I am unsure if this is a symptom of being a millennial or desire I had throughout my career to break the mould, I always wanted to set up a business. After completing a spell in London I thought the time was right to start a business and try to create an agency that was nimble and agile – or Nifty.

The idea is based around being able to provide solutions which are not bogged down in the processes and documentation which I had been a part of in various big agencies I had worked in during my development career.

The company wanted to provide services to organisations who want to build products and have invested interests in these businesses. Therefore there is a mutual desire to make the product a success.

The problem with small marketing agencies is the revenue is limited by the total amount of billable hours you can achieve in one month. Therefore to grow, the agency needs to employ a large workforce, this increases working capital and risk before actualising the increased revenue and profit.

As an experience it was amazing. Understanding what it is like to leave a job which pays you every month and move into a world where you receive part of the money you earn. Setting up offices, employing people, training, guiding, creating a culture and trying to make a change in the world makes you understand what ‘head chef and pot wash’ really is. There are great highs and great lows. But you get out what you put in.

The business was side-lined due to success of Revitalised. It was impractical to grow two businesses without borrowing from Pete to pay Paul. Hindsight has proven this was a good idea, however it is a shame that the business didn’t get the time to grow and be nurtured.