100 rather Decent days…
As we fast approach the end of the year, it is a natural time to stop and reflect. At Decently, we took the time this week to look back on how far we have come since the 6th of September when we hit the submit button on the Companies House website, and just like that ‘Decently Ltd’ was a real thing.
A stunning day on one of our founder check-ins
Here is a bit of an insight into what we have been up to over the first 100 days (well 107 to be exact at the time of writing)…..
Product
Whilst we are clear that our mission at Decently is to create and build products that make peoples lives better - rather than become a design house or agency for hire - then obviously you can’t just miraculously create a product on day 1 and then have people using it on day 2…..these things, especially to be done well, take time.
However, since launch we have been busy laying down our product vision and the initial foundations for a new digital health app in 2022. This time has included:
Co-creation and user led design with clinicians and patients
Conducting a series of Discovery workshops with two local NHS Trusts to explore how we could help clinicians and patients during their recovery and treatment from brain injuries or other neurological conditions.
These sessions have been really crucial for us to build up an understanding of the problems and challenges faced, and ultimately allow us to identify a clear set of clinical needs where a digital health product could make things better. (Solving real problems with better tech is at the heart of what we do!)
We have also been working through all of the learnings, ideas and our own research back at base and developing them into an initial product vision which we will start to design and prototype in the New Year - more on that to come!
We are really pleased to have been accepted onto the Health Matters programme and will be working with Liverpool John Moores University and the Innovation Agency to help shape how we create the product so that we make sure we are building things like evaluation and validation into our innovation from the very start. (We know this will be crucial further down the line when we look to start to scale-up).
More recently we are proud to announce that we have secured funding from the UK Science & Technology Facilities Council to help us create an initial ‘proof of concept’ in the first part of the New Year. Having come through a competitive process to secure the funding this is a great boost of confidence that we are building something important, and practically will allow us to start work on a prototype in the new year, to move forward with our hiring plans and to also be able to work with experts like ORCHA to ensure we are building our first product in the right way.
Much more to come about the product itself in the New Year, but in terms of the rest of the company and the many different aspects of building a start-up, then a few other highlights include:
Hiring
Come join us!
With neither of us (JB or JC) being hands-on designers or developers we always knew the time would come when we need to bring more people onto the Decently journey with us.
That time has arrived and we are excited to see who will become employee #1 in 2022.
We are currently hiring for a UI/UX Designer and whilst we have already had a number of really strong applications then we are happy to still receive applications up until January 5th. So you still have time to apply!
We will also be hiring a number of developer roles (front-end and back-end…..or even fullstack if that is your flavour!) in the springtime so if you want to reach out and introduce yourself then feel free to drop us a line.
Investment
Currently self-funded, it is crucial for us (and every other start-up in the history of start-ups!) to have just as much focus on making our plans sustainable for ourselves, our team and our customers and partners.
A big part of this will be securing the required funding and backing to be able to realise our ambitions.
So far we have been working with a range of fantastic support partners - LCR Finance Hub, Innovate UK Edge, FORM, Seed Legals to create our business plan and pitch for investment. It is so amazing to have this network of organisations around us and effectively creating a much bigger ‘team’ to help push Decently forwards. Thanks to everyone who has provided advice, support, feedback and challenge so far!
Creating our business plan has allowed us to kick-off conversations with a number of interested parties - which whilst we can’t say too much at the moment, then watch this space in the New Year for some exciting announcements!
Thanks also to Clockwise (for giving us a creative, flexible space to call home - it is so nice being near the water and absorbing the history of such an iconic building in the heart of the city) and DSG (our appointed accountant partners for the journey ahead).
Founder habits and good intentions
Whatever advice your read, listen to, watch or otherwise take onboard about setting goals and achieving them then we often talk about the importance of building Decently from day one with strong foundations - these include:
Laying down plans for the future
Our founder check-ins - once a month we take some time out to reflect on where we are going, what we need to do more of, things we need to change and ultimately check-in around the purpose and the mission of what Decently is all about. This is a crucial time for us as founders to remain aligned and clear on where we want to go. Without clear goals a company can easily lose its way.
A transparent approach to having a clear plan - we use a number of digital tools and techniques to then create a clear plan for what needs to be done to hit our goals. This creates both accountability and focus and stops us just becoming ‘busy fools’!
Using tools like the the B-Corp framework to think bigger than just ourselves and setting goals for how we want to work with customers, our team, stakeholders but also to think about our impact on the environment and net zero commitments as we start to grow. This probably lends itself to a separate blog post in the future!
Time to recharge and spend time with family
Overall, whilst we know it is very early days and there will no doubt be lots of challenges to overcome, barriers to breakdown and surprises along the way then it feels like we have had a rather Decent first 100 days! Ultimately the foundations we are laying down now will have a big impact on what we want to achieve in the future and we are doing our best to make sure we put our best foot forwards!
For now, we are going to sign-off for a while, have a break and recharge with our families so all that is left to say is to wish everyone a happy, safe and healthy end to the year and look forward to an exciting 2022 ahead for Decently!
All the best, JC & JB
