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Behind the business with The Website Lab

Following news of the Prince’s Trust scheme to help unemployed young people into self employment, Bdaily went behind the business with Thomas Lloyd and Martin Dunn. The Newcastle pair were losing hope in finding jobs, when they approached the Trust for a business loan to set up a web design outfit and cloud data company.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

We have faced many challenges during the running of our business. I think the first hurdle we came across was project management. We were starting to deal with quite large projects and still using scraps of paper with scribbles on to keep track of what we had to do. We soon discovered web applications such as Pivotal Tracker and Zendesk to help us manage incoming tasks from clients. We also enrolled on an agile project management course so we could better manage the large scale projects we were taking on from the NHS.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

The last 12 months has been made up of lots of little achievements. We have had some big website launches including Let’s Talk Newcastle, a community engagement website for Newcastle City Council which was developed in partnership with Hippo Creative. Felix, our mental health case management software, has also gained wide adoption in the South of Tyne & Wear catchment area. Taking on two full time members of staff in the last 6 months has also been a big boost for us!

What is your biggest focus for the coming year?

We’re focusing primarily on the health software we’ve made for the NHS in the South of Tyne & Wear area. This is particularly within smoking cessation and mental health. Ideally we would like these to be adopted by other local PCTs as they transition to a new structure in the coming year.

If you had to choose one top piece of advice for someone just starting out in business, or is currently operating within your industry sector, what would it be?

My advice would be to treat every client and opportunity with the up-most respect. I also think it’s although it is important to have a view of the bigger picture, still to allow yourself to be guided by what happens day to day.

Can you share with us your view of the current landscape of business, in this region or generally and where your organisation sits within it?

I think we’re quite sheltered in terms of the business landscape in that all of our clients so far have come from word of mouth recommendations. We’ve never really had a problem getting business and I think what we do lends itself well to the current economic climate. This is because we’re creating solutions that can result in efficiencies and savings for business. The current challenge for us is having the capacity and resources to continue to sell to large organisations like the NHS.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .