Dial A Geek’s #Take15 campaign is all about celebrating the people who have helped and inspired us and the events of the past 15 years.
To start with, Chief Geek Gildas Jones takes a look at his Best 5 Days in Dial A Geek History:
1) Hiring my first employee
The day I took on my first employee was a special one. I knew that Geek work was getting done without me doing it. Magic.
Richard Miller was the name of the first geek I hired to join Dial A Geek, all the way back in 2009.
(Editor’s Note: this little snippet of information might be useful for anyone taking part in the competition that accompanies our #Take15 campaign)
2) Moving into the first office space
Like many small business owners, I started Dial A Geek from my home office. This consisted of a laptop perched atop an ironing board in my kitchen. An ideal working environment this was not!
Moving to our first real office space in The Fire Station was a big relief. It felt like a direct injection of freedom and gave us a sense that we were really starting to go somewhere as a company.
3) Winning the Small Business 100
Thousands of businesses from across the country entered the Small Biz 100 competition, so winning was a real feather in our cap. The first of more competition wins to come.
When I received the email telling us that we’d won, it was high-fives all-round. It had me grinning for the rest of the day.
Looking back, this was the first time that someone who wasn’t one of us or one of our clients had taken notice of the way we worked. It was an acknowledgement that we must be doing something right!
4) The first holiday when the business managed without me
This might be one that you have to have been a small business owner to really understand.
The first time I took a holiday – in this case, a three-week trip to France – and didn’t need to contact the office once was amazing. And not just because the holiday was so good!
I felt like after all of the hard work growing the business together, we’d reached a point of stability. A great platform from which we could keep on building in future.
5) Winning Employer of the Year 2019 and 2020
Alright, I’m cheating for this one. These were really two separate days, but they both brought some real joy for me and everyone at Dial A Geek, especially our apprentices.
Being named as Employer of the Year in the Bristol Live and Bath Live Apprenticeship Awards in both 2019 and 2020 – as well as having Yusra, one of our apprentices, as a finalist in Apprentice of the Year – was a big moment. Perhaps the biggest moment.
When we first started Dial A Geek, I wanted to make it a great place to work. It was one of the biggest driving forces behind starting the company in the first place.
Over the years, it’s been the people who’ve made the whole journey special – and we’ve tried to help unlock the potential of the younger team members along the way. Getting this recognition that we were creating the right kind of environment was an incredible feeling. It was a night to remember.
Here’s to the best days of the next 15 years!
What were your business’s best five days over the past 15 years?
What would your five best days in the history of your company be?
Use the hashtag #Take15 and Tweet at us about it @dialageek. Let us know how we worked together and what your top 5 are!
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