An Inverness businessman has told how launching a national sports website has helped his agency expand.
Chris Hawkes is behind creative services firm Strut, alongside Ed Lopez and the pair have nine employees at their business in the Highland capital.
After creating a national rugby website, Chris is now looking to future expansion – with more clients in sport a target of his.
Chris answered our questions on his biggest struggles, achievements and more.
How and why did you start in business?
My business partner Ed and I had worked together at another agency but then went our separate ways.
However, we always collaborated well, so when we had the opportunity to form our own agency in 2016, we did just that and Strut was born.
How did you get to where you are today?
We like to think through a shared vision, hard work and perseverance.
It’s not easy to build a name for yourself in the creative industries, as it’s a highly competitive marketplace.
We don’t use cookie cutter templates and have a big focus on quality which our clients appreciate.
This has meant we’ve retained customers well over the years and gained a healthy number via referrals too.
Who helped you?
First and foremost, we have a fantastic team willing to go above and beyond.
I’ve also learned a lot about business from my parents, who worked in hospitality and later ran a small web design firm.
Ed gained valuable experience in agencies and working client-side, expanding his brand knowledge through top-level workshops.
We also work with strategists from Orkney, who help guide us to maximise our effectiveness.
The Federation of Small Businesses has been an invaluable resource, too. The advice gained from the network has been priceless on a number of occasions.
Lastly, our customers – we’ve attracted some ambitious brands who push us beyond our comfort zone, helping us grow into a stronger agency.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
Never judge a book by its cover.
Some of our biggest contracts have come from initially small pieces of work that didn’t feel particularly noteworthy.
But as the relationships have grown, they have led to much larger opportunities.
What is your biggest mistake?
Focusing too much on one customer.
A few years ago, we were fortunate to land a large client in the hospitality sector.
Whilst they provided us with lots of work, it drew our focus and in hindsight prevented us growing in other areas.
We’ve now got a more diverse portfolio and are less reliant on any single client.
What is your greatest achievement?
We are very proud of many of the projects that we have worked on, but probably our greatest achievement to date was launching the new website for Premiership Women’s Rugby.
This is a national sports brand with a rapidly growing audience, and delivering such a prestigious project was a great moment for the team.
It’s also very fulfilling to be supporting a women’s sport that has been underrepresented for many years and is now slowly getting the recognition it deserves.
What do you still hope to achieve?
We’d like to continue our growth journey. We have an expanding network of contacts, helped by the FSB.
The sport sector is of particular interest, as we are now Scotland’s only Cortex implementation partners.
This platform gives us a fantastic toolkit to support sports clubs and organisations on their digital journey, presenting a real opportunity for growth.
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