All about the people.. from 2 to 3….

The best advice we ever got was from Mark Collier of Dare (thanks Mark).

On one of the first occasions I met him, after explaining I was planning to start a business, he said it was crucial to make sure I knew (really knew) I could work with the person I was planning to go into business with. Get that right and it would give us a powerful platform with which to work.

Thankfully John and I had worked together for 2 years in Australia and knew we had the right chemistry to make a business work together – when I say worked together it was just John, me and one other in the office so if we hadn’t have got on, we’d have known about it.

Team Hoctor/Vince was often seen on the roads of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland and we prided ourselves on top quality customer service and a deep knowledge of our customers. We also spent a lot of time socially together – at the customary barbeque (we were in Australia remember), on the golf course, and having a few scoops down on the quay. It was all good and it was definitely the platform, the test run if you like, as to whether we could work together. If anything, the success of working together made us know that if we were to set up a business, it should be together.

Following all this, quite a few years later, we also said that we would only work with like minded people and that if we didn’t have the knowledge in certain areas we would recruit people that did, the best people possible. No point in us scratching around trying to hash something together badly, when we could employ someone who could do it faster and better than we could ever do it.

Which brought us to the build and the project management…

We knew what we needed (and as a result, who we needed) and so our conversations began with what was to become the third official member and founder of watchmethink. We’ll call him Mr D.

Mr D is exceptional at what he does and without whom we would not have a business at all. Simple as that. He will remain nameless for two reasons. Firstly, it’s what he wants, and secondly, we don’t want anyone to come along and steal him.

Anyway, as a result of our recruitment of Mr D we were able to progress in great leaps and bounds forward and to launch. Faster and better than we could have done without him. What a legend.

The initial advice was spot on. The three of us have a great business relationship and a great personal relationship. We trust each other, we each bring different skills, and we all will tell each other immediately if we think something isn’t right. With the team, we’ve got it right, no question.

It was, and still is, a great base for the future for watchmethink.

Make sure you check back soon to hear more about watchmethink and how it developed…