Kaizo is an independent PR firm specialising in two areas – B2B technology PR and health and wellness. It has a fee income of about £3m and employs 30 people.
Steph and Rhodri Harries bought the business in 2011 and it’s an interesting story because fairly swiftly after that they lost three of their biggest clients.
The firm is now thriving again and clients include the likes of Avast, Pure Storage and Snap Logic.
Here’s a summary of what Steph and I discussed:
[00:02:25] How Steph and the board of Kaizo bought the business from the Argyle Group in 2011.
[00:04:44] How post the deal to buy the business in 2011 – the worst case scenario happened and Kaizo lost it's three biggest clients.
[00:05:11] How in 2011 Kaizo lost £1m in revenue, which at the time was 50% of the business.
[00:05:56] Why Kaizo had to go back into a startup mentality.
[00:09:07] How having money in the bank was "ultimately our (Kaizo's) saviour.”
[00:12:54] How Kaizo use Net Promoter Scores as an important KPI to gauge the success of the business.
[00:15:43] Why Steph's time at Firefly influenced the rest of her career.
[00:19:11] Why Steph found her entrepreneurialism constricted in a big agency environment.
[00:20:54] How Steph deliberately built her career to include big and small agency experience.
[00:23:16] Why a consultancy business requires constant juggling.
[00:28:02] How successful training is often about you having the will and desire to take what you've learned and implement it.
[00:29:07] Why a consultancy businesses should not be about doing more stuff for clients...
[00:31:36] How and why Kaizo decided to specialise in just two sectors: Technology and Health and Wellness, for the last 15 or so years.
[00:35:18] A discussion on how Kaizo has focused on being a profitable, solid PR business over the last 10 years, rather than prioritising high levels of growth.
[00:44:43] Why it's important for PR to counteract the Fake News agenda and help rebuild the public's trust in the media.
[00:47:21] Why flexible working must be led by the senior team.
[00:50:26] Why Steph's personal mantra is "don't be a dick."
[00:51:20] How Kaizo has invested in one of its senior team to be trained as a mental health first aider.
[00:53:39] How today's PR managers have had to adapt their management style to get the best out of their younger employees.