For today’s businesses, finding the right IT support is up there in the ‘critical’ stakes alongside employing the right people. Few organisations can function without IT systems that run efficiently and reliably, but amazingly there are still many organisations that can recite tales of woe about what happened when their systems – or more frequently their support services – failed.
Dan Tidswell, founder of PrettyGood IT, knows all about reliability issues. His career working in city banks on systems analysis and security has instilled a corporate culture into Dan in which bullet proof computer systems and excellent IT support are one hundred per cent business centric.
In 2004, Dan was itching to leave city life. He had studied IT at college, completed a degree and gained numerous IT qualifications whilst working in senior support roles for major European and US banks.
Fed up with commuting and wanting to be his own boss, he took advantage of management changes from which stemmed the possibility of redundancy. Using the generous package to set himself up in business, Dan was sure he could find SMEs that needed top quality IT services; but he did not rely on anecdotal evidence, engaging in some rather unusual market research instead: Dan approached four local companies and offered a free audit on their IT systems. This gave him an insight into IT support at a local level – the strengths, failings, areas of potential weakness and issues over which business managers needed help. Interestingly, today these four are all clients of PrettyGood IT.
By September 2004 Dan was in business. He wrote a business plan, which in his words “soon went out of the window”, and aimed initially at businesses with just 1 to 5 workstations. It quickly became clear that this was the wrong market segment for Dan, and he shifted his target towards organisations with a larger infrastructure, providing installation, bespoke support, analysis and maintenance contracts.
The Colchester Business Enterprise Agency (Colbea) was introduced to Dan by a friend, but at that time it was premises he was after rather than seeking advice or training. The first two years of his business had been a great success and now was the time to look for office space that would allow him to move his business out of his home office and into a more professional environment. One look at the Colchester Business Centre was enough to make Dan sign on the dotted line! As he says: “The terms were exceptionally flexible, there was no hefty deposit and no long term contract to sign. Added to that the rent was very reasonable and the facilities on offer fitted what I wanted perfectly.” Dan uses the reception services for his post and meeting and greeting visitors, and often sees people in one of the meeting rooms which are available for tenants’ use.
As with many small businesses, Dan was riding a wave but aware that he needed to move his venture on to the next stage if he ever wanted to be more than a ‘one man band’. Keith Powell, one of Colbea’s business advisers, spent several hours with Dan over a period of 6 to 8 weeks, listening to where he was now, setting him tasks to move the business forward and helping him to identify and develop the most profitable work areas. “Keith took a bird’s eye view of my business”, says Dan, “with years of business experience under his belt, he helped me to crystallise the direction in which I needed to take my company.”
One of the actions Dan took was to form an alliance with another local business whereby customers that don’t fall into his key target market are referred on and vice versa. A relationship of trust has built up between the two, each knowing that referred work will be done in exactly the way they each would have done it themselves. With business growing, Dan has been able to sub-contract work to specialist sources, whilst giving his clients a 24/7 response to keep their IT systems running. This enables him to offer a fully rounded service from installation and build to trouble shooting, risk analysis, cost of ownership reports and a full range of maintenance contracts.
Anyone who meets Dan can’t help but be impressed with his enthusiasm and obvious love of his job. The satisfaction he gains from leaving his customers with a job well done makes up for the long hours and commitment he’s had to put in to the new venture. He makes a point of being completely transparent about mark-up and pricing, quoting up front on a fixed price basis and even showing customers his suppliers’ invoices if they want to see them. “What gives me the greatest satisfaction is solving a problem that could have brought the business to its knees had it gone unheeded” explains Dan. “For example, I’ve been to companies where they thought they had a good back-up system in place, but when it came to restoring that system – as would need to be done should disaster strike – nothing worked! I’ve been able to introduce new systems that have been easy to manage and are proven to be recoverable.”
Dan is planning a move out of the Colchester Business Centre to purpose built offices in Stanway, closer to his home and on the same site as one of his major clients. He is full of praise for Colbea’s services, saying: “The Business Centre has been an ideal place for me to grow my business. Everyone here has been a great support and the services on offer are first class. Best of all, Colbea’s Business Advisers are on hand and they’re worth their weight in gold!”
For information go to www.prettygoodit.com or phone Dan Tidswell on 01206 543909.
