Every Monday we ask businesses key questions. Here we speak to Fergus Weir, managing director of Inverness-based digital marketing agency teclan.
He told us a four-day week and homeworking at the company are helping to mitigate the cost-of-doing-business crisis.
How and why did you start in business?
Born in Edinburgh, I studied electrical engineering with applied physics at Glasgow University and then, some 25 years ago, found myself in Inverness.
My passion for music in general and guitar playing, in particular, drew me to the Highland capital.
Greg Fullarton and I have played in the Market Bar and other venues every month ever since.
Needing to supplement my meagre musical income, I started selling advertising for a local newspaper publisher.
By 1999, I was designing and developing websites for all of the company’s titles, teaching myself the skills I needed as I went along. A lasting passion for all things internet-related was born.
My growing interest in and knowledge of ecommerce soon led me beyond the publisher’s confines.
I love hot and cold therapy in a converted horsebox sauna I’ve built.”
I found a natural home at teclan, working alongside Drew Hendry, who is now an MP.
Drew had joined the dotcom boom in a small way in 1997, but setting up was far from easy and he soon realised there was an opportunity for a new e-commerce platform that would help people like him sell internationally.
He founded teclan (which is still under family ownership) and, in 2004, brought me in to develop even more sophisticated tools and solutions. I was made managing director in 2010.
How did you get to where you are today?
Today, teclan’s 13-strong team of marketing, design and technology experts supports 1,700 diverse clients scattered across the globe by developing the best e-commerce tools for them to grow their online sales.
As we’ve grown, so I’ve learnt directly from each customer – expanding my knowledge and experience way beyond the technical into business management, systems, processes and human resources. I apply all of these lessons to teclan, growing the business steadily year-on-year.
Who helped you?
Support has come from a wide range of people and organisations over the past 20-plus years.
Top of the list is my partner, Debs, who has always been incredibly supportive and encouraging amid all the struggles that had to be overcome while growing the business.
When it comes to compliance and legal issues, the Federation of Small Businesses has provided an invaluable safety net, supporting me through the various legislative minefields that crop up from time to time.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
Let it go. Whether it be a good or bad experience, just let the emotion attached to it go as it serves no purpose in the present.
What is your biggest mistake?
Not buying shares in Google when I first tested Sergey (Brin) and Larry (Page)’s new indexing tool before it became Google.
What is your greatest achievement?
I’ll let you know once I’ve achieved it.
How is your business managing rapidly rising costs and what should government do to help?
We now operate a four-day week policy, with flexible homeworking, and we’ve downsized our office requirements, thereby reducing monthly overheads and offsetting and absorbing the increased costs.
We are also upskilling our team, with a cohort of employees on a developing partner programme – the aim being to progress them to leading, running and, ultimately, owning the business.
Government should democratically reform and get back to its moral and ethical purpose of serving the best interests of the many rather than the few.
What do you still hope to achieve?
To help teclan become one of the UK’s top digital destination companies, creating new pathways for young, emerging talent to develop and foster their skills and experiences for the ever-evolving digital future.
What do you do to relax?
I love hot and cold therapy in a converted horsebox sauna I’ve built. I take it to natural cold water every week, my favourite haunts being Loch Ness and the River Garve.
What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on TV?
At the moment it’s Cured by Dr Jeff Rediger – a fascinating read.
What do you waste your money on?
Building Finnish-style saunas but it’s not a waste. The incredible health benefits that scientific studies have shown from regular sauna use is simply mind-blowing.
What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
After a moment of gratitude for being able to get out of bed healthy and pain-free, I stand barefoot on the lawn and move and stretch my body to prepare for the day ahead.
What do you drive and dream of driving?
I squeeze my 6ft 7″ frame into a Tesla Model 3, which is the most entertaining car I’ve ever driven, but the slightly more spacious Model S or X would be the preferred flavour of Tesla.
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