Interview: Susan Hallam, Hallam Internet
At a recent Creatives’ Club with The Big House and the Creative Quarter, we caught up with founder of Hallam Internet, Susan Hallam MBE, following her keynote speech on ‘How to Upscale your business’.
Did you start up with plans to create the Hallam empire?
“No! I come from a family of teachers. My family was shocked and disappointed in my decision to leave a well paid, secure senior digital marketing role to go it alone. I always had determination and confidence in my ability, but I was a one-woman band for a long time to fit around my kids growing up. The scale up happened organically when the time was right.”
As one-woman band, did you face any obvious challenge as a woman?
“No, never found being a woman a disadvantage. Maybe because I am an American. People don’t mess with me, because I appear to be confident and I know what I am talking about.
“I do have a Masters in Computing and I was the only woman on the course. With other Managing Directors, I am usually the only woman in the room. I say to my shame and regret that all my Directors are all men. I share and support the need for women in tech and science – I blame the UK A-level system as they are not supportive of STEM subjects. Being a woman has never caused me any problems in scaling up my business.”
If you had wanted to grow consciously rather than organically what would you have done?
“Have a business plan, with targets that the Directors are responsible for. Without one you will drift. Without one how can you celebrate achievements, know if you have reached targets?
Get guidance and support in developing one, such as the support available at The Big House [www.bighouse.org.uk].
What business support did you receive?
“I’m a grant junky, self confessed. In the early days, I had Business Link support and anything going I took advantage of, free coaching and mentoring, training. Whatever help I could get. The mentoring support has been transformational.
“I never stop learning still. I am taking part in the Goldman Sachs business school programme and learn something new every single day.”
What financial resource did you need to scale up?
“I have been exceptionally fortunate to be able to self fund and ran the business without any debt or need for VC investment. I took out one loan to create marketing collateral and invest in business development. All the growth has come from the profits of the business.”
How did you know when to merge with another company?
“When we merged with Big Spring in 2017 it was a big decision. We had been working in partnership for a long time and identified a shared desire to merge and we knew it would be amicable. We worked with one company who advised us, valued both businesses and set up financial arrangements. Mixing a high performing knowledge business with a truly a creative company was the right decision, but the cultural differences of the two companies was huge and this was the biggest risk and presented the most challenges. A year on, we have made it work and we are now stronger than ever before.”
