In our regular series, we interview new arrivals at Sussex Innovation about their business, why they joined and their plans for growth. Today Catalyst team member, Kelly chats with Javan Arthur from Jazzy Dream Studio.

Tell me a bit about Jazzy Dream Studio…

We are a creative brand agency. We work with start-ups and all sorts of different size companies. When we work with start-ups, we help them discover their brand in general, for example we can help a small company find their brand position and niche and give their brand an overall definition in terms of the audience that they are after. We create websites, logos and create brand guidelines as well. We also offer packages that help start-up businesses with marketing and digital marketing at an affordable level, as we understand how expensive it can be for them to go to corporate agencies.

What companies are you working with at the moment?

In terms of our larger company clients, we have been working with TONI&GUY, a hairdressing company and we also carry out design work for Bluewater shopping centre.

However, as we work with start-up companies, most of the time they do not have names. We sometimes start with helping them brand their company name. I love working with start-up companies as we are able to grow with them and help them define something new and get stuck in with the creativity. We love to help and give smaller companies a chance to get their foot in the door and not spend hundreds and thousands of pounds at the same time.

What is your biggest success?

Working with TONI&GUY has been the highlight for the company as they are our largest client. We work with other large companies and agencies, but they might not be as well known. It is a big deal as it shows us how far we have come.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Initially our clients were start-ups and we helped them grow to the point they are up to now. Now there has been a bit of a transition and we had to find a methodology to work with larger and more well-known companies, as their demands differ from smaller companies.

Another challenge we face is the fact that my staff and I work remotely with each other. Working together face-to-face at a base would be a lot easier to brainstorm and come together and that is why we joined the Sussex Innovation Centre. We are a small agency ourselves and a lot of our staff work remotely, but hopefully in the coming months, we will be settling down and fine tuning our office at Sussex Innovation.

Why did you decide to join Sussex Innovation Centre?

I joined Sussex Innovation after speaking with Saffron, your Croydon Centre Manager and she advised me on all the things that you guys do. I thought I would love to have an office in a tight knit community with other businesses for moral support. I also think that Sussex Innovation is a good place for start-ups like myself to grow.

What does the future hold?

At the moment, we are going steady with the client list we have but we would like to build our company client network. We are also aiming to give a lot more start-ups a chance to develop their brands and get them out there. Their success, essentially, would be our success, as they grow, we will also grow as a company. So, we mainly want to focus more on start-ups and help them to achieve what they need to achieve without breaking their backs.

Another goal will be to establish our office base at Sussex Innovation and in turn we will then be able to give a lot of creative minds, particularly young creative inexperienced minds, the chance for employment.

And what is your team like at the moment?

Our team are a bunch of young creative individuals. Like I said, a lot of us work remotely, so they’re all keen on getting that office base and settling down but the team are a passionate and talented bunch. I like to hire someone with passion rather than experience.