Something I am seeing a lot at the moment is the idea that the system can fix any problem. In the context of what I do for businesses, it centres on people using AI or automated integrations to make sure a task happens and productivity is maximised. I have a…

I have written before about why agencies should prioritise “good enough”, and I have come across it again in a different way. I don’t do paid graphic design anymore, so I was working on a design project with another designer. The designer in question is exceptional at their craft and…

I’ve previously said that most business networking is a waste of time. Week in, week out, broadly the same faces, same cups of tea, same conversations. Golf seems to be the “other” way to network. I like playing, but I’m not very good, so I’m certainly not going to spend…

The real threat from AI, as I see it, is not job replacement, or that it will take over the world. These threats get headlines and therefore woo investors. I think the real threat is already happening and it’s causing damage. I am a fan of AI. Not a mad…

Since moving out of our Farnham office (the owners were selling the building, and I had planned to keep a small office), I have experimented with various places to work remotely. As I have got involved with more projects and businesses, the idea of a static location seems frankly obsolete….

I’ve mentioned before that I would rather have 1,000 businesses pay me £20 than one business pay me £20,000. I absolutely stand by that. Having one or two sources of income is a bit like holding one or two stocks. It will be bumpy and it’s unlikely in the long…

I’ve been using Endole for years. I like to do my due diligence on new clients and collaborators. Having a top-level report on a company is not only really useful, but it’s also, in my opinion, really interesting. As I’ve written before, I like to see the numbers because a…

For years I have said that blogging regularly is the best way to rank for search. And I still believe that to be true, but with the caveat that the way it is being done in most cases, and I’m afraid to say the way I have been doing it…

I’m an ambitious person, and with that comes the desire to scale a business and grow a large team. For years now, I have been running Yazaroo, and on a few occasions I have flirted with the idea of scaling, only to row back into optimisation instead. The best work…

Yazaroo has always been an agency with design at its core. Not surprising since I graduated from art school, but I have always seen it as a defining characteristic of the work we do: design first. Over the course of time, I learned how to dev WordPress, how to manage…

Every time a new technology emerges, people rush to tell me it is the end of my agency. Right now, the supposed existential threat to Yazaroo is AI. The reality is that AI threatens us in exactly the same way Wix and Squarespace did a decade ago, which is to…

I am seeing more business consultants than ever. While I am sure there are good ones out there, I have never encountered one that actually delivered on what they promised. It is interesting to note that the majority share the same origin story: they were running a company, turning over…

Following my previous post on why agencies should prioritise “good enough,” I had a conversation regarding the importance of founders having a “passion” for their work. The argument is that you need to love what you do to survive in the long term. My view is the opposite: the last…

I have been weighing two opposing approaches to business: the pursuit of the “very best” versus the pursuit of the “optimised.” In the creative and agency world, the default setting is to strive for the highest possible standard in every video, design, or build. I’ve decided that for the vast…

In ten years of running agencies and businesses, I’ve seen every model there is. The one that sticks out like a sore thumb, and the one I avoid at all costs, is the “Big Client” trap. Unless you are in a highly specialised manufacturing niche where that’s just the nature…

In 2025, Alex Clarke and I launched Comus. After years of navigating the events industry and seeing how bloated software platforms operate, we realised there was a gap for something that actually worked for the organiser, not just the middleman. What is Comus? Comus is an event management platform built…

I started Yazaroo in 2015 with a bit of help from The Prince’s Trust and a lot of cups of tea. Back then, I was just trying to prove that you could build a digital agency that didn’t rely on fluff and jargon. Ten years later, we’ve moved through offices…

With The Fifth launching soon, and knowing you can’t actually see the platform yet, I wanted to document the “why” behind the brand. I’m not going to bore you with every technical detail. It’s better to let you see it for yourself. But here is some food for thought. Who…

If you look at the “official” way to start a business, it’s all about the pitch deck. You’re supposed to show five-year projections, market analysis, and a bulletproof business plan. But in 2018, when I decided to go into business with Neil Phillipson, I didn’t have a deck. I didn’t…

Of all the things I care about when running a business, productivity is right at the top of the list, second only to cash flow. The two are closely linked. If the cash is flowing, profit can usually be found through productivity. Doing more with less. Running lean. Removing friction….