We’re super pleased that two of our members have been nominated for Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Liam Mee, director of MeeCreative, a leading product design and branding agency, and Cariann Jones, director of fast growing Wize Virtual Admin, are both up for the prestigious title that will be announced at The South Wales Business Awards held in Cowbridge next month.
Zokit caught up with them to find out what it takes to be a successful young entrepreneur in South Wales today.
Resilience, courage and perseverance! Not everything goes as planned in business and sometimes the easy option is just to give up when things aren’t going as planned. You have to keep reaching for your goals and realise success doesn’t always come overnight. Setting small targets while subconsciously driving towards the larger vision is essential. – Liam (pictured left, above)
Determination, and the want to start the business. Once you have started you need to be organised have good time management skills and understand there will be some stressful periods however it’s all worth it! – Cariann (pictured standing below)
Cariann with some of the members of #teamwize
What Has Been Your Biggest Challenge So Far in Building Your Business?
2 challenges of equal difficulty: recruitment and money. Once work starts coming in from your long weeks/months of getting the business off the ground you then have to decide when to take on staff and with this comes the financial implications of ensuring there is enough work in to cover the additional wage. Despite this I have a great team all of which promote the business as much as possible. – Cariann
Initial start-up was always our biggest challenge here at MeeCreative. Trying to build the foundations and establishing yourself in a competitive discipline was difficult. We are in an industry where track record and a solid portfolio win you business; and of course when you start a design agency such as ours you have neither so you have to convince clients that you are the right choice. This was a great hurdle that we had to face but we did it! – Liam
What Is Your Top Tip for Young Entrepreneurs Just Starting Out?
You can’t do it alone, so stop trying. We have a fantastic chair who keeps us in check and acts as a mentor and sounding board. The more people you talk your ideas and business objectives through with the better because conversations spark new ideas and new ideas open uncharted doors. – Liam
Do what you want to do by being who you want to be! Go for it, now is the time where there is a great deal of support for start-ups from funding to advice. – Cariann
To see all the nominees for the South Wales Business Awards, visit their blog here.