Episode #25
EP-0025 - Halo Design - An MBO story with Jessica and Nick Bain
This one has a strong business story, particularly the MBO, client concentration risk, culture, AI and the lessons for anyone growing a business. Agency By Design_ Leadership, Growth, and Resilience.txtTXT What happens when you remortgage your house, buy the business you work for, have two young children and discover that one client represents 80% of your revenue? You learn quickly. In this episode of Dorset Business Matters, I visit Halo Design Associates in Southbourne to talk with husband-and-wife team Nick and Jessica Bain about buying, building and reshaping a creative agency. Their journey began with a management buyout. Rather than starting from scratch, they took over an established agency with an existing team and clients. It gave them a head start, but also brought some significant risks and plenty of lessons they probably couldn't have learnt any other way. We talk candidly about reducing their reliance on one dominant client, growing the team from around 13 people to as many as 27, dealing with economic uncertainty and tougher trading conditions, and their ambition to eventually build a business that can operate without them being involved in every detail. We also get into the changing world of marketing. AI is making some creative work faster and more accessible, but does that make genuine creativity more or less valuable? Nick and Jessica explain how Halo is using AI within the agency, why originality and differentiation still matter, and why businesses cutting marketing when times get difficult could be turning off the very tap that feeds their future pipeline. There is also a fascinating discussion about culture. Halo has deliberately tried to create the agency Nick and Jessica themselves would have wanted to work for. That means putting people first, creating psychological safety, encouraging ownership and having what they call “radical integrity”, honesty with heart, even when that means telling a client something they might not want to hear. And for anyone running or thinking about starting a business, their advice is refreshingly practical. Know your numbers. Build the right systems and processes. Invest in good people and culture. Keep marketing your own business. Use your network. Play to your strengths and get help where you're weak. Because a successful-looking business and a sustainable business are not necessarily the same thing. A great conversation about leadership, resilience, creativity, culture, AI and what it really takes to grow a business when you're learning much of it as you go. ️ Dorset Business Matters, conversations with the people building, running and shaping businesses across Dorset and beyond.
