Entrepreneur gives brutally honest account of collapse of his business

A young entrepreneur who launched a branding agency has written an honest and heartfelt account of how the business collapsed.

Anthony Scott Logan launched the Noir Agency in Manchester with his friend Alex Mellor in 2016.

The firm, which employed seven people, went into liquidation earlier this year because Anthony could not afford to pay a tax bill and meet overheads.

Noir at restaurant launch

The award-winning firm had clients in fashion, technology, property, medical, hospitality and lifestyle sectors as well as a presence in London and San Francisco.

But a series of issues including a problem with a client, an increase in rent and the HMRC bill ended with the business going into liquidation.

The 31-year old has written a lengthy blog about the experience of running and losing a business and has posted it on Linkedin.

The article has since had dozens of comments from people praising Anthony’s honesty.

Anthony said: “Running a business is really hard… It’s Incredibly lonely, it’s a mental assault course of the unexpected, it’s full of days that feel like the end of the world, nights that become day while you’re still at your desk, crippling personal sacrifice, and to top it all off; even if you work 120 hour weeks.

“I’ve had to witness the pain of failure in close friends, I’ve seen it happen to clients and earlier this year, through my own mistakes, it happened to me.”

He added: “When I started the business, I teamed up with a friend of mine called Alex Mellor and we moved into a co-working space in the old Granada Studios.

“The co-working space was only £99p/m each, and we made the decision that we would only pay ourselves the bare minimum we needed to survive; roughly £700 a month.”

In 2017 the duo made the decision to move into an office in Royal Mills, this decision saw a rent increase from £200 a month to £800 a month.

Anthony said: “Noir had started to gain attention within the city, we had doubled our client base and tripled our revenue in a very short period of time.

“In hindsight, I think this early success and a level of inexperience led to over-confidence which clouded our judgement on key decisions.”

After an investor came on board Noir took on more staff and expanded.

Antony said: “We were reaching our first birthday and we decided to put together an event.

“It was expensive, we weren’t clear enough on what our measurable objective was and ultimately it served our ego more than it served the business.

Anthony added “We were spending hundreds of hours a month in the trenches, we worked every weekend without exception.

“I hadn’t been eating or sleeping properly, I had entirely sacrificed my social-life and had become a total recluse according to my friends and family, we were fighting client fires and desperately trying (and failing) to make payroll.

“Fast forward to Feb 2018 and our team was seven people strong and our client base felt fairly secure.

“We decided to move to a new space that would afford us the luxuries of a kitchen area and a meeting room.

“We took a lease for three years. The office overheads had grown from £800 a month to £2,500 per month.

“Moving to a new space also incurred fit-out costs that we hadn’t anticipated and that we couldn’t afford.

“I think this decision came from a place of both optimism, inexperience and quite truthfully ego. It’s a decision I personally take full responsibility for and one that I totally regret.”

The next few months were not as profitable as expected and the problems started to mount.

Anthony said: “Our bank balance shrank, bills began to be missed and our financial inexperience started to show.

“Quite honestly, I had absolutely no idea what PAYE, VAT, Income Tax or even EBITDA, were.

“I’ve never been that good with numbers and I have always preferred to focus my energy on trying to create really great creative work would please our clients.

“In hindsight, I wish we had appointed a proficient full-time accountant and sought their advice on strategic decisions.”

Alex Mellor

In the summer of 2018 the co-founder parted company with the business.

Anthony said: “I honestly felt scared, worried and unequipped to deal with that situation, at that moment.

“To such a small close team, the departure of a co-founder, in our most challenging moment, created uncertainty and anxiety.”

Anthony negotiated a deal with the HMRC to pay off £5,000 a month.

He added: “I would frequently fall asleep alone in the office at night on top of my laptop, I started experiencing panic attacks at work and for the first time in my life, I started having severe bouts of anxiety. I was struggling to meet bills in both my business and personal life.

“I put on a brave face in front of my team, I stayed visibility optimistic, I tried to keep up appearances and I tried to find a way through.

“I didn’t want to admit defeat and I was willing to give everything I had to find a positive outcome.

“In the last quarter of the year, debt collectors showed up at the office in Manchester and gave us an ultimatum; pay them £5,000 now, or they would have to take our office equipment and furniture.”

Antony said: “On December 22nd, the last Friday before the Christmas break, my team and I showed up at the office to find that the locks had been changed and our possessions had been locked away, without notice.

“I had tried my hardest to keep things going, to maintain a brave face and to keep our clients happy, but the business could no longer continue to operate under these circumstances and without a home.

“Over Christmas, I was left with no choice but to start the insolvency process and I put the business into a (CVL) Creditors Voluntary Liquidation. Team morale was at rock bottom and the most senior member of our team resigned in January.

“In an effort to keep the remaining jobs and to continue servicing a few long-standing clients, I had to sell the brand and assets to an ex-client and small performance marketing agency in Manchester.

“The brand and remaining team and clients transferred to Roto Ltd earlier this year and are in a much better condition.

“We’re armed with a cautious sense of optimism, lightyears more knowledgeable than in 2016 and we’re delivering great work for great clients through a reimagined business model that is designed to be sustainable.”