Kettle on for a chat with Graham Carroll, Founder & Head of Strategy at Friday and 2021 Designs on Growth graduate, to know a little bit more about Friday, his experience on the programme and how it benefited his design business’ growth.
What was your aspiration for founding Friday?
Before we started Friday, myself and Dave both ran our own smaller agencies. We were frustrated with the lack of good processes – briefs were often tight and it was difficult to get good work done. We knew that by using and following a solid project process we could do some great work and build something special.
What type of clients do you work with?
We work with any business that has an online presence or uses digital screens to communicate with their customers – so it’s a broad range of organisations. Financial services, pharma and lifestyle are areas of client focus and we help them with a range of services across digital marketing and user experience design.
The covid pandemic has impacted each and every business, for better and worse. What have been the most surprising lessons you’ve learned over the course of the past year?
For sure, it has been a challenging time. I learned that we could still communicate very well. And despite us not being together, the team have done some of their best work. On a personal level, I rediscovered old hobbies such as cooking fancy dishes (with mixed results) and reading.
Friday is a well-established digital agency with a team of 8 to 9. Why did you think Designs on Growth would be a good fit for Friday and what did you want to achieve through the programme?
It’s a good fit obviously because it’s tailored toward design and creative agencies and we felt it was a good fit for our size. Sometimes you think you’re doing OK and Dave and I wanted to get a better understanding of how we were actually doing and to try and make some changes to work smarter.
How did the Designs on Growth benefit Friday and the way you do business?
It gave us a renewed sense of direction and purpose – it helped us to redefine our vision for the agency and get everyone involved and behind it. It was also very helpful in many practical ways such as improving our lead scoring and making adjustments to how we cost and bill.
What were the main takeaways/your favourite aspects of the Designs on Growth programme?
The blinding flashes of the obvious. You often hear or read about them, but when you’re in a group setting, it helps you to absorb and put them into practice better. My favourite part of the programme was the group format – hearing and discussing the challenges and ideas of like-minded people, and sharing how we overcame obstacles.
How has Friday grown since Designs on Growth?
Since the programme we’ve put new processes into action which have made us more efficient and allowed us to both give and get more value from our work. It has also helped us to get better visibility over the things that aren’t working and to make the hard calls to change them.
What advice would you give to someone who is just getting started with their agency?
Sign up for Designs on Growth! But, I would say don’t be daunted by the scope of the program. There will be areas that you have little experience with but getting exposure to these areas at the start of your journey will strengthen your chances of success. Team, bring senior people along. That and I would recommend signing up.
You can get in touch with Graham Carroll via Linkedin
Find out more about the Designs on Growth.
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