I’m not a fan of self help books and I say that as someone who has read many in the past but as a rarity I picked up a copy of Gary Vaynerchuck’s ‘Crush It’ a while back and started to read it the other night. After only a few pages I realised that passion was at the heart of matter when it came to running and developing a successful business. Without passion the whole thing was dead in the water.

PASSION: a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music.

I thought it would be a good idea to be open with my passions about our business, it’s what has driven me to this point and what will continue to drive me onwards as well as shaping the business (both to this point and onwards). My hope is that those reading can understand more about us as a business and me as a business owner.. Too much transparency some might say, no problem but we’re not a closed door company. Knowing us is as important, if not more so than knowing what we do.

These are in no particular order and my passions are our passions:

I’m passionate about giving callers, prospects and clients the best possible service I can. My whole career, in one respect or another, has been customer service orientated. I hate it when I myself receive bad service and do wonder how some companies keep (perhaps they don’t) long term clients. We’re not superheroes at Creospace, we get it wrong sometimes but we’ll take ownership and put it right and I think that sets us apart from many of our competitors.

I’m passionate about delivering solutions to clients that are beneficial. The reason I started Creospace over 7 years ago is because I saw web design outfits delivering websites for the sake of it, earning a fast buck as they say. They actually do more harm than good. Every line of code we write is with the needs and success of our clients in mind. They are parting with money that they’ve worked hard to raise and they entrust it with us to deliver the solution that they need.

I’m passionate about giving great advice. Not all who I meet become our clients but all are entitled to informed and accurate advice. We spend ages learning the latest techniques, code, practices, standards, trends, fashions, methods (a passion in itself) the list is endless but we have to be on top of it all in order to be able to advise people with accuracy and truth. We get calls where people have been referred to us just for advice, a 5 minute phone call to point someone in the right direction isn’t an interruption, it’s a) the fruit of many years hard work and b) a privilege!

I’m passionate about people. Yes people are what it’s all about. We talk to, email, tweet, interact on-line and of course meet face to face with people. We form relationships and interact with people every day. I love meeting people and listening to them getting to know their stories. Learning how we can help them and knowing when we can’t of course.

I’m passionate about ridding the profession of bad work. I know it’s an ideal but it drives me mad when I see bad design, shoddy code, terrible and ineffective workmanship. Some in this profession are without doubt preying on the uneducated, paying lip service to those who know no different. We surround ourselves with peers who are passionate about the same subject and we have healthy mutual respect for each other and they share the same values as us.

I’m passionate about working with great people. I know we can’t be great at everything but for the most effective results you need a combination of services to work together. I can’t have our brand damaged by hiring bad people or recomending our clients take advice from other companies that wont deliver the same high standards that we do ourself ( I’m 110% confident we work with such people).

I’m passionate about our brand and all it stands for. The Creospace brand is built on the passions we have for service, quality and people. We’ve been privileged to work with (note not ‘for’ but with) some wonderful clients over the years. Over 90% of our work comes from word of mouth referrals, if Google search fell apart tomorrow it wouldn’t affect us in the slightest. However if our brand fell apart, our standards slip and our clients become unhappy we’ve lost the lot!

What are your passions? Let us know by leaving a comment below.