Danielle Homes is a business owner within the IT industry with over 10 years’ experience in sales. During this time, she has achieved over a million sales for her own business and helped over one thousand SME’S build successful revenue streams via their new and improved websites built by Black Nova.
Can you share a brief overview of your career journey and the key milestones that have led you to your current leadership role?
I trained as an accountant after leaving school and achieved my AAT qualifications whilst working. I still take care of the Black Nova Designs books and ensure our cash flow and profits look healthy! I was also horse-mad, and at times I’ve done yard work and riding alongside office jobs to keep horses in my life and bring in some extra money each month! When I met my now husband Kyle, who is the IT brains behind Black Nova Designs, I knew he had a business idea that could work. He had set up the business a few years before that but, despite being a talented developer with a wealth of knowledge about IT, wasn’t sure how to turn that into a business. Together we’ve taken it from a side hustle to employing seven staff full-time, which is just incredible.
What do you believe are the most important qualities or attributes that a successful business leader should possess, and how do you embody them in your leadership style?
My aim is to be as approachable as possible, so that clients feel that they can ask us anything. That’s one of the USPs of Black Nova Designs – we wanted to demystify tech and ensure people can come to us with any question, even if it’s small or they feel silly for asking. No questions are silly! I also make sure that the staff know that they can give their thoughts and input too. Kyle and I wanted to create a business where the staff feel empowered to share their ideas – after all, we hired them because they are good at what they do!
Can you describe a significant challenge or setback you’ve encountered in your career, and how did you overcome it to achieve your goals?
I was a single mum for years, so I can remember what it was like not to have enough money or time and feel on edge all the time. That’s probably why I’m so careful with our financial performance at Black Nova Designs and so protective of my mental wellbeing. I’d also add that, even though I now share childcare with Kyle, the emotional responsibility of taking care of the family still rests so much with me. I know there are no hard and fast rules, and every family is different, but I think lots of women would agree that we tend to be thinking days ahead in terms of meals, sports kit, pick-ups, uniform washing and so on, and that is tough to juggle alongside a business.
I’m very honest about how tough it is to stay on top of everything which I hope helps other people. I don’t see the point in pretending it’s all perfect when it’s not – I forget things, I’m always learning and I get exhausted. But I’ve learnt to delegate to other people, I’ve learnt to separate my business and personal life and I’ve learnt that it’s normal to not have everything under control. That’s been transformative!
In a rapidly changing business landscape, how do you stay informed about industry trends and adapt your strategies to remain competitive?
I’m a member of lots of business-focussed groups – online and in-person – and find that I learn so much from chatting to other members. Kyle tends to keep his finger on the pulse of the latest tech trends, but when it comes to sales and marketing, that’s absolutely my responsibility. I’m aware our customers are from all backgrounds, ages, genders and job roles (from sole traders to people working in marketing or digital transformation in larger businesses) and so, to a point, Black Nova Needs to be visible everywhere. We’re on social media, YouTube, keep our SEO up to date, take the trade stand out to shows, network in person and keep our faces in the press. I keep our strategy as agile as possible whilst allowing long-term goals to steer the ship, and that means we’re ready for new marketing channels and ideas when they appear!
What is your approach to building and leading high-performing teams, and how do you motivate your team members to achieve their best potential?
As I mentioned briefly earlier, Kyle and I want to empower our staff so that they feel they can speak up and share their expertise. Everyone has a different career path and therefore their approach and experience are slightly different. I believe that’s a superpower and means our troubleshooting and ideation is amazing.
How do you balance short-term financial goals with long-term strategic planning for the growth and sustainability of your business?
I’m a little bit obsessed with our cash flow and always make sure that we’re looking well ahead in terms of pipeline and being able to cover our costs and pay staff in the future. We don’t have any investors or grants to fund our development, so I also weave in a budget for developing new services and allowing us to grow. Last year we invested thousands into moving all our hosting to a new UK-based data centre that is 100% powered by green energy. That was a huge move and only possible by us watching the budgets carefully and planning for a long time.
Can you share an example of a major decision you had to make that had a significant impact on your organisation? What was the outcome, and what did you learn from the experience?
We wanted to add another string to our bow in terms of differentiation – something else that would set us apart from our competitors. We already have our approachability, being the face behind a business that’s normally very faceless. So, we thought about what we truly care about at Black Nova. I believe that USPs must be connected with a business’ mission and what its people really do care about and that’s why we chose to ‘go green’. People know that it’s a good idea to limit single-use plastics, drive electric cars, fly less and so on, but the environmental impact of IT isn’t so well-known. The data centres where all websites and apps are hosted and that store data from all sorts of uploads and downloads – emails and messages you read, images and videos you view, files you send…! They use a lot of energy to run and generate a lot of heat which means they need cooling – and that uses more energy. We decided to make that a key USP and that finding green hosting – and THAT meant ring fencing a lot of money to move all our websites over. It was time-consuming, expensive and stressful but we’re so glad we did it. Our customers are so happy that their websites are sustainably hosted and it’s the kind of USP that leads to meaningful and honest marketing.
What role does innovation play in your business strategy, and how do you foster a culture of innovation within your organisation?
As a tech company, it will probably come as no surprise that innovation is key for us. We need to be able to offer our clients the latest tech solutions to their problems and be one step ahead of the average person. Given that we’re a collective of geeks, we’re pretty tuned in to using the latest tech and being open to innovation.
How do you handle ethical dilemmas and make difficult decisions when they arise in your role as a business leader?
I never, ever respond straight away. I think it’s so important to allow yourself to react – even if that means typing out an email or having a good rant – but never directly to the person or situation that’s challenging you. So, if I want to send a snotty email to someone, I’ll write my reply in the heat of the moment and then save it in drafts. Without fail I will delete it or rewrite it totally! For ethical dilemmas I’ll bounce my thoughts off other people. I’m so lucky to have a great network of people I can talk to and find that vocalising my thoughts helps clarify my position, and their perspective helps me too.
Looking to the future, what are your top priorities and goals for your business, and what strategies do you plan to implement to achieve them?
We’re committed to making sure Black Nova Designs is as ‘green’ as possible, and while we’ve made great progress already, as I’ve mentioned before, we won’t rest on our laurels. I’ll be keeping an eye on what else we can do to help ensure we care for the planet as I want to make sure it’s there for our children and the generations after them. We’re also making sure that we’re perfectly placed to serve the increasing digitisation of society. With virtually all services and products now accessible online, there’s a huge demand for websites and therefore website hosting.
http://www.facebook.com/blacknovadesigns
http://www.instagram.com/blacknovadesigns
BlackNovaDesigns (@blacknovadesigns) | TikTok
