Case Study: Bay & Moor

We asked Andrew from Bay and Moor, a business in Newton Abbot, to share his story.

"My wife and I started our Laser Cutting and Engraving Business six months ago after we sold our last business and moved to Devon. A short time after moving I had problems walking and needed operations on my feet, so as someone who isn’t as mobile as others I started looking for a business where I could sit most of the time.

A hobby of mine has always been pyrography, which is engraving text and images into wood, I started researching the market into personalization which has grown massively in the last few years. So we took the decision to invest in a laser machine for engraving, which is very versatile and can engrave on virtually any material."

• Company Name: Bay & Moor
• Website: www.bayandmoor.co.uk
• Products / Services Offered: Laser Cutting, Engraving, Marking and design service.

What do you enjoy most about your business?

I really enjoy the creative side of my business, designing engraving and making products; we use design software to create bespoke products and work with a wide range of materials.

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?

Due to the versatility of the Laser we can take on work some engravers can’t do. We work with two local companies which provide bespoke urns for ashes as a beautiful reminder for a loved one who has passed away.  There’s an awful lot of pressure to get the work correct first time.

Why have you joined the Growth Support Programme?

After moving to Devon, we had no contacts here so whilst networking has been key for us, we also needed to find a business adviser who has great local knowledge.  I just had a year without any income due to my disability so I contacted Business Info Point (BIP) to see what support there was available for local businesses. My adviser, Jane at BIP has been absolutely instrumental in helping us get our business off the ground in the first 6 months. We are so busy already that I know it was the right thing to do and we’re passionate about driving it forward.

Is the programme proving useful to you?

Every aspect of the 12 hours of support I have had from Jane has helped tremendously. It’s great to step back from the day to day parts of the business to take a look at the overall picture.

We had a digital marketing module with Matt Ballard from Cosmic and we are now working on developing a website for the business-to-consumer marketplace. At the moment, we have a basic website which explains what we do, but an eCommerce website is now being built by a local web developer which will lead to substantial growth for our business.

What are your key goals to achieve following the programme?

Our key goals are to put some focus into the B2B marketplace now. Our business plan was to target the business-to-consumer marketplace as we felt this was where our main demand would come from. But Jane helped us see that there’s a lucrative market in the business-to-business marketplace too.

What's the best piece of business advice you've ever been given?

Believe in what you do and  be persistent and determined. You need to have passion for your product or service as without this you can’t make a business work really well, if at all.

Also create a product or service that is what people want or need, not what you want to sell to them.  I carried out a lot of research before we started Bay and Moor, so I have always been confident that I can offer our target market what they want.  This is also the main reason why I invested in the laser machine.

What do you think are the biggest challenges for the future generation in business?

The biggest challenge is probably raising finance when starting up or developing a new product or service. It’s so hard to get loans from banks these days, and if it wasn’t for the capital from selling our last business we would have struggled to start the business.

A lot of people these days are borrowing through other means to get their businesses off the ground, or starting online businesses that don’t require a large sum of up-front capital.