6 years of White Boxing

Six years ago, I started out on my own as a data analysis contractor with the idea of dividing my time between project work, surfing and holidays!

Day one with a make shift desk whilst packing up my flat, as I left for a Bali surf trip and then the UK for 3 months!

In those three months I had a handful of contracts, which soon ran to completion and left me with very little to do once I returned. Surf? Why not.

Some friends were lovely enough to put me up in their spare bedroom for a few months while I got my head into the business development side of the job!

Finding new clients for data analysis project work has always been a love/hate relationship. Most projects take a long time to start, so when they do, you find that they all kick off at the same time, creating an intense working phase, which will inevitably finish with you wanting a break from it all! Luckily, being independent means you can do just that. And then you start the whole cycle again of finding new work and worrying about the finances slowly disappearing until it kicks off again.

This contractor “buses always come at once” cycle has its advantages but definitely isn’t for the faint hearted! On more than a few occasions I thought about chucking it in for the safety of a full-time role. However, the variety of work and people you meet makes it worthwhile.

The process of taking on employees was one that happened organically. I met Ije at a data science meet up and offered some mentorship. After a few months, it sounded like he was ready to make a change and I had a longer term client with work that I could get him involved with. The practice of a Master & Apprentice actually works pretty well in the contracting sphere as long as you are willing to take the time to train.

We’ve now grown into a team of five and we still incorporate a mentor and training philosophy, with the team constantly looking for new software, techniques and data to explore as well as working on live projects.

With 90% of startups failing, I feel lucky to still be running a company after 6 years, especially in the midst of a pandemic and global recession. Perhaps because we really do follow the transparency part of our White Box philosophy but for whatever reason, I’m looking forward to what the next 4 years have to offer as a decade of tenure is definitely one to celebrate!

If you’d like help with understanding how best to use your data, then please get in touch.