Our review of 2016
2016, a year which saw the world lose so many talented musicians and actors. A year of surprising public votes, from the victory of Brexit, to the rise of Donald Trump to The White House and the massive popularity of Ed Balls on Strictly!!! Amidst all this change and upheaval we have been working away to create our own business, The Digital Grapevine. It has been a crazy year and as 2016 draws to a close we have been thinking about the highs and lows of our year.
Starting out on our own was a big risk to take. We had to begin again under our own name and strive to create a business that allowed us to not only undertake the work we were passionate about, but to create a flexible working environment that gave us that all important work life balance.
The start of the year was tough, with no established portfolio under our new name we had to work hard to build our reputation and let people know we were here. We had to think hard about our brand and who we wanted to work with. Slowly but surely people began to learn that we were there and ready to go!
Highlights
Being brave
This year has taught us that we were right to take the leap to try and create the kind of business we could be proud of. We enjoy what we do and the way we have managed to find something that works for us. It was great to be recognised as flexible working friendly.
Building our own network
Over this year we have met some lovely new clients and built up greater relationships with our existing ones. A highlight of the year has been building up our own little network of businesses who we are always excited to help as they grow. We love putting companies in touch with each other if they could benefit from working together. We don’t just build websites we are also consumers and customers, which means we can view a business through different eyes and advise clients on what a customer wants from a company.
Diversifying our services
A great highlight has been working more on creating regular content for clients. This is a great way to keep in touch with people and be a part of their business growth. Content creation is always the thing that gets left behind when time is tight. We should know, see our “What we need to do better” section! Providing this service has been creative and rewarding.
Finding a like minded network
As a small business ourselves we don’t have the benefit of a large training department to keep our knowledge up to speed. Especially in the world of web design, which is forever changing, it is vital that we are always learning. This year we have found a great support network of fellow developers and web designers who have helped us learn more about our industry and given us help and advice when we have needed it.
What have we learnt?
We have learnt that we can’t do everything!! It is important to outsource certain elements to experts who can add value to our business. This year we have worked with some great graphic designers and use the support of hosting companies. These people help us focus on our strengths.
What we need to do better?
One thing we haven’t done enough of is focus on our business! We frequently tell our clients about the importance of content marketing but haven’t found enough time to do much of our own! We definitely need to practice what we preach next year! To that end let us know what you want to know more about. Do you want more details about infographics, Twitter or blog writing? Let us know.
What’s next in 2017?
So as 2017 approaches it is important that we all set goals for the year ahead. We are aiming to create more of our own content, increase our knowledge base, continue to build our relationships with our clients and grow The Digital Grapevine.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
