If you follow us on social, you get to see behind the scenes of life at Yellow Bird and what we do. But, that’s just a small glimpse! We’ll admit we’re not necessarily the best at sharing what we do, especially our work (for fear of looking like blaws*) as we often spend our time focusing on our client’s needs. But we wanted to give you all an update on our business journey so far since we’ve not blogged in a while. Plus, our actions for the next coming month, inspired by 448 Studio, who we applaud for being so open and honest with his goals.
*Our granny’s phrase for those who brag about their success
For the past six months we’ve been part of the RBS #PowerUp Accelerator programme which was a mixed experience for us. It was great opportunity to meet fellow entrepreneurs and we were in awe at the creativity and passion for business that is out there – and the many different ideas! Really fascinating! We found ourselves also being super productive when we had a dedicated working space together, in the past we had used cafes and our homes. We also got the opportunity to explore how Yellow Bird is unique through our 60 second pitch, which we can now adapt it into conversations with new people. However, to be honest even after winning the first competition at the induction days, we’re totally not pitch people and didn’t find the whole standing up and presenting that comfortable or useful. But hey, that’s just us. We can see the benefit for other businesses.
What it also did make us realise it what we want as a business. We love being a two (wo)man team, delivering a personal service where we’re the ones doing the work. There are no grand plans to scale, having lots of staff and a big office. Our goal has always been to work flexibly, take time off when we can and yeah, have a comfortable lifestyle where we can still pay our bills and afford a wee cocktail or two. We did apply for the next six months of the RBS programme, got put on the waiting list, a space came up, but then made the decision to see how we’ll fare on the outside. So, we’ve made our decision, we stand by it and let’s see how it goes! Now, we’re considering other co-working spaces and hopefully we’ll settle somewhere soon.
It’s also been a mixed couple of months for us client wise. We finished up with a couple over summer and we now have space to fill. We’ve been lucky in the past to get work from word of mouth referrals, but we always knew that wouldn’t always be the case – and that day has come! It’s not easy but I think it’s important to remember all businesses probably go through these stages at some point in their journey. Everyone is just too used to hearing the success stories over social media. Which to be honest can make you feel a bit shit. But, pushing imposter syndrome to one side, we know we’ve got more to give. After all the future is yellow.
On a more positive note, the last couple of months have seen us launch our new website, designed by Nicola, because she super smart and a whizz at all that techy stuff. We also did a team photoshoot and pulled together a new marketing pack that we felt truly represented our values and told our story. We’ve also managed to squeeze in a week’s holiday in each in the sun, I’ve started teaching the University of Stirling undergrads about Business and PDP, and we’ll both be attending the SWIT Awards later this month. For the dog lovers out there, wee Coal is coming along great and he’ll being turning one in November! Cue the party planning. Totally being serious here.
So, what does the next few months hold? We’ll be out and about, attending more events, meeting more businesses and generally spreading the word of Yellow Bird. Focusing on what we do best, getting shit done and wearing the biggest positive pants we can find! As you can guess they will most definitely be yellow.