As I welcome the new year and type these words my kids are getting dressed upstairs, ready for a refreshing midday walk along Grantchester Meadows to lunch at the tearooms (with promises of scones). It’s been a busy year for me, but a very relaxing Christmas break, spent at home with the family just having fun. Which is my ideal Christmas, quite frankly.
2015 was pretty dominated by business for me, with the culmination at the end of the year with me fully taking over the running of Studio 24, something which excites me and certainly gives me an obvious goal and direction for 2016. I very much look forward to directing the Studio 24 ship and bringing what is currently a superb team to do great things for current and new clients. It’s going to be a great year for the Studio in 2016, refining how we do things, growing the agency and bringing in new and interesting work to get our teeth stuck into. As far as business goes my three focus areas for 2016 are process (improving how we run things), team (building and growing the team – absolutely critical to our success) and consultancy (bringing my expertise to bear on client projects). I hope to grow the business in 2016, attract talented new staff, and be in an even stronger position in 2017.
I also look forward to collaborating and talking to more industry professionals. In 2015 I’ve been lucky enough to start talking to a few agency owners, both in the USA and UK, and I hope to continue these discussions. While digital agencies are traditionally competitive and secretive, sharing knowledge is a powerful thing, and is really the only way we all get better at what we do. The irony of course is that the web, the thing all digital agencies base their businesses on, would be nothing if it was not free and open to all.
Outside of work I want to focus on family and friends, making sure I have more time for both. Travel is very important to me too, and I want to start travelling with Kate and the kids abroad more (hopefully Italy) and seek out new experiences. That and visit Legoland Denmark! I also want to spend more time just with Kate, it’s very easy as a parent to get stuck just looking after the kids all the time – making time for the two of you is important and the one thing I tell friends becoming new parents not to forget.
At the end of one year and the morning of another, I consider myself very lucky. I have a beautiful, loving and incredibly supportive wife, two fantastically creative and crazy kids, a successful business, I live in a safe and (reasonably) free country and have everything to look forward to in 2016. As has been very obvious in the media over the past few months, not everyone in this world does. Happy New Year, and make the most of 2016!