Wow! Where has that 10 years gone!

In November 2008 my brother Ritch, James and I started S7 Media from a back bedroom in our family home, Ritchie was 21, James 18 and I was 24.

Our idea to launch our business came on a family holiday a few months before.  Ritchie, James and I were enjoying a beer and they were talking about starting a web design and videography business up together.  I at this point was working for a local IT firm, and although loved all the people I was working with, had started to get the Sunday night dread in the pit of my stomach, after serving 7 years there.  I was ready for a change, so barged my way into their business plan!

We had to grow up pretty quickly and work out how to incorporate a business, run accountancy software and make sure enough money was put a side for the tax man, but we managed.  During our 10 years our little start up went from strength to strength but like most businesses has had some ups and downs a long the way.  We opened our business in the midst of the recession when the government was bailing the banks out, we’ve seen a coalition government come and go, the country vote to leave the european union and much more. Who knows what the next decade has in store.

After starting up in our make shift office we moved in to a temporary office for a year, whilst we built “The Loft” and we have been homed there ever since.  That was a tough year, juggling designing websites, sometimes to the early hours of the morning, whilst answering phones and digging footings, erecting stud walls and laying floorboards any spare minute we had!

A long the way James, has become more freelance with his Videography work as he is based in London these days, taking on exciting projects for a range of huge clients, whilst still taking on local projects with S7.  During this time James has also worked on various personal projects and has had some of his short films nominated for awards by Virgin Media Shorts and the LA Short Film Festival.

Ritchie started coded as a little self confessed geek as an 11 year old, and 20 years on is now a grizzled young veteran.  The web has changed quite a lot in all that time, as the range of technologies from when we started until now is astounding, this as well as the rise of the smart phone and tablet, has completely changed how we set out to start a project these days.

When we first started, Print wasn’t a big part of our offering, but that side of the business has grown exponentially over the years and has become my passion and the part of the business I oversee.  I really enjoy seeing an idea come to life, whether it’s something as simple as a flyer, brochure or business card, when done right, it’s great to see and have a physical copy of.

During our 1o years, we have met some fantastic people and are pleased that to this day the vast majority of clients we have looked after after are still supporting us, and for that we are truly grateful.

One of favourite parts of the job is dealing with startup businesses and thankfully we still get lots of start up businesses come to see us, we take great pleasure in shaping their brand, creating their printed materials, website or whatever they need and help them bring their vision to life.  It is nice to be involved at the ground level when they come to see us, as they are excited and passionate about getting started, and it takes us back to the time we were first starting out.

Although majority of our clients are based here in Cannock and surrounding towns in Staffordshire and the West Midlands, we have grown our client base the length and breadth of the UK, having clients as far south as Devon all the way up to Aberdeen in Scotland and everywhere between, we’ve even got clients in Canada.  It’s hard to imagine 10 years on that that we would have hundreds of clients all over the place, when we were plotting world domination in our Mom and Dad’s spare room.

So, all that’s left to say is a massive thank you to our loyal clients who have helped us and supported us on our way to 10 years old, its is very much appreciated! Here to another 10!