"With so many things to work on and progress, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees," with Billy Ferguson
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Billy Ferguson is the founder & CEO of Trivelo. A triathlon and multi-sport specialist agency providing product testing and digital marketing services to a range of triathlon companies. Clients of Trivelo include HUUB, TYR, Zone3, Proviz, Salomon, and Orca. As well as devoting his time to making Trivelo a success, Billy is Father to three children so maintaining a balance between work and life is a huge priority.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
After working in a bunch of technology roles within the financial services sector for more than two decades my ambition to do something for myself led me to set up Trivelo. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have worked for a number of blue-chip companies in Senior Executive roles and this has allowed me to learn a number of transferable skills much of which is relevant now even as a small business.
The other half of the Trivelo story came from taking up a triathlon over a decade ago. After playing hockey since childhood fitting it in around a busy family life became too much. Disappearing for an entire day every Saturday wasn’t going to last. I’ve always loved the sport so needed something new. Surfing as my other sporting passion isn’t a daily option where we live so triathlon offered a chance to do something new.
What inspired you to start your business?
In spite of being on the wrong side of 40, I continue to be thirsty for knowledge and to learn. This has resulted in continually developing myself through my career following the completion of higher education. It additionally has meant reading everything I can. Not fiction but business books and autobiographies of inspirational people who have achieved amazing things. Not just in business but across a spectrum of disciplines.
From absorbing this over the decades my tendency has been to read more and more about how businesses startup. This planted the seed for my own business that I guess has always been there. The trigger to take this from a dream to actually starting came from the timing. I reached a point in my career where I had created a wonderful network of people I can genuinely consider as friends. Many of them work in different industries doing different roles but combined offer everything you could need to start a business. Without planning it I had the perfect panel to help me kick start a business without needing a swarm of external consultants. This opportunity seemed too good to miss and something that I used to help me start my business.
Where is your business based?
London - United Kingdom
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
The idea for the Trivelo and our REAL Athletes and TRUSTED Reviews platform came from a service used in IT Development where firms use virtual testing panels. They commission testing from a panel to get usability testing on mobile apps and websites. I wondered if I could bring the same concept through to a triathlon service. From this, the idea was born. The first steps were to write a business plan and socialise this with a “friendly” audience to get feedback. Having done this it was a case of raising funding to get the business going which allowed the fun to really begin.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
This is difficult. Selecting one single item that has helped to raise awareness over everything else is hard. Raising awareness has been the result of a number of supporting things. There are two main areas we have focused on to achieve business reach. Firstly, Twitter has been our social media focus since day one. With an open platform that connects businesses and individuals, it has worked well for us to create a community of athletes and fitness companies. Secondly, Search Engine Optimisation has been and will continue to be a huge focus for our business. We don’t use any paid web advertising and have grown 100% organically. This has been possible by continuous investment in SEO. It is certainly not a “one and done” answer as we have to keep monitoring and refining our SEO based on changes in the web.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge I faced in our first few years of running the business was facing the stark reality that the business plan wasn’t going to work. The original concept was to build a secure platform for cyclists to buy and sell used bikes. We got as far as building out the full platform that we ran with for a couple of years but a website that relies on user-driven content needs visitors.
There is a critical mass that you need to achieve to ensure you have new content for people to find and without this, you are dead in the water. Getting critical mass either needs a boost from viral engagement or you throw money at it with swathes of advertising. The private equity funding behind the business wasn’t prepared to put up an increasing pot of money for advertising so the gut-wrenching decision was made to change direction. The important lesson learned through this was that while a business plan activity ahead of starting up is super important to stress test an idea you can’t be wedded to it once your idea is a living breathing entity.
How do you stay focused?
There is a lot of noise and distractions - with so many things to work on and progress it can be hard to see the wood for the trees. Everyone needs a good filtering process so they can have a mechanism to keep the focus on the work that matters. I established early the processes that we can share across the business and use on-line to keep track of who is doing what and keep sight of the important tasks that need time and attention.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
Research. Research. Research. We have spent thousands of hours researching everything we do. It is a strategy that we deploy with everything. Who are our competitors and what are they doing? Who are our potential financial targets and how are they spending money at the moment? What are triathletes looking for? What new cool stuff can we be the first to review? By seeking answers to the right questions all the time we can reach more people and create a larger impact continuously. This is something that is the lifeblood of the company, as soon as we stop researching and asking the questions I don’t believe we will continue to grow. Indeed survive.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Brand advocacy has been incredible. We firmly believe our success is directly linked to the community of athletes that we create. The more we can meet the genuine needs of our community and work with them to understand what they want the more they help us grow. Through brand advocacy, we can meet new people and have a growing community of support that will work to create new opportunities and protect the integrity of our brand.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
You will need to be patient - having read hundreds of business books there is a danger that you can embark on a new business venture expecting within 12 months to be running something that rivals Netflix. Of the millions of businesses that start each year it is estimated that 90% of these fail. If you are brave enough to start a new business and you can keep it going you are bucking this trend. If 5 years after start-up you are still growing and the business is alive you are succeeding. BE PATIENT. Trivelo celebrated our 5 year anniversary this year and I still very much consider us a start-up. The Ferrari is yet to be ordered!
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
App - Asana. This is a cloud-based tool for activity management. Essentially a collaboration tool for “to-do lists” across teams. We use this throughout Trivelo to run mini-projects and loop in the right people tracking who is doing what and where things are. It is really lightweight and creates no barriers to entry allowing quick tracking of what has been done on a day-to-day basis.
Blog - Hubspot. A mammoth collection of useful resources to follow for anyone running a digital business. I like that there are genuine takeaways that you can apply straight away and use in your business.
Book - Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. A memoir by the creator of Nike. Shoe Dog traces the origins of Nike from its founder Phil Knight who set it up as a side hustle while holding down a full-time 9-5. It is hugely inspirational to hear how Nike struggled and evolved into the business that it has since become. Cash flow problems dogged the company for over a decade and they faced the stark reality of going under on a number of occasions. There is a vast amount of this story that any entrepreneur can relate to. This is especially true for anyone who is working to build up a small business while paying the bills with a day job while they battle to turn a profit. The book is a very honest account of how Phil Knight built Nike through the early years hunting down Adidas and the numerous hurdles that threatened their existence on a day to day basis. Brilliant book and a must-read for anyone thinking of starting their own business showcasing what it means to have a vision and the persistence needed to realise this.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
Google for a work suite of apps. Having a cloud-based office suite that we can share and access from a range of devices is perfect for a small business. It is free to use and as powerful as any Microsoft equivalent. With the files, all cloud-based it means we can collaborate on content and track progress in shared files. Again perfect when the team is not co-located as we don’t all work out of one office. A further benefit for a cash-strapped start-up is we can buy and use chrome books rather than expensive laptops. All of the above remove usual barriers to a small business of complexity of IT and costs for getting off the ground. Thank you, Google!
Who is your business role model? Why?
Richard Reed. Founder of Innocent Smoothies. Richard is not a common role model in business circles I accept but I have been lucky enough to meet him a handful of times and heard his story. I am open to share that some of his business concepts I have fully adopted and plagiarised for Trivelo. The most amazing part of his story was how the business set out from the outset with a drive to deliver positive social change. This business plan component to give back really struck a chord with me. If you follow the story of Innocent Smoothies it is a brilliant venture into the unknown having the courage to do something new and embarking on a market dominated by major players.
How do you balance work and life?
My working week has been turned upside recently with the impacts of the global pandemic. Usually, I would be expecting to travel around the country working but for the past 5 months that has been restricted to home working that has taken some adjustments. I continue to try to juggle the demands of a young family with three young children whose childhood I do not want to miss due to work. In addition to these many time hungry activities I also try to train for triathlons myself and fit in swimming, cycling, and running every week.
I plan ahead as much as I can and have a clear outline of the week ahead. It requires discipline and prioritisation so I always have a “to-do” list per key role that I maintain on my phone. Each day working through this and using this to keep my time on the key activities. Modern technology such as my phone and Google workplace tools means I can work round the clock but I maintain boundaries for work ends. I don’t let the working day drift into the evening and call time on the laptop to spend time with my kids. Likewise with my week ahead planning I make sure there is time for exercise factored in.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
Make time for exercise in your daily work routine. Giving your mind a break from the demands of being a CEO means that you can retain more of a fresh outlook. Studies have shown that productivity improves through exercise. By factoring this into the middle of your day you give yourself the ability to return invigorated and ready for another start. Don’t put this time for you out of your diary viewing this as wasted effort. As well as refreshing your mind it also gives you time to reflect while taking in some exercise. Sometimes my most valuable breakthroughs have come from doing something completely different. A swim. A ride. A run.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
Our goal for the next months is to see the business clear the last of the investment debt. When we get through this milestone my plan is to begin our contributions to charities with a percentage of our profits. I have always wanted the business to “do good” and the most obvious way of doing this is to donate funds to help charities that we can really connect with.
How can our readers connect with you?
Blog - https://blog.trivelo.co.uk
Twitter - @trivelo_bikes
YouTube - Trivelo Bikes
Instagram - trivelo.bikes