"I’ll wear that badge with pride, and I’ll do it with a smile."
Wow – dcoded. has now completed 3.5 months of trading. The lights are still on. The walls haven’t burnt down. It’s a win, win if you ask me.
Time is literally flying. The concept of bank holidays is a fugazi. Apparently, we had one the other day and don’t have another one until Christmas day!? This is only good news in my book, no more 4-day weeks meaning more time to deliver and be impactful!
Life is still moving at a million mph – we’re still celebrating the small wins (and the bigger ones!), each day it feels we are growing – meaning each week we are getting closer to our goals. Our operating model and more importantly our sales cadence is working. Which is massively re-assuring. Process is still king – and we’re being ‘religious with our consistency’
Some milestones that we hit in August:
· Contract Recruitment. Our first contractor started their assignment on the 1st day of August. An anxious few weeks wait! But all is good. Happy client. Happy contractor. Getting timesheet portals and all the back office operations set up is yet another humble reminder of how slick & valuable my previous contractor care teams have been!
· We Grew! We hired a new dcoder! More on employee number 3 in the next 3-4weeks!
· Office Space. We extended our office lease committing ourselves as a physical city-centre business for at least another 9 months.
· Client Wins. It was our highest number of new clients won in a month, ever.
· New Requirements. Our highest amount of new job requirements, ever.
· Interviews Secured. Our highest interviews… you guessed it, ever
· We started our Podcast. the dcoded.Podcast – episodes should launch in late Sept/ early Oct. It’s a logistical nightmare, which I expected. But finding time to record, review, edit etc along with the day job (whatever that is…) is going to be an interesting one!
· 5* Reviews on Google – I love that our offering, processes and service are being recognised. We live off recommendations and referrals, so its great to see the kind words & opinions.
· We made some placements too!
Some reflections – a successful month! But… it’s been absolutely bonkers! The market is very hot and cold. One minute you think you’ve cracked it. The next minute commercials are blocked and ‘slam dunks’ disappear. But we do love a rollercoaster in recruitment!
Retrospectively, these are my key takeaways from the past 4-6 weeks:
· Be religious with consistency – understand the plan and execute it. Try not to deviate it. If you do deviate, understand why and what the value is vs what the master plan is
· Hiring has been tough – but stick to principles as the first hires are arguably the most important. I am over the moon with my first 2 hires. They’re aligned in every way!
· Rome wasn’t built in a day – a lot of clients were putting things on hold, delaying decision making, and hiring directly. But it’s been fantastic seeing our cadence proving that building relationships, driving commercial conversations and being relentless have been creating strong meetings and conversations that are driving our pipelined business & projects.
· Be relentless and don’t take ‘NO’ as an answer. Obviously, we must respect decisions – but we can stress test them... This month alone I’ve had 10 prospects tell me the only reason why they’re meeting Lee Feeney and I is because ‘we won’t stop calling’ or messaging. So, they wanted to give us 30mins. I’ll take a decision maker telling me that they’re pissed off with me because I’ve been ‘hounding’ them, any day of the week. I’ll wear that badge with pride, with a smile on my face. We’re passionate, and we genuinely believe we can add value and provide a service nobody else on the market can compete with.
So then… to conclude – we’re 17 weeks in, and it feels like we’ve really hit our stride. The office lights are still on (thankfully!), and the walls are still standing – no small feat given how fast we’re moving. It’s been a whirlwind, but the good kind, the one where you’re simultaneously holding on for dear life and enjoying every second of the ride. I liken it to an F1 driver… we’ve got to go a million MPH, otherwise we’ll lose control and crash.
The concept of work-life balance is a bit of a myth when you’re a founder. I mean, what even is a bank holiday anymore? But honestly, I wouldn’t trade this pace for anything. Every week, we’re growing – not just in numbers, but in experience, resilience, and belief in what we’re building here at dcoded.
August was a significant month for us, with a lot of milestones to celebrate.
But let’s not sugar-coat it – it’s been tough, too. Hiring hasn’t been easy, but we’re sticking to our principles. We know that our early hires will shape the future of dcoded, so we’re being meticulous. We’re in this for the long haul, and building a strong, values-aligned team is non-negotiable.
I’ve been reminded that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Some clients have put things on hold, delayed decisions, or opted to handle hiring in-house. It’s frustrating, but it’s also part of the game. We’re focusing on building relationships and maintaining a relentless pursuit of our goals. Patience, persistence, and the ability to adapt are our guiding principles.
As we move forward, I’m excited about what’s to come. The sacrifices we’re making, the challenges we’re overcoming, and the wins we’re celebrating are all part of this crazy, exhilarating journey. And I’m grateful for every single moment of it.
Here’s to September and the end of Q3… one principled step, at a time.
