Name: Nick Bax
Company: Humanstudio
Website: www.humanstudio.com
Sector: Design
Inspiral programme: High Growth Start-Up
Inspiral helped with: Business plan and networking
What do you do?
“We’re a creative agency. We’re design-based. That’s our background. But some of the areas we’re involved in go beyond just being design. We’ve got projects going at the moment that involve art direction, animation, some areas of web design and film production.
There’s a core of three people in the studio here and then we have a network of over 20 people, all specialists in different areas, that we can work with as and when we need them.”
When and why did you set the company up?
“The company name has been registered since July 2006 but we didn’t start in earnest until October 2007. I’d been at Designers Republic a long time and I think I’d got to a point where I was either going to set up my own company in the next few years or I was never going to do it.
I was happy at Designers Republic and we were doing really well. I wasn’t even thinking about forming my own company at the start of the year and then it popped into my head whilst I was on holiday and I couldn’t shake it off. The more people I spoke to about it, the more convinced I was. And then I went and saw Inspiral.”
What help has Inspiral given you?
“I got in touch with Inspiral very early on in the proceedings. They’ve obviously worked with design companies before so they understood my situation. They understood straight away what my strengths were and what I was aiming to do.
They went through my business plan and picked out things that needed work and things that didn’t. If I’d gone to see someone from more of a financial background, they’d probably have picked out things that might have been correct procedure, but weren’t that relevant for me.”
How has Inspiral’s help impacted on your business?
“I didn’t go to see my bank until I’d seen Inspiral and when I eventually saw them it was a piece of cake because of the business plan that Inspiral had helped me put together. It also meant I didn’t have to put certain things up as collateral for the business, which normally you’d expect to have to do, because of the business plan the bank were confident enough to give me any overdraft or loans I needed.
Inspiral gave us access to a lot of really good consultants and advice but the main thing was they helped us launch well, which is important because we needed to position ourselves in the city very quickly. We managed to have an evening that was a good mix of business and culture. We have functions for both these things in Sheffield but it’s very rare that they come together. It’s a big ethos for the company to get a healthy mix of the two and [Inspiral consultant] MK helped us to do that.”
What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own business?
“Make sure you know your market. It seems really obvious but it’s the most important thing. Even if you’re really into something and all your friends think it’s great, are they going to buy from you? Have you actually got something that people are going to want to buy? Once you’ve got that and you’re convinced, you go for it and at that point, you go and see Inspiral.”
