Nine years of running Resonant
Looking back at the setup, the highlights and some lowlights of running my own thing
It’s 9 years today since I incorporated Resonant Design and Innovation Limited.
When I started out, I was still working at Plan Strategic, working out my notice on one of my favourite ever projects. An incredible urban mobility service design project. We had designed and started an insane range of different research approaches. And we were leading the strategic work across many different agencies and suppliers. I was loving the ability to work across the physical, digital, maintenance, vehicle, printed media, customer services, political and data sides of things.
Plan was (and still is) a fascinating company with the most interesting briefs I’d come across for a long while. I just wasn’t the right fit for the way they worked.
Stealing a day at my mother in-laws
Around this time those 9 years ago, I travelled to Derby with my family for xmas. Over the festivities, I stole a day to myself to nip off to my mother-in-law’s to get a website done and do a bunch of admin for my new business.
I really can’t remember what I wrote, and what that website was like. I know it was pretty bad. And still is. Doing your own website is one of the worst projects you can do.
I knew I had to just work at pace, and not think too hard. I could always iterate it later. But website projects can eat so much time, cause so many fights, and can even contribute to you losing your job.
In this period, I had to create a name, get a url, and figure out how to run my own business. I am still learning the last one.
While I was setting up my business, I needed some otehr options too. I just went through my old Evernotes and found this email I may have sent out to some of my contacts:
An important negotiation
As I was negotiating my exit, I asked if it would be ok to approach Plan’s client who I was working with on that best ever project. Luckily, my boss Kevin agreed, and I discussed it with my client directly with his permission.
As I was working out my last days, I came up with proposals, did a bunch of negotiation and had to make up my commercial model. There was no financial planning.
What kind of business was I going to run?
But there was a key decision to make. Did I want to start a consulting business, be a consultant, or just be a freelance contractor?
Having spent most of my time in agencies and consultancies, and frowning upon many of the freelancers I worked with, I wanted to veer away from that.
But I also wasn’t sure I wanted to have the burden of a ‘work family’ of employees as well as my own personal family with two young kids. One who was barely one year old and another that was nearly three years old.
I positioned my org up as a consultancy, gave it the name of Resonant Design and Innovation Limited because that was available despite being rather long, and might hem me in. And I chose a really terrible url that looks like it’s wrong. I still haven’t changed all that. Maybe next year?
A worrying and wandering start
After my last day at Plan, I took an extended trip to the Bay Area. The Interaction conference was on then, and I could use some time before that to meet up with folks. Potential clients. Potential employers. Just cool people I wanted to chat to. I was keeping my options open, as I didn’t really want to start my own thing. I was still keen to have longer working relationships with great people. I still do in fact.
I visited friends and peers at Apple, Facebook, and a whole bunch of others. I fondly remember the long walk chat with Jonathan Colman at Facebook.
I had a great time, but no certainty of the journey ahead. My client hadn’t approved the proposals yet.
An email towards the end of the trip
I remember setting an alarm at around 5:30am so I could wake up and move the DriveNow car I had parked up near Haight Street. I was staying at my friend Ian’s house, and as I decided to check my emails, I saw my proposal had been accepted. And I’d be flying to Cologne almost immediately after getting back home.
We were on!
An easier transition to my own business than most
A lot of people reach out to me for help with running their own business. And especially starting out. I always caveat any perspectives with the reality that I had a good start. A client that knew me. An employer that allowed me to work directly with that client.
I continued working with that client for another year and a half into the end of 2016. And I’d already spent almost a year working with them already through Plan.
Taking on more projects on the edges
I was mostly focusing my time on the one project, and some admin on the edges. There was so much admin! And I hated expenses more than anything.
While I was working on that major project, various other opportunities emerged through my network. They were really interesting opportunities, so I was keen to explore them. One was working on developing some future user interface inspiration and strategy for vehicles 5+ years into the future with a guy named Lee Sankey, a few designers from the infamous Territory Studio and another designer named Leigh Hibell. Another was working on a remote house viewing startup. Another was working on the UX Spectrum with Vitamin T. Another working with my friend, Anja Kluver for a pitch for a retail service design project for another leading auto company..
I did these projects mostly by myself, other than the team brought together by others.
But for one project with a healthcare information company, I decided to bring my first Resonant associates into the mix. Including my industry friend Danny Hope and an ex colleague, Carolina Andreoli. The work had extended into a level of UI work that I just wasn’t comfortable with by myself.
My work with Danny and Carolina continued on another project with a brain scanner startup based in York. Eventually, I brought in another ex-colleague, Stephen Waller, to work with Danny and I as the work got more committed.
Eventually the mobility project ended, but there was a variety of other things to get into
Unfortunately, my favourite project had to come to an end. The service we rapidly researched, designed, prototyped, and experimented with and analysed was shut down. I still don’t really know why. But unfortunately that happens a lot in the sorts of projects I work on.
My comfort blanket, and familiar financial support of a long-term project disappeared. But luckily, I had a few things I was still working on.
RMA Consulting, the company I left to go to Plan, got in touch for some support.
One of the agencies I was working with on the mobility project brought me in on one of their projects with an infamous groceries company.
And there was still work with the brain scanner startup.
I had a variety of work. From brain scanning, through on-demand grocery deliveries, healthcare information systems, and a new project with an oil and gas services company. Physical products. Expert system UI design. Healthcare. Retail. And more.
A whole range of places, projects, collaborators, and experiences
Ever since then, I am typically working across multiple projects in parallel. Just like I did when working 13+ years before in agency and consultancy environments.
When I checked my accounting software, I saw that I had created exactly 200 invoices!
Some are major projects:
Higher intensity of my time (eg, 2–4 days a week), with longer durations (eg, 6 months to 3+ years).
Some are smaller pieces:
Lower intensity (0.5–2 days a week), over shorter durations (eg, 1–4 months).
A mix of sectors
There has been a mix of different sectors I have worked across:
Healthcare, automotive, mobility, property, retail, groceries, home appliances and technology. And more…
A range of approaches and expertise applied
And I have applied a range of different approaches and expertise from my experience:
Qualitative research. Concept design. Service design. UX design. UI design. Product/Service/Customer Experience Strategy. Futures and Foresight. Product management. Team leadership. Project management. Workshop facilitation. Skills framework development. Leadership training. And more…
Bringing on exceptional talent to complement me
I have had the opportunity to collaborate with some exceptional talent including some that I have brought into the work. Including Danny Hope, Carolina Andreoli, Stuart Egglestone, Cennydd Bowles, Stephen Waller, Andrea Mignolo, Maria Brendes and Gary Hoff.
I’ve benefitted from various networks, agencies and consultancies who brought me in to help them with their client projects including:
Signal:Noise, Group of Humans, Lee Sankey’s Door, The App Business (Now Kin+Carta) and RMA Consulting.
I have enjoyed the variety of working on a range of different challenges:
- An MEG Brain Scanner.
- On-Demand groceries.
- Future urban residential schemes.
- Re-imagining shopping centres.
- A social chat service popular in the arab market.
- Design team competency development and training.
- Future urban mobility.
- Cloud services transition programmes.
- Snoring tracking and remedies.
- Cancer detection and treatment.
- English language learning strategy.
- Remote house viewing.
- A data science platform for management consultants.
- Pensions services.
- New propositions and digital services for a next generation truck.
- Entertaining education concepts.
- Healthcare information systems.
- Connected healthcare products.
- Future Home appliance framing.
- Supplier management strategies.
- Audio insight concepts.
- Accessible wealth management service.
- And more…
That’s all stuff I don’t talk about, what about the rest?
Most of the above is mostly invisible to most of social media. My consulting client work is usually heavily NDAd, hard to reference and so only available to those working on those projects. I generally don’t talk about the stuff that makes the most revenue, and is arguably the most interesting work to other designers and clients. That should make business development hard, but for some reason it doesn’t.
In addition to the above, I have been continuing my work with IxDA London, running Shaping Design workshops and doing various talks around the world. As well as my organically growing coaching business. Most of which make very little revenue, if any. But I have more agency with. I get a better feedback loop. And maybe slightly less stress. I do it for the love.
Highlights and lowlights
I’m not sure I’d do justice to a well considered list of highlights and lowlights, but here are a few that come to mind from the past nine years in business.
My highlights would include
- Great talent: Working with some great talent — that I have brought into work, and I have collaborated with in other organisations
- Challenge variety: As someone that has spent over 20 years working in an agency and consultancy environment, you kinda have to adapt to changing briefs. The cross-pollination is real. The range is stimulating.
- Making enough money: I haven’t improved my overall income, but my better revenue years have certainly supported the quieter times.
- A little more autonomy: I am not as free as I’d love, as I manufacture pressure, but I could say no to clients, I could leave them, and I can choose what I work on. I don’t really exercise that privilege, but I could.
My lowlights include:
- Accounting: I hate doing my accounts and any sort of financial admin. Especially expenses. Yes, I have accountants. But they are shit. And I feel trapped. Something to sort out in the future I know.
- Relationship breakdowns: I like to think that I have developed some good relationships with collaborators and clients through most of my career. But some have gone sour. Often through misunderstanding. Different styles. Some unfortunate situations. I deeply regret this. Some feel avoidable, and repairable, whereas others really don’t. Both sadden me.
- Collaborations fading: Due to some projects ending due to budget, or coming to a natural close, I’ve had to say goodbye to some collaborations that i’d loved to have continued.
- Proposal negotiations: It’s only fair to make sure you are not being duped, but there is often some horrible contractual game playing by some clients. For a small business this is really costly and sends me into panic. It often ends up costing them and other people who could work with me in the end.
- Chasing late payment: Most of my clients have paid me. On time. And the full amount. But some have taken an age. Especially recently. It sucks and it’s unfair.
- A lack of a team to build: If I look back further in my career before going independent, the highlights are probably more oriented towards building, growing, nurturing and supporting a team. I really miss that. It’s one reason why I started the Shaping Design work and my coaching business.
What’s next then?
I hadn’t really been anticipating the ten year milestone and what that might mean.
I have some ideas for next year. Some key international speaking and working opportunities. A desire to get the Shaping book to beta. But I have no major project yet. I am hopeful that interesting projects will emerge. They usually do for me. But also fearful that this year may be the year when they don’t.
This year has more been about finding the right balance and groove of consulting vs coaching. But I haven’t cracked that yet. Again more ideas of ways I can do that better. And I think that will do for now.
This post is part of an advent calendar challenge I have set for myself. Writing and publishing one piece a day. Whatever emerges. Although sometimes I may work on an idea sparked on another day. An exercise in getting back into the writing groove. But also re-finding my voice. Lowering the barriers of my ego getting in the way of what might be valuable for others, or at least me.
You can check the other pieces here on the ‘Eclectical’ Medium publication.
I am a coach, a product-service strategy consultant, a community connector and so many other things. You can find out more about me, my many interests and how to connect them with yours here.
