Tom founded and has grown a successful SEO agency in the UK, from a one-man operation back in 2010 to a 22-strong team. He has also created VarnFest, the woodland business festival for directors, by directors.
At VarnFest 23, Tom shared his personal journey of development as a leader, describing some of the successes and challenges he faced running a business and finding surprising solutions to stimulate growth after improving his own self-awareness…
A Manager’s Problem – Control or Growth?
Tom Vaughton kicked of VarnFest 2023 with his talk which focused on his story of creating an SEO agency and the choice he needed to make about whether he was pursuing control or growth. Tom explained to the audience that over time, business owners, sooner or later, must make the choice, whether to remain working ‘in’ the business or to adapt to working ‘on’ the business. That choice can impact how and even if, their company grows. Tom shared that he believes there can be a trade-off as a leader, between tight daily control and taking risks to grow.
Tom, like many entrepreneurs, began as a solopreneur with the main aim of carving out a viable living.
“Varn started in 2010, when I moved to Wiltshire with my young family, and I started this one-man band agency. It was a shining new company with no clear plan, except to pay the mortgage. My hope was to demystify SEO for companies.”
Typical of those striking out in business for the first time, Tom explained he had very little in the way of a long-term strategy in place. Whilst today, his company is a leading SEO agency with 22 staff, and two offices in the historic town of Bradford on Avon, the journey to this point was not straightforward. In 2016 the company seemed to hit a proverbial brick wall for growth. The fact the business was plateauing frustrated Tom immensely.
“After a few initial challenges, it was going well enough and we were profitable but from about 2016 to 2020, we were busy but not pushing forward, remaining with about twelve staff and no significant growth. I started to notice that other agencies in our industry were growing quicker and seemed to be doing better than we were. I couldn’t work out why.
It forced me to take time out which wasn’t easy, as there is always something to do, with clients or new pitches. I was frustrated and confused so I paused to figure it out. I started to ask questions to those who were ahead of me in terms of growth, to find out what those business owners were doing differently.”