I’m often asked what it is like to run a Small to Media sized Enterprise (SME) – aka small business – although strictly speaking Ayrmer Software is a micro business right now as we employ four people, although we’re about to recruit a fifth person (touch wood).
So, what is a typical day like? Well I thought I would use yesterday as a great example …
Morning
I was a little late starting, as I normally like to hit my desk around 7.30, although I always check my emails etc around 6 o’clock in the morning (sometime earlier) just in case something important has come in over night.
I start the day with routine: log on to our business management system and online banking, update cash flow and check my calendar. Open up buffer, twitter, Facebook and Google+ social media streams, before checking through emails. This doesn’t take very long, so can crack on with the day.
First task yesterday was to run though our capacity plan, cash flow projections etc as we’re hoping to take on a new developer shortly and having just recruited an apprentice I’m keeping a careful eye on things.
Next up: Human Resources (HR) which although we’re only small, is a constant challenge to keep on top of to ensure we have a happy, contented and productive team.
I had a conference call with a client – I’m the lead developer for it – at 9.15 am that took around an hour, keeping their project manager up to speed with progress. She’s a visual person, so prefers to screen share and go through the work in progress rather than receive an email once a week. It’s important to work with the client, rather than against them.
Conference call over, I made some notes, before checking our various social media streams. Pumped out some advice about phishing emails that was picked up by a colleague (Simon Curr) who contributed to conversation with some suggested phishing tests that ran through the rest of the day. Simon is our system administrator and an expert on VoIP.
Meeting with our Technical Director – Grant Bagwell – about future plans for the business and found ourselves talking about continuity plans amongst other things.
After the meeting, I started to pick up a couple of technical support tickets that had been submitted via our online technical support portal, before breaking for some lunch around half past one.
Afternoon
After lunch I had to pick up some admin stuff, before writing up notes from conference call and emailing to the client as confirmation of various observations / suggestions agreed during the call earlier in the day.
I closed the day with a couple of technical support queries for Mission Performance; we developed a questionnaire portal for their Clarity Culture Interdependence CCI™ Questionnaire (CCI-Q) last spring and recently updated the reports generated by the system. I used the time to show our apprentice another system that we’ve developed and how to problem solve, an important element of our day to day lives, as programmers.
Evening
I’d like to say that’s where the day ended at 5 o’clock, but all too often I end up picking up stuff in the evening: catching up with new technologies, research etc or simply making the most of the quieter end of the day with some programming. Last night was thankfully relative clear to focus on personal life; it’s a constant challenge to achieve a work life balance running a small business!
Conclusion
No two days are alike, so this is just an example. I’m still very hands on and continue to programme as well as manage the business (administration, strategy, etc) and am responsible for most of the sales and marketing. It’s busy and challenging, but it is also very rewarding!
We’re passionate about writing beautiful solutions for our clients and are focused on delivering the best possible systems for them using up-to-date technologies. We’re in exciting times and are starting to explore Immersive Technologies that includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and wearable technology as well as Artificial Intelligence (AI).
It’s an exciting time at Ayrmer Software, so if you want to know more get in contact with us on +44 (0) 1249 566017 or follow us on twitter, Google+ or Facebook or simply check out our website.