GUEST BLOG FRIDAY – Reflecting on 15 years: starting a business. PR First, Jim Farrell, Founder | Owner
I asked Jim to share his business story because he’s such a good representation of the word “entreprenuer”. Jim’s business grew and succeeded not because of a structured plan, but because all the right circumstances came together and he forged ahead with tenacity and a vision. Here’s Jim’s story – what’s yours?
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When people asked me how I came to start this business, I tell them, “I’d like to tell you that this was the result of a carefully-executed plan that had been several years in the making.”
Then I tell them what actually happened.
I had worked in the field of public relations for about seven years prior to founding this company, most recently as the Manager of Public Relations at a direct marketing firm. I was one of two people who made up the PR department. My “partner in crime” one day, unexpected, announced that he had decided to strike out on his own, and the management of the company came to me and informed me that they were closing the department, since a one-person department did not seem feasible. They offered me a position as a copywriter, so it wasn’t that I was being “shown the door,” but to stay would have meant going into a field that wasn’t really what I wanted to do.
So, with a couple of weeks to get a lot done, I researched names, found an office, and managed to convince a few clients who I had worked with to come with me, since the company that had employed me no longer planned to continue the PR services.
One of the biggest challenges out of the gate was the issue of business development. Anyone who owns a business always wonders how to attract and retain clients. Of course, we all know that providing good service and results is what ultimately keeps clients with us, but finding them – that’s another matter. Fast forward 15 years, and I’d say that 95% of our clients come from referrals or introductions. In those early days, I sought out networking avenues and joined a BNI group first, then eventually made my way into some independent networking organizations that meet with varying frequency from every other week to once a month.
Prior to my work in PR, I was in the newspaper business, as the editor and publisher of one weekly for nearly ten years, and a second one for the better part of a year. Although I didn’t initially plan to migrate to the field of PR from the newspaper world, the experience proved to be the best training ground and “boot camp” that I could have undertaken, because it gave me the opportunity to be on the receiving end of a great number of outreaches from PR firms. I learned a lot about what to do – and what not to do – in approaching news media, and I have been fortunate to surround myself with like-minded people in our business who have similar backgrounds. We think our media experience makes a difference in how we help companies position themselves.
As our company celebrates its 15th anniversary, we have grown from a company with four or five clients at the outset to 30 regular clients across a wide range of industries. I have never regretted the decision I made in March of 1998 to start this company. I’m very grateful for the clients we call our own and the confidence they show in us. I’m grateful for the chance to help each of them tell their story, and also for the talented people who work with me. As a child, when people asked me “What do you want to be when you grow up” I can’t say that I ever answered, “I want to run my own public relations firm.” But, today, I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.
Jim Farrell PR First 2048 Washington Street Suite 1 Hanover, MA 02339 781-681-6616 Cellular 617-429-7990 Twitter:@jimprfirst