VC Consulting are involved in a variety of interesting projects. One of the benefits of helping small and start-up businesses is seeing a range of weird and wonderful business ideas, with ambitious (but often sadly deluded) owner-managers. My favourite one of these was a start-up business requiring capital of £2 million to start the business, of which £200,000 was due to be spent on website design (the budget of the ebay website); they asked VC to help with finding the finance. As any fan of Dragon’s Den knows, bandying these kind of figures around is madness for any young business!
One of the stranger ideas that I’ve worked on is on behalf of HIS Hair Clinic. The directors of the company have created a new procedure for men suffering from hair loss. Through a process of micro-pigmentation, the team apply a semi-permanent tattoo to the head that creates the impression of hair follicles (the treatment needs to be repeated at least once annually). Men who have had the treatment look as if they have had their head shaved, but it is not real hair – and a quick feel of the treated individual’s head shows it is not stubble! However, the business certainly has potential, and the clinic have treated over 80 patients in the last year alone.
HIS asked VC Consulting to help in the design of a new website, brochure to clients and brochure to clinics, as well as with a business plan. With Chris taking responsibility for the business plan, including a variety of market and direct research, I have been involved in writing the copy for the website and brochures (the graphics and actual design are done by a partner VC have worked with previously, LHM Media). It’s been an interesting process, from researching the information generally covered in such websites, the structure used and creating innovative and generating innovative text that will draw in customers. The directors of HIS are very involved and know what they want, and it has been challenging working around their specific likes and dislikes (requiring at least 2 re-designs!). It has also been interesting attending meetings and seeing the value that VC bring to the table; the directors of HIS are business savvy, but have found it difficult to take their organisation to the next level of development, which Shihab and Lawrence are adept at. This has lead to the occasional comical showdown, which has certainly kept the mood in the office light!
