else.
How did you fund the launch of your business and what creative strategies did you use to execute a minimal cash flow?
I funded the launch through endless working, non-stop days, pure graft, and the kind of hours that would probably cause me a heart attack now! I regularly only had 3 hours of sleep a night. I couldn't do that now, I simply wouldn't cope!
In terms of executing a minimal cash flow of course just be very wise about what overheads you actually need, versus those which are just a luxury or frivolous. However, I think it's also really important as a business owner to understand the cost of acting versus the cost of NOT acting.
For example, if you can spend £500 on something that will earn you £5,000 then not spending that £500 has just cost you £4,500. Business is simple; it's just money in VS money out. Just be sure that you understand and analyse what risks are involved; both in the cost of acting, and the cost of not acting.
How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?
Imagining the end result. The thought of the end result; be it a new product I'm creating like Antiques Boutique, a new service we're starting, or whatever; that end result and dreaming about it is what gets me really excited. I can often visualise the end result clearly in my mind, and it's the excitement of that which pushes me to achieve it.
How much time do you spend on things that don’t add customer value?
As little as possible, if I can help it!
Is word of mouth working to your advantage?
Totally. Providing excellent customer service, and ensuring your clients love what you do and love your service is one of the greatest marketing strategies you can employ.
"Happy" is also one of our core values. So it's simple really; if we can deliver a service which makes our clients so happy that they recommend us, that will also make us happy in our jobs and feel satisfied too. What's not to love about that?
