Gain insights on business growth in our series of bite size chats with Business Leaders, brought to you by The FD Consultant.
We interview high achieving individuals who we believe everyone can learn from, and who bring insight into the many aspects of successfully growing a business.
In this edition’s Insights Q&A, we welcome Darien Jay, CEO of Vixus.
Darien takes us through his secrets to success, and offers a refreshing perspective on the reasons for running a business.
We hope you enjoy this edition of Insights with Darien’s experiences and insights.
Hi Darien, please tell us about your business.
Vixus provides procurement and consultancy services, predominantly in the property and facilities management sectors. Which is a fancy way of saying ‘we save clients money on their indirect spend’.
For most organisations, after labour their highest spend item is on support services be that cleaning, maintenance, security or landscaping – effectively any function that isn’t directly contributing to the firm’s profitability.
Our role is to ensure that the client is obtaining best value for money from these services, so that they can focus their attention on what they do best. Often this means running competitive tenders, but it could be an insourcing project, a review of the estates strategy and team, or a service standards audit. It’s fair to say that rarely are two projects alike.
What are the key factors which have driven your growth to date?
Two things spring to mind here. First, my team and I are very goal driven. We have a 5 year plan that we are halfway through delivering on, as well as 1 year and 90 day plans that support the longer term goal.
Having this laser focus on the long term means that our short-term decisions are always made with these outputs in mind. Through working with a business coach in recent years I’ve learnt not only how to quantify my goals, but also how to share these with the team so that they are on the same journey with me.
Having this laser focus on the long term means that our short-term decisions are always made with these outputs in mind.
Secondly, we have processes for everything. We process map each fee earning project at the outset to ensure that we deliver on time, on budget every time. This keeps our clients happy and helps foster long term relationships with them.
We’ve also process mapped our CRM function, from routine LinkedIn posts to checking in with target clients. It doesn’t always run like clockwork, but it’s proven far more effective than when we did everything on the hoof!
What makes you so passionate about what you do?
I enjoy what I do, particularly meeting so many interesting people and having the opportunity to work for some of the most iconic brands in the world. But in truth the job itself is just that – a job. My passion stems from the opportunities my business provides my family and me; having the time and money to travel, giving my daughter the best start in life, and not being financially dependent on a ‘boss’.
That isn’t to say I don’t work damn hard, and do everything I can to deliver the best service to our clients. These things are not mutually exclusive – when our clients are happy they give us more work, when we have more work we are more profitable. More profit means the team is better rewarded and we all benefit. It’s a virtuous circle.
What do you view as your greatest achievement in this role to date?
That’s a tough one! Reaching our 1-year anniversary was a big milestone, that felt like vindication that the business model worked. 5 years felt pretty significant too. Completing projects for the likes of Mastercard, Adobe, The Hurlingham Club and The Walkie Talkie (Fenchurch St) have all been highlights, but the time I felt most proud was at our latest team outing last autumn.
Surrounded by my colleagues, each of whom has been integral to our growth and success, just being able to take them away for a weekend to let our hair down and enjoy the success of the previous year. It made me realise how far we’d come since 2017 when it was just me plugging away on a laptop in my spare room.
What are the biggest challenges your business faces?
As consultants we’re only as good as our last job. We need to constantly innovate and consistently deliver to meet our clients’ exacting needs. Many of our clients are facing unprecedented budgetary pressure and in many cases we’re being asked to deliver more for less. We need to double down on our efforts to find new opportunities whilst also seeking ways of delivering more value to our existing clients.
We need to constantly innovate and consistently deliver to meet our clients’ exacting needs.
We also know that as for most industries, AI is going to be omnipresent in the coming years. Our challenge (and something we are already working on) is figuring out exactly what role AI will play in the property sector so that we can be at the forefront of that revolution.
What one piece of advice would you give to those who want to achieve or sustain high growth in their businesses?
Know why you’re running your business. Many of us almost fell into business ownership, without ever giving real thought as to what we were hoping to achieve. You are not winning if you have a successful business, but you’re working 60+ hours a week and not enjoying the fruits of your labour.
Your business should provide you with the means to do the things you enjoy in life, whether that be spending time with family, getting involved with a charity or learning to play the trombone! Until you realise this you’ll continue to be an employee of your own company with all the risks and none of the rewards.
Know why you’re running your business. Many of us almost fell into business ownership, without ever giving real thought as to what we were hoping to achieve.
Step back and formulate a plan for achieving your life goals. If you struggle to do this yourself, reach out to a coach who can support you with this. Or by all means drop me a message on LinkedIn and I can lend an ear.
We hope you found Darien's comments informative and thought provoking.
If you'd like to know more about Darien and Vixus Property Group, please visit their website here.
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