MAGNIV: 2016-present

I co-founded MAGNIV as a side-project in my first year of University with 3 friends. We invested a small some of money in buying basic equipment and over the next 18 months, did a handful of events.

In Summer 2018, a couple of months before I moved to Barcelona, we had to make a decision about whether to continue. One partner had left, one was already busy with 2 jobs, an MBA and a family and the other was about to move to Cardiff for a new job.

I had a feeling we hadn’t reached our potential yet and decided to continue. I reinvested everything we had made into new, state-of-the-art equipment; incorporated the business as MAGNIV Photomagnets Ltd and left the country.

Whilst settling into Spain, I put all my free time into turning the project into a business. I recruited and trained a team of 20 photographers and technicians; I sorted out all the compliance and bureaucracy and pushed sales as hard as possible. I bought into a specialist CRM and launched it together with a new website.

It all paid off - by February 2020 I had grown the original investment one-hundred-fold and established MAGNIV as the leading UK provider by a considerable amount.

Coronavirus has hit MAGNIV hard, as it did many of our other friends in the events industry. Even when micro-weddings and small gatherings are returning, we remained closed, as most of our events have over 150 people. In June 2021 we returned with a bang and now in 2023 we’re set to have our greatest year yet.

The Kosher Mask Co: June-August 2020

I arrived late to the mask party - there’s no doubt about it. I was finishing my degree, not thinking about business, whilst suppliers and retailers were manufacturing, importing and selling masks.

When I came across a UK linen manufacturer (a tablecloth factory) who were repurposing to make branded masks, I saw an opportunity to enter the D2C/B2C side of the market with masks printed with slogans. We now ship over 20 designs across the UK, USA, Canada and Israel as well as offering a design-your-own option.

This venture is largely driven by our values. Too many people are not wearing face-coverings. Of those who are wearing, too many are using (and reusing) medical, disposable masks, made in overseas sweatshops and harming the environment.

We want to make masks fun, ethical, economical and environmentally friendly.

We also are encouraging businesses to give their staff branded masks with “If you need to read my lips, ask me to remove my mask” printed on them, to accommodate the D/deaf community who have been sidelined during the pandemic. We’re printing this phrase at no extra cost when companies order branded masks from us.

Two months later, I’ve now exited the business. The Kosher Mask Co continues, but we’ve been bought out. I didn’t have this planned as an exit strategy, it all happened very fast… but that’s just how we roll.

Artist

I’m consulted for a London-based artist with over 70 bespoke paintings she created and is looking to sell via e-commerce. She’s invested heavily in getting the products ready for sale and I’m helped to launch the marketing and sales machine to turn this hobby into a business.

Influencer Marketing Agency

I’m worked on a part-time basis with Connect Management Ltd, an influencer marketing agency in London. The agency was founded in late 2020 by Benjamin Leslie, a good friend who previously worked in travel advertising. A year on, the company represents some of the most recognised digital content creators in the country and works with all your favourite brands - Amazon, Deliveroo, Spotify, SkyTV, McDonalds and PepsiCola. The growth has been explosive and the team now consists of 8 full-time staff, plus myself.

In general, I worked for Connect remotely, one day per week. In November 2021 I took 3 weeks off from all my other work to travel to London and immerse myself in the company, working amongst the office team. We achieved some great stuff - our digital roster contained 72 talents; our marketing reached more people every week and we established Connect as the place to go for influencer marketing campaigns.

Cleaning Firm

I’m currently consulting in business and marketing for a cleaning and gardening company serving Greater London. They have 7 full-time employees plus subcontractors and provide hassle-free cleaning of communal areas for landlords. They’ve brought me in to lead a rebrand; launch a new website and plan a new acquisition strategy, as well as come up with solutions for pressing issues and coach the leadership in business acumen.

We’ve started by analysing the market and exactly which areas of cleaning they specialise in. We built Buyer Personas and looked at the 12 Brand Archetypes, settling on three which suit the company. I’ve now given the Director curated materials on those Archetypes to review and familiarise himself with. We’ll now rename the company and then be commissioning a designer for Brand Design and a copywriter to write the style guide - together forming the brandbook.

Then we’ll be launching the website and deciding on principle marketing channels to focus on for lead generation. We’re also building a custom program for generating prices for different cleaning and gardening jobs that will integrate with the customer portal.

Design Agency

This is an interesting one, because I’m working with people who specialise in design, branding, positioning and customer experience… on all of it for themselves. It’s definitely keeping me on my toes!

My client is a designer in Holland who wanted to move from freelance work to running a business. She wants to choose her clients and only accept clients who work her way.
We’ve started by analysing all the different products she has to offer - there are so many different aspects of branding, design, development and deployment she’s capable of, we need to narrow it down. We looked at what makes the most money in the least time, but also what she enjoys; what she delivers best and what she wants to be providing.

Our next steps will be developing these into three leading product areas and structuring them so that she’s not a freelancer paid for generic services, but a business leader offering set packages - take it or leave it.

We’ll then be looking at how these can be positioned in the market, brand her company and create an acquisition strategy for finding her ideal client.