Seb Francis ta
lking to Tanya
Beckett at the
National Ente
rprise Networ
k’s annual conf
erence in Lond
on
company all within about one month of
each other. I'm sure she still worries but
just leaves me to plough on. I'd like to say
my friends thought it was a bold move,
and it's exciting now chatting with friends
about new ventures we can work on.
My girlfriend was also super supportive
which was needed as you're working
some crazy hours, watching money more
carefully, and there's the mental stresses of
running a business as well.”
When I ask him about the secret of
success, Francis gives me two words in
reply: “Work hard.” He goes on: “Without
a doubt this would have to be my number
one. No matter how great the idea, how
big the problem you're fixing, without
putting in the hours and hustle, it won't
get to the place you want it. You need
to be willing to stick in the work and
the rewards are tenfold. Alongside this,
being adaptable is massively important,
especially in the early days when you
❝
need to switch between sales, support,
accounting, marketing, development, and
everything in between.
“T rust is also vital so when you do
get to the stage where you can bring on
contractors or full time staff, you need
to trust them with your 'baby'. This is
something I still find hard, but you have
to appreciate that there will always be
experts out there, and you need to trust
their knowledge and experience.”
As with all new businesses, it’s
important to have support and Francis’s
story is no exception. “I was lucky enough
to have lot of people around me when
starting up, whether this was family and
friends, our enterprise partner (Airedale
Enterprise Services), Virgin StartUp,
and even other businesses in the sector.
However, without a doubt it was being
able to work with my co-founder Mike
Bennett. We are 50/50 with Titus and
have been able to achieve what we have
TRUST IS ALSO VITAL SO WHEN YOU DO GET TO THE
STAGE WHERE YOU CAN BRING ON CONTRACTORS
OR FULL TIME STAFF, YOU NEED TO TRUST THEM
WITH YOUR 'BABY'. THIS IS SOMETHING I STILL FIND
HARD, BUT YOU HAVE TO APPRECIATE THAT THERE
WILL ALWAYS BE EXPERTS OUT THERE, AND YOU
NEED TO TRUST THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
www.smeweb.com
so far organically. Not only do we have a
different skill set which helps immensely,
we have a different (but complementary)
outlook on a lot of decisions. We work
well together and so decisions are made
quickly, but because of our sometimes
differing views we cover a lot of bases.
One thing that's not discussed as much
within business is the psychological
side, and I think this is massively
underestimated. There is a lot of stress
associated with starting and running
a business, and to have someone there
who is going through the same thing is a
comforting thought.”
Looking to the future, Francis has big
plans for Titus Learning. “We're in 10
countries at the moment and would love to
see that number keep growing, especially
in East Asia and the Middle East,” he
says. “Africa should also be an interesting
market for us. The team is growing and
we'd like to add to our development
resource to keep pushing what's possible
within education technology.”
And regarding his personal
development, Francis adds: “I'm in
the process of starting a podcast,
Startup Secrets, for new and aspiring
entrepreneurs. I'd like to see this gain
some traction, as well as doing more
speaking appearances. Anything
I can do to increase the profile of
entrepreneurship as a career choice
would be really great.”
SME
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