Cinemerse won the Creative and Digital Start-Up of the Year Award, kindly sponsored by DevOps Group. We caught up with them after their win to find out a bit more:
1. How did it feel to win a Wales Start-Up-Award?
We were thrilled beyond belief! There were so many incredible nominees which made winning the award feel even more special. It's amazing to know that we have been recognised for our perseverance, hard work and passion.
We work hard like most business owners, but the nature of our business means we are often working night shifts, in cold difficult environments and to extreme deadlines, so the fact this award has recognised that effort is outstanding.
2. How did you find the experience of the Awards night?
The night of the Awards was amazing. It was a fantastic balance between a relaxed informal atmosphere whilst also having that glitz and glamour that makes an award evening so special. Thank you for the invitation!
3. How do you strive to make a difference in the Welsh business market?
Videography is a highly competitive industry and we believe that the best way to sell out services is to be the best. This is why we always go the extra mile and put 100% into every project. We find that by doing so, recommendations have come easily and by going that extra mile we are essentially paving the way for future work.
We would love to make a difference in the Welsh business market by building our business to a point where we are producing high class Welsh Film and Video content that is recognised globally. Wales offers us a plethora of amazing landscapes and talent, so we think it's important to position the business within Wales to achieve our goals.
4. What are your goals for the next 12 months?
We would like to double our team within the next 12 months and hopefully grow the feature film arm of our business, reaching out for investment into creative Film and TV projects. We are overflowing with fiction ideas and scripts and would love to translate that to the silver screen one day.
5. What is the biggest lesson you have learned in the first year of your start-up business?
I think the biggest lesson we have learnt is that owning a business is about sacrifice and resilience, and you need to be willing to sacrifice long hours, sleep, the financial stability of a regular salary, and persevere through a lot of difficult times to begin with. However, that sacrifice is so rewarding when you are creating something you love, when you are building a business and working for no one but yourself. The harder you work the luckier you get!
6. What one piece of advice would you give to any aspiring entrepreneurs?
Make the leap today! The hardest part we believe is taking those first few steps. If you have an idea for a business, do it. It's a scary time starting a business, but once you do it and as long as you are willing to put your heart and soul into it, you will never look back. Get advice from industry professionals, do your research, find your USP, knock on doors, make phone calls, build your own website, do whatever it takes and you will be so glad you did it.
