Dec
26
One of the things that always intrigues me is how people become successful.
I’ve read many books on successful leaders, attended seminars and talked with people at length.
I’ve listened to strategies and tactics, things they have done that have worked well, how lucky they feel themselves to be. The problem being, no-one can replicate those things and ensure success. Circumstances are different, contexts are different, upbringing is different.
So, to try to begin (this isn’t exhaustive) to find out what makes successful people tick, we’ve tried to dig into their psyche for a brief moment to try to understand their view of the world.
Our first interview is Miles Burke, CEO of Bam Creative, a web development company in Perth, Western Australia. Miles is also one of the team here at Creative Suit. Miles has also been recently recognized as one of WA’s “Top 40 under 40″ - which gives you a clue to his vintage.
The answers to the following questions are unedited but do provide great insight to how Miles sees himself and his world.
1: Name: Miles Burke
2: Business: Bam Creative
3: Time in Business: 4.5 years with current business
4. How many businesses have you owned? Including my first freelance attempt, four.
5: Do you plan to retire soon? Nope – I’m having too much fun!
When you started your business, did you have a specific objective and, if so, what was it? The original concept was to provide me with a lifestyle where I could afford to spend time with my young family, and to also prove to my peers that you can be successful without becoming a ‘bastard’ – we’re talking solid ethical grounds here.
How did you deal with the challenge of “you have to be different to your competitors”? The main distinction I discovered early on was that I thought of marketing and branding than ‘cool technology’. We’ve got cool technology, but that shouldn’t be a driver for a website project. The fact we’re purposely small and approachable has been a big part of our success.
What was your first setback and how did you deal with it? The first one was cash flow – as with everyone, it took a while for me to discover turnover didn’t mean money in the bank. I was honest with clients – I called a number in that first year and asked them to pay me straight away, as I needed it to pay wages and put food on the table.
What 3 things have you learnt about yourself in business that you like? I’ve learnt that I will happily put a client’s needs before my own – we’ve turned down many a project because we have believed there were better solutions to their needs. Secondly, I have learnt how to be fair but firm in management – a certainly hard skill to learn, and lastly, I have learnt when to say no, which is a very important step towards staying focussed and staying true to your beliefs.
What really annoys you about your industry? The low barrier to entry means that anyone with a basic understanding of some simple software can call themselves a ‘web business’. There is a huge leap between that and best practise systems with sound methodologies and QA. It’s heart breaking when I hear of stories where clients have lost money or faith in our industry through charlatans.
What would you change about you if you could? I’d love to learn how to better wind down after work, and to be able to better define the balance between work and life.
When someone first presents you with a ‘great idea’ how do you respond? I pick it to shreds! I have a grand idea at least daily, so it is an important ritual to pick all of the holes and play ‘devil’s advocate’. If it makes it through my intense stripping back, then it’s worth considering.
What words would describe your approach to your business? Honest and focussed. I’m committed to be as transparent as I possibly can with clients, staff and suppliers, and I am constantly honing our service offering, so we offer only what we’re exceptionally good at. There are a multitude of ‘quick buck’ offerings which we could offer, but I believe in long term gain not short term profits.
Describe one thing about yourself that most people wouldn’t know that might give an insight into your personality. I have volunteered for organisations or charities since I was a teenager. Since starting Bam Creative, we’ve consistently given at least 5% of our gross turnover to charity – meaning we’ve returned more profits back into the community than we’ve actually kept for ourselves in some years. I keep that fact low key nowadays, because with the ‘triple bottom line’ buzz words and social responsibility trends that seem to be sweeping business, the concept sounds marketing driven, when it isn’t.
What is the one thing you wish you could do to improve your business tomorrow? The holy grail of keeping enough work in the pipelines to be busy enough, to make a reasonable profit and provide all of our clients with the turnarounds which they would all love. There’s a hard balance there, with busy periods affecting our responsiveness, and quiet periods affecting our bottom line (although they are rare nowadays).
More interviews to come. If there is someone you know who you would like to discover more about drop a line to us and we’ll try to get in touch with them.
Note: all interviews will be around the same questions to build the profile list as well as deliver consistency. If there are other questions you would like asked, let us know and we’ll try and squeeze them in somewhere.
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