If I Knew Then: Rob Vivian

PureComms is a leading telecommunications and IT provider, with 18 staff in two offices – Bristol and St Austell.  Established in 2009 by CEO Rob Vivian, PureComms provides unified communications, which includes lines/calls, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), leased lines, cabling, mobiles/SIMs, Wi-Fi services, as well as IT products, licences and support.

The business specialises in developing communication solutions that are bespoke to each client, taking into consideration the nature of their business and sector they operate in.  PureComms now turns over £2m annually, with a number of high-profile clients including Bristol Airport, Co-op Group, Opus Recruitment Solutions, JJFox, Bonhams, Britannia Windows, Inns of Devon and Cornwall and Redrock Consulting, as well as a large number of SMEs across the south west and UK.

Rob started his career in the sales team of a publishing company, learning key skills such as communicating and negotiating.  A chance meeting with the owner of a Bristol-based telecommunications business saw him move into the telecoms and technology sector in 1997. 

How did you start PureComms? 

I was working in London and away from home all over the country – and ultimately I was completely fed up of being away from my family. So in truth Pure Comms was started as a lifestyle decision

If you knew then what you know now, what mistakes might you have avoided? 

We struggled recruiting in the early days – we wasted a lot of money on recruiting the wrong people.

What advice would you have given yourself when starting out? 

To have done it ten years earlier! There is a lot of fear around starting a business – all to do with the uncertainty of generating the necessary revenue to support your family. But in truth if you have the right attitude to that it is a lot easier than you think.

If you knew then what you know now, would you still be sitting there?

Yes, I’d follow the same career path again.

What do you know now that you didn’t know then? 

Back then I thought the key to success was simply to sell more – focusing on revenue is absolutely fundamental to any business – but as time has gone on, measuring success is done across multiple areas. I love the fact that we have brought young people into the business and helped them to achieve great things in their careers in a relatively short space of time. I like that we can look at the granularity of overheads and make simple changes – these can be as effective as winning large contracts. The role of the entrepreneur is to change – you start life as a salesman, and the key to success is being able to adapt to your differing role as the business grows.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received so far? 

It was from a chap I didn’t particularly like! But it was fantastic advice and incredibly simple – never ever give up. I firmly believe that a business fails because the entrepreneur gives up on it. We have had some outrageously tough times; I could probably count 20-30 times when it would have been easier to close the doors.

What is your business highlight? 

Moving into the office. I started – like most businesses – from home in my very comfortable study, complete with cat and kitchen next door. My first office move was to a horrible pokey little room in a business centre with just enough room for two desks. I remember sitting there utterly determined to grow the business so I could have a nicer office. It took me two years to finally leave the business centre – having taken more and more space there – and I’ll never forget the feeling of walking around this large building thinking, ‘I did this’.

What is your business lowpoint? 

Our original Operations Director left the business in February last year.  Whilst it was the right move for her and her family (as well as for the business), it still felt like a defeat. She was employee no.1 and incorporated so many of the values that make us what we are. Ultimately the company had got to a size where she felt she couldn’t continue in her role, and family commitments had become far greater.

What keeps you awake?

Staff. There are constantly difficult decisions to be made relating to staff.  This includes managing people, performance and situations, sometimes requiring us to fire somebody if they’re not performing and meeting targets – which brings with it the threat of a tribunal and all the work this entails.

We’ve had a couple of bad experiences with people over the years. There’s never any ‘hidden agenda’ when removing someone from the team – we’re a small business and can’t afford to carry anyone who is not performing. It is always a decision based upon what is best for the business, never personal. However, you know a person leaving the business will be concerned for their own future and sometimes the easiest path for them is to challenge the business in some way for financial recompense.

It’s not necessarily just the money – but the huge amount of time I will have to spend dealing with these situations, which takes me away from work which I could be doing to help the business grow further.

What’s changed from when you started out? 

Me I guess. As a salesman you tend to be very optimistic and see the positives in any situation. As a business owner I know I have become very cynical. I think unfortunately you have to be constantly considering the worst possible outcome and therefore you will always have a plan in any situation. But, that does mean you tend to be a bit jaundiced!

What’s still on your to-do list? 

I really want to crack the geographic element to our business – I have a strong belief that having a number of geographic offices (as opposed to a centralised operation) provides a better service to clients. Our first office location outside Bristol has proven to be a real tough cookie to crack. But hopefully in 2017 that site will prove the launching pad for our next office.

What’s next for PureComms? 

We will be resourcing new team members into the Cornish office in the early part of 2017; and hopefully we will be bringing an HR Manager into the team as part of that expansion. Hopefully an office in London by the end of the year.