We are Desynit Limited, a Salesforce Consultancy based in Bristol, UK, and we have just reached an incredible milestone this month – 25 years in business. Over the many years, Desynit has gained recognition in the community and beyond for delivering exceptional Salesforce implementations and support for ambitious companies.
Leading the helm, and perhaps unorthodox for a small to medium enterprise, are 4 exceptional Directors: Jeremy Hutchinson, Christopher Lewis, Jeremy Yearron and Gary McGeorge. With 25 years in the industry among them, it’s safe to say that Desynit’s leaders know a thing or two about running a small to medium enterprise.
So, to celebrate turning 25, they have condensed their wealth of knowledge into 25 bite-sized lessons, in a bid to help you on your journey to success wherever that may be in your timeline.
This depends on how you want your business to grow. Avoid rapid, explosive growth if your goal is long-term stability and survival. Sometimes, the opposite leads to burnout, being acquired prematurely, or even collapse.
It’s more than having table tennis in the office. Implement a culture where people are the key, ensuring everyone is looked after and supported, which is a testament to the company’s endurance.
If you and your employees are happy and have a safe place with the right support systems in place, then the results are only ever going to be the best.
Here at Desynit, we have Mental Health First Aiders, who are crucial to providing a network of support within the company.
We also implement a Director’s Open Office once a week for one hour.This enables anyone in the company to talk and have dedicated time with a director to discuss any issues they may or.
“Oh, I didn’t know you could do that!”
Sound familiar? Leverage having a proven experience of using other technologies (not just one platform like Salesforce) as a key competitive advantage. Don’t let it be a side decision in a discovery meeting; brag about it!
You have worked hard to have the skills in-house, so shout to the world about it.
Cultivate long-standing customer relationships built on trust, transparency and empathy, which is a major strength and a sign of stability.
We have partnerships lasting 10 years + because of this. Take your customer out for a coffee or wine, show them that behind the scenes, we are all just people trying to make it in the world.
Define yourselves as problem solvers first, not just a specific technology firm, enabling adaptation and resilience across different technical landscapes. Embrace new problems as opportunities and challenges that require creative solutions and new tools.
“We’re not just technology people, we are problem solvers.” Chris
Be cautious of being too perfectionist when developing products, as it can lead to delays and failure to launch before dwindling internal interest.
Be on point with your internal resourcing. Be aware that consultancy models often operate on a “feast or famine” basis, and that when busy (feasting), product development resources may be pulled to client work.
Take into consideration the void during the famine period and make it cost-effective to the company, e.g. Skill up on a new feature or product.
This is the most crucial, long-term principle. To reiterate, the company’s value has always been that people are the key, and looking after every team member is paramount.
As leaders, we aspire to be remembered as people who cared, looked after people, and helped solve problems for them.
Believe that silliness is important; use humour and jokes to keep work fun and prevent taking things too seriously. You spend a lot of time with your colleagues, often more time than at home, so make it worthwhile.
At Desynit, we believe the following: ‘We are, after all, here for a good time, not a long time.’ Therefore, we must bring the fun.
Go for lunchtime walks, enjoy a Christmas Lunch together, have smoothie Mondays, etc. We are constantly engaging and thinking of new activities to do each month with the entire company.
Mutual respect is the bedrock of a long-running partnership. Leverage a team structure (like having multiple directors) so you can lean on each other and support colleagues during individual peaks and troughs.”There’s a great deal of mutual respect… not only for each other but for the employees.” Jeremy Yearron
Be present in the community. This is not just your social media presence. It’s about actively contributing to the technology community (e.g., via thought leadership, writing posts, attending/hosting events) to gain recognition and validation from peers. Think about giving back.
Aim for customer partnership success that exceeds the client’s expectations, focusing on a long-term collaborative approach.
Keep re-engaging and planning, and reshaping your partnership roadmap so that it doesn’t become stale.
Recognise that a reliable team provides the necessary support network for getting through life’s and business’s challenges.
Desynit might have a hierarchy in regards to roles and responsibilities; however, as a team of 17, we all rely on each other for support. Whether that be helping with a solution review, figuring out how to resolve a customer enquiry, or simply leaning on each other for parental support and guidance.
YDKWYDN (you don’t know what you don’t know). Benefit from having different personalities and different skills among leaders to challenge each other and arrive at balanced decisions.
Challenge each other and yourself because it’s not always obvious when there is a knowledge gap.
Set your own measures of success (whether monetary reward or quality of work), ensuring you’ll be comfortable with the resulting outcome.
“If you believe in something, then how can you fail? Because you get to set the measures of success.” Gary
Be committed to Team success. Do what you do for something you believe in; genuine conviction is crucial for long-term endurance. Always strive to do better, internally and for the client.
“We always want the project to succeed more than they do.” Gary
Acknowledge that running a business is hard work, but that the positive culture and mission make it really rewarding. View obstacles as inevitable problems to be solved.
“Expect obstacles and enjoy tackling them as best you can.” Chris
Communication is the most important, and possibly the most difficult skill to crack. But don’t give up. Be honest and transparent internally and externally.
At Desynit, we believe that account management is key. We like to take our customers out for lunch or tea. See them as humans first, rather than scary business people – this mindset really helps, especially when it comes to those honest/difficult conversations.
Focus on showing commitment (the perception of “the guy that keeps turning up every day”), which shows reliability and dedication.
What’s your contingency plan? We have seen it; the world can be flipped on its axis overnight. So be flexible and able to pivot over the years as external forces (like world events, economic changes) dictate the direction of the business.
As a Small to Medium Enterprise, Desynit are extremely lucky to have made it through Covid. It was extremely tough, and there were moments when we thought the doors were shut for good. But by adapting quickly and staying in line with the game (because at that time, no one knew what being ahead of the game looked like!), taking each day as it came, as well as keeping morale up, was what ultimately got us through.
Running the entire company solo inevitably leads to failure or burnout. “You look at other companies… run by a single person, and they’ve just burnt out.” Being able to share the responsibility is crucial to success and individual happiness.
Don’t step away entirely from the technical/hands-on work just to be a “businessman,” as it keeps you grounded and engaged. Avoid separating leadership entirely from technical work; stay connected to customers.
“It’s probably good for all of us as Directors that we still get the chance to help customers and be client-facing.”
Traditional barriers to entry are eroding, meaning not only is there more competition, but it looks different. You really do have to keep up with the times and try and stand out.
“It’s getting easier to enter the Salesforce market because they’ve brought barriers down to entry.”
Acknowledge that the decision to make people redundant is immensely difficult and one you never plan for. However, knowing its necessity and acting upon that shows incredible business acumen.
“The hardest single thing was… making the decision to make people redundant.” Jeremy Yearron
Be wary of drawing energy away from core, income-generating activities when pursuing ambitious side projects.
Having a product has always been something we have strived to achieve, and we have nearly got there; however, “we just seem to fail, and I think we fail because we’re consultants at heart… we pull everything else off, but never seem to end up with a finished product.”
Running a business is not for the lighthearted, however, with the right business strategy, culture, team dynamics, personal and leadership mindset, as well as acknowledging the pitfalls and growing from them, you too could be celebrating a ¼ century.
Fancy another read? Why not have a look at our other blogs.
Our independent tech team has been servicing enterprise clients for over 15 years from our HQ in Bristol, UK. Let’s see how we can work together and get the most out of your Salesforce implementation.
