“Know the importance of delegating. Although you may be a ‘Founder’ of a business, you shouldn’t be doing ALL the work, ALL the time.” – Mark Smith

Founder@ Interview

Interview with Mark Smith

“Know the importance of delegating. Although you may be a ‘Founder’ of a business, you shouldn’t be doing ALL the work, ALL the time.” – Mark Smith

Today we feature Mark Smith, the founder at Double Up Social. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.

Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
My name is Mark Smith and I am the Founder of Double Up Social. Growing up with restaurateurs for parents, I have always been deeply rooted in the world of hospitality.

After working both client and agency sides in the world of marketing, I saw a trend of marketing agencies and content creators often working against each other, and not side-by-side. Instead, I believed that social strategy & content creation should go hand-in-hand. What good is an effective social strategy without the compelling creativity to deliver the message? And what good is an eye-catching photo without a well-researched social strategy?

In 2018, I founded Double Up Social to help restaurants & hospitality brands with their digital marketing and content, bringing their requirements under one roof.

A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?

I started Double Up Social when I was 21. Whilst I was studying my degree in Digital Advertising, I was doing lots of freelance work and internships with big names such as Guinness World Records and leading London Advertising Agency AMV BBDO. This allowed me to build up contacts and the repeat clientele to launch Double Up Social straight after finishing university.

Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?

Double Up Social handles all things digital, including strategy development, day-to-day social media management, PPC & influencer management, content creation and even pr & web design! Whilst we’re happy to work with anyone, our speciality really lies in the hospitality and F&B industries.

Due to the nature of our business, we often work remotely and meet our clients onsite or via conference calls to discuss their needs. We have clients dotted all over the UK and the USA.

What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?

From doing freelance work and working agency and client side. When I began in the industry, you traditionally had specialist marketing agencies and specialist content creators. There was often little overlap, with many brands focusing on strategy and putting content on the back-burner, or getting great photos with no real strategy on how to use them.

I had always thought that the best marketing campaigns were a combination of a great strategy and killer creative – so I wanted to bring both aspects under one roof to provide an all-in-one solution.

Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?

As a Founder, my biggest issue has been finding that work-life balance. Due to the nature of our industry, there’s always work to be done, with hospitality peak engagement times being in out of business hours. This, alongside launching the business remotely from home, meant that I struggled to ‘switch off’.

My biggest lesson has been to set yourself working hours and outsource things you’re not a specialist in. Instead of trying to wear all the hats and do everything yourself, I think it’s imperative for a founder to offload some of their work to other specialists if they want the business to grow.

There are a lot of different marketing tools when it comes to social media. Buffer, Hootsuite, Falcon, Sprout – all essentially offering the same things. If I had known the pros and cons of each platform and their exact price points – it would have saved us a lot of time!

If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?

I’ve always loved the freedom that has come with being an entrepreneur. Although it comes with its fair amount of stress, you really are your own boss – the harder you work, the more you get. My advice to my younger self would be to be confident in your pricing. Although it’s important to build up a portfolio – don’t let anybody steamroll you with the offer of ‘exposure’.

We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?

Due to the nature of our business, being both creative and analytical, we use a lot of additional software. From third-party analytics softwares to track and aggregate all our clients marketing data, to the full Adobe Creative Suite which allows us to create great static and animated content – having and knowing how to use these software is key.

What do you know now that you wished you had known before?

There are a lot of different marketing tools when it comes to social media. Buffer, Hootsuite, Falcon, Sprout – all essentially offering the same things. If I had known the pros and cons of each platform and their exact price points – it would have saved us a lot of time!

What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?

Starting a business in itself is a proud achievement, especially at 21, and I’m proud of myself for doing so. Another proud achievement has been when being invited back to the very same university I learnt at, to guest lecture with the opportunity to teach others.

What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?

My eventual goal is freedom. Everyone wants the freedom to do what they choose – with the ability to fly off abroad the next day if they wanted to. My life goal is to be able to have the freedom & flexibility to be spontaneous, ensuring all aspects of the business and our clients are cared for.

To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?

Know the importance of delegating. Although you may be a ‘Founder’ of a business, you shouldn’t be doing ALL the work, ALL the time. When you start you’ll find yourself handling all areas of the business – but it is important that you delegate other areas of the business to specialists, as this is how you will grow and free up time to grow your business.

“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Double Up Social”

To learn more about Double Up Social Visit www.doubleupsocial.com

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