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Unearthing the North East’s young entrepreneurs: Bumbl MD, Greg Miles

In a new series aimed at uncovering the North East’s upcoming entrepreneurial talent, Jamie Hardesty is scowering the region to meet young business owners, from multiple sectors and backgrounds.

First up is Greg Miles, MD at recently launched digital marketing agency Bumbl, based in Newcastle. Having only graduated from Northumbria University last year, Wakefield-born Greg had often fantasised about one day having his own company although it wasn’t something he thought would happen so soon in life.

Greg explained: “After graduating from uni and spending a few months travelling in Australia, I began the job hunt. I knew the job market was difficult for graduates and after many rejections it was clear that employers were looking for more experienced candidates - usually a minimum of two years.

“I toyed with the idea of doing some work experience at a marketing agency to get my foot in the door, but after spending thousands on education and earning a degree, the idea of working for free was absurd.”

Quickly becoming dissatisfied with toiling in the job market, Greg soon realised that starting his own business was a no brainer.

“The challenge, thrill, and fulfilment that comes with working towards your own vision was a much more attractive option,” he revealed. And with that, Bumbl was born.

To get his vision of creating his own digital marketing agency off the ground, Greg received support from Northumbria University’s Graduates into Business project.

“It was good to have some experienced businesspeople to bounce ideas off, and the team there gave me some great advice about setting up. More than anything I think they gave me the confidence to go ahead and start my entrepreneurial journey, by validating my ideas and supporting my vision.”

Also receiving funding from Virgin Start Up Loans, things soon began to get a lot more real for Greg as a website, new equipment and software provided substance to complement the dream.

However, the young entrepreneur has been faced with further challenges to actively get up and running.

“It took a lot of hustle to land my first few clients. I had to get people to believe in me despite having little to show them in the form of case studies or previous work. But now I’ve got a handful of projects to work on I’ll be able to put some case studies together to help me win future business. They’re like gold dust to me.”

As well as dealing with the difficulty any business faces in attracting work, Greg has also had to broaden his skill set to cope with the demands of running a company.

He revealed: “Wearing so many hats has also been a challenge. As a one man army I’m responsible for marketing, sales, finance, admin and the technical work I do for clients. Juggling all of this and keeping on top of everything can be testing. I have about 5 reminders saved in my phone at any one time.

Yet, despite the tribulations of building a firm straight out of education, Greg seems to be relishing the path infront of him and believes he’s in the right environment to do so.

“I think the North East is seeing a bit of boom with creative agencies at the moment, and the nature of the industry means there will always be new potential business popping up as new companies are started. But physical location isn’t as important for a business as it used to be - especially in my field where the services are digital. I have a client in London and another based in LA.

“It’s always nice to meet people face to face, but in reality I think I could run this business from anywhere in the world as long as there’s WiFi.”

So how then does Greg expect to succeed in what is already a saturated market in the North East for his services? Certainly company culture seems to be at the cornerstone of his vision, something which has been intrinsic to the successes of many who have come before Greg in the region.

“The main thing that separates me from competitors is the close relationship I can maintain with clients. I’m new to the world of business, but I think relationships are critically important to success.

“I’m friends with my clients, and I see myself as an extension of their business - which means I approach their challenges and goals as if they were my own. I think that’s important, and I hope it helps me stand out in an industry that seems to be full of smoke and mirrors. This is the culture I’m focussed on creating at Bumbl as I look to build my team.”

With his feet under the table and operations beginning to bear fruit, Greg is now looking to make a name for himself in the North East and beyond.

He added: “My targets for the first year are really just to mark my place on the map and help my first few clients achieve their goals. I think this is the first stage of building Bumbl’s reputation. As I take on more projects over the next six months I’ll start to build my team, so I’m also excited about that.

“The long term vision is to help bigger brands make marketing their consumers can actually believe in. Consumer behaviour is changing rapidly, and what worked ten years ago doesn’t work today.

“I see it as Bumbl’s job to help brands adjust to these shifts and effectively market their products through new channels and with new technology, as consumers adopt them in the future.”

Connect with Bumbl on Twitter @wearebumbl or for further information, Greg can be reached at www.wearebumbl.co.uk.

Look out for more stories in our ’Unearthing the North East’s young entrepreneurs’ series. To get in touch contact jamie.hardesty@bdaily.co.uk.

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