An interest in adventure computer games took Graham Smith on an unexpected quest to form a niche tech company. His business has since developed pioneering website plugins for companies all over the world.
After 23 years serving in the army, Graham was ready for a fresh challenge. He initially became a maths teacher but soon grew disillusioned with the education profession and forged a new career in technical authoring.
While writing was “more lucrative and a lot less stressful ” than teaching, Graham’s true calling was yet to be discovered. He began playing adventure computer games in his spare time and soon started writing guides aimed at improving a player's skill.
“I enjoy playing adventure games so I started writing walkthroughs, which taught me how to code. I became more proficient and began building websites for others. Then I discovered WordPress, theme creation and plugins. My life now revolves around custom plugins, which is great fun,” Graham said.
Graham went into business more than 15 years ago with no investment, aside from the cost of a new laptop. Aerin is Graham’s all-encompassing website design, advice and plugin development company. His plugins focus on making comparisons and are mainly used by finance businesses.
The core of the business is building free website plugins, which can be found on WordPress and Google. The plugins all have upgrade options, which brings in a “useful passive income”, but come with limitations. As such, Graham builds custom plugins for clients all over the world.
“Most clients have some sort of financial business; banks, lenders, loan companies and similar. They come to me because they need calculators and comparison plugins for their website. There are very few people in the world doing quite what I do,” Graham said.
“I sort of just fell into this niche. It started with an application form plugin that needed a calculator. I then built a calculator without the application form and uploaded it to WordPress. And it just grew from there,” he added.
To combat this, he dedicates a lot of time to talking with new clients about their project to understand their needs. Not only does this lead to better results, Graham explained, this in-depth approach often leads to better relationships.
“Clients often don’t know what they want other than a vague idea about calculating or comparing something but have no idea as to how the outputs are calculated or compared,” Graham said.
“But I always try to talk to new clients about their project so I understand what they want. Taking time to discuss and deliver what they want often means repeat work and sometimes referrals.”
He said: “Stop saying ‘yes’ and start saying ‘no’. If you can’t or don’t want to do something, just don’t do it.”
These days, Graham believes the forums are an important source of advice for anyone, no matter how small the problem is.
Find out more about Fisicx and Aerin by following @fisicx on the forum.
After 23 years serving in the army, Graham was ready for a fresh challenge. He initially became a maths teacher but soon grew disillusioned with the education profession and forged a new career in technical authoring.
While writing was “more lucrative and a lot less stressful ” than teaching, Graham’s true calling was yet to be discovered. He began playing adventure computer games in his spare time and soon started writing guides aimed at improving a player's skill.
“I enjoy playing adventure games so I started writing walkthroughs, which taught me how to code. I became more proficient and began building websites for others. Then I discovered WordPress, theme creation and plugins. My life now revolves around custom plugins, which is great fun,” Graham said.
Graham went into business more than 15 years ago with no investment, aside from the cost of a new laptop. Aerin is Graham’s all-encompassing website design, advice and plugin development company. His plugins focus on making comparisons and are mainly used by finance businesses.
Fall into a niche
A pearl of wisdom in business is to find your niche. However, for Graham, the process happened naturally – he simply “fell into” his niche.The core of the business is building free website plugins, which can be found on WordPress and Google. The plugins all have upgrade options, which brings in a “useful passive income”, but come with limitations. As such, Graham builds custom plugins for clients all over the world.
“Most clients have some sort of financial business; banks, lenders, loan companies and similar. They come to me because they need calculators and comparison plugins for their website. There are very few people in the world doing quite what I do,” Graham said.
“I sort of just fell into this niche. It started with an application form plugin that needed a calculator. I then built a calculator without the application form and uploaded it to WordPress. And it just grew from there,” he added.
Overcoming business challenges
The biggest day-to-day challenge the business faces is getting clear information from clients ahead of projects. Companies often only have a “vague idea” of what they want, Graham said.To combat this, he dedicates a lot of time to talking with new clients about their project to understand their needs. Not only does this lead to better results, Graham explained, this in-depth approach often leads to better relationships.
“Clients often don’t know what they want other than a vague idea about calculating or comparing something but have no idea as to how the outputs are calculated or compared,” Graham said.
“But I always try to talk to new clients about their project so I understand what they want. Taking time to discuss and deliver what they want often means repeat work and sometimes referrals.”
Stop saying “yes”
For Graham, it’s important that business leaders learn to say “no” instead of agreeing to every work offer that comes along.He said: “Stop saying ‘yes’ and start saying ‘no’. If you can’t or don’t want to do something, just don’t do it.”
The value of being a trusted UKBF member
Graham (or @fisicx as he’s known on the forum) is a well-established member of the UKBF community. He joined 16 years ago to get a website review and has been a regular contributor ever since.These days, Graham believes the forums are an important source of advice for anyone, no matter how small the problem is.
Find out more about Fisicx and Aerin by following @fisicx on the forum.
