Tell us a bit about your company. 

Code-Switch Consultants was born with the aim to provide researchers with real work experience as research consultants because placements and internships are difficult to come by. We do this by delivering an innovative programme, Full Switch ™ – Research Consultancy Programme where researchers work in multidisciplinary teams to help businesses and organisations solve challenges.

We use the learning we gather, from delivering these consultancy projects, to create impactful courses and project-based workshops to set researchers up for success in their engagements with industry.

What steps did you take to launch and grow your business? 

Before I officially launched my business, I made sure that the product I was going to offer at that time, Full Switch™, was something that my potential customers wanted. I liaised with university decision-makers until I gained the confidence that my product was something they were interested in engaging with and paying for. During the first couple of years of the business, I kept a part-time job. I didn’t quit working straightaway to ensure I had a source of income.

Code-Switch has been growing ever since. In the summer of 2021, we decided to expand our training offer to include shorter courses and have recently launched individual workshops. We now engage around 20 different guest speakers and 7 expert facilitators in our training. We have worked with numerous universities and Doctoral Training Partnerships. We also have a team of researchers who support us with tender applications and delivery of consultancy for businesses and organisations.

What sources of support did you draw upon when launching your business?  

I applied for and won a Flying Starter award from the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre (MEC) at The Alliance Manchester Business School. I used this award to commission the Code-Switch logo and website. I attended multiple business sessions and courses at MEC and signed up for a support scheme from the Manchester Growth Hub where I received mentoring during the early days of my business.

What challenges do you face on a day-to-day basis?

One of the main challenges of running a business, especially a start-up, is to find the right balance between working in your business and on your business and between marketing and delivery. To manage this, I block 1h a day in my calendar to engage in marketing and 2h of deep work first thing in the morning to work on tasks that help the business grow (e.g. developing new products, reviewing strategy, acquiring new knowledge and training). The rest of the day, I spend on operations and service delivery.

The main risk a business can have is not generating revenue. I have managed this risk by diversifying my product and service offer and selling to both businesses (B2B) and customers (B2C). Another risk is not to have the resources to deliver services at a given time. I have managed this by slowly building a team of contractors who support me with training delivery and can step in when needed.

How have you recruited people to your company?

I work with contractors to deliver the training we offer. So far, recruitment has been happening organically, usually after inviting them as guest speakers to some of our events. In this way, I can get a feel for how passionate and engaged they are with their subject expertise.

When it comes to the consultancy side of the business, we hire researchers who we have already trained and worked with as part of our Full Switch™ – Research Consultancy Programme.  

What type of skills and traits are useful for starting your own business/working in a start-up?

I think the skills required to set up or work in a start-up are very similar to those required in academia: resilience, drive, resourcefulness, independent work, creativity, coping with uncertainty, coping with failure, adaptability, being brave and executing plans and projects, etc.