CASE STUDY – Designed by Dove
Interview: Andrew Wearden, MD Designed by Dove
BACKGROUND:
Designed by Dove – the web design and publishing arm of Dove Architectural Hardware.
Dove Architectural Hardware sells a range of commercial and domestic hardware products to builders and many public sector organisations. The company has operated for six years and has dealt solely within the construction sector; as a result they began to feel the effect of the recession early last year. One of their largest customers was unable to pay a bill and it has taken the company a year to recoup that loss. Dove was experiencing a period of financial hardship but fortunately, an alternative business stream started to emerge.
In an effort to improve the company’s financial situation, Andrew designed Dove’s own website. People liked it so much that they began to approach him to design websites for their own businesses. It was mainly companies within the construction industry to start with and Dove completed five or six websites before deciding to add this service to the portfolio of Dove Architectural Hardware, giving the new work its own brand – Designed by Dove.
Designed by Dove has now designed and published almost 50 websites for a variety of business types. This success has been based solely on word of mouth recommendations with virtually no active marketing. Andrew says: “It was going well but I was quite reluctant to put myself out there as a ‘professional’ website designer because we didn’t have the right equipment.”
He became involved with Business Link where he was introduced to the Derbyshire WellConnected project. He attended one of the campaign’s Roadshows and found out more about how Derbyshire WellConnected could help. That was when he was informed about the ICT makeover competition.
ABOUT THE ICT MAKEOVER:
Prior to the ICT Makeover, the Designed by Dove studio was quite basic and did not have a professional feel to it. The makeover has helped the company significantly by supplying top of the range equipment and back up services, enabling Designed by Dove to look and be more professional.
As part of the makeover Designed by Dove was provided with a large flat screen HD TV for presentations and a high performance laptop with the most up to date web building software – Microsoft Expression Web 2. Andrew describes life before the new kit arrived: “When clients came to the office they would have to sit at my desk, while I leant over them to demonstrate the web mock design. The makeover has meant that we can now display designs professionally, using the flat screen and laptop.”
When Andrew went off site to visit clients he would always have to ask if they had a PC. If they didn’t he would have to take paper print outs of web designs to display the visuals. He now takes the laptop with the upgraded software installed. The latest MS web design – Expression Web 2 software - allows the company to develop stylish, functional websites which are built to modern web standards for outstanding compatibility and accessibility.
The makeover also provided the company with a Small Business Server package. The transformation has been a huge step. They have a proper computer network, giving access at home and client’s offices, as well as the design studio. This allows for better security and performance for the company. Before the makeover, Dove could not afford to invest in the technology required to make the business stand out. So, being successful in the competition has seen a significant change in the processes and productivity of Designed by Dove.
Andrew is enthusiastic: “The equipment and software has really helped to boost our professional credibility, giving us the confidence to attract bigger clients. In fact, since winning the competition, we have seen a significant number of orders from larger, corporate businesses and organisations”. He continues “The server technology has been phenomenal – remote working has completely transformed the way we work because it means that we can give a much better professional service to all our customers.”
