Starting lean
Octree was not our first idea, but rather the second. The first being Thyme, an app connecting volunteers and events (following us you'll have the opportunity to hear about it during this 2017 year). We've been working on it for a few years now. Over time, from two active people on the project we found ourselves at six, but with one concern: a lack of time and funding to sustain it.
The idea of Octree came to us. The complementary nature of our team allows us to realize any type of project, from websites to virtual reality applications, it seemed obvious to us. So Octree was born and today it allows us to continue working together on our clients' exciting projects, while keeping Thyme moving forward.
However, the financial problem opposed to the desire to create a quality agency remains. Here's a real-life experience of what we did to make Octree what it is today.
Divide the loads
For the creation of a limited liability company (in Switzerland) a minimum capital contribution of CHF 20'000 is required.
As there are many of us, we were able to reduce the individual costs. After a careful calculation we increased the founding capital by CHF 400, in order to have a multiple of six and to divide the amount equally.
Feedback:
There is no need to try to bring the sum in kind, the inventory by notary only increases the expenses of creation.
To accompany you throughout the process of creating a company, startup.ch seduces by its very attractive prices. However, you need to have the right questions to ask, as their follow-up is less personalized than elsewhere.
Do it yourself
We quickly found an ideal location near the center, in Les Acacias, Geneva. Its only drawback: it needed a major renovation. So we cleaned it up and gave it a good paint job. For 400 CHF and a few days of work, we had premises like new.
Feedback:
Don't underestimate the time it takes to "do it yourself". The right balance between price, quality and time is not easy to manage, but is extremely important. Not rushing into things and taking time for decisions helped us take a step back.
Example: we wanted to make beautiful tables. In the end we bought some IKEA. Why did we do this?
The prices are unbeatable, the furniture is easy to assemble and for a start the quality is acceptable.
We didn't have strong furniture making skills, the construction would have taken us too long.
The raw material alone would have cost us more.
Barter
It was important for us to have a neat graphic identity and therefore realized by a professional. Problem however: creating a visual identity can be quite expensive.
We therefore made a barter of service; an identity against hours of development and advice on a future digital project.
Feedback:
Bartering has a double advantage, especially at the beginning of a business:
It does not cost money, but only time.
It contributes to the construction of a solid network. Bartering is like doing a favor for a friend (even if it is formalized here), so the business relationship is much more human.
Roommate
Apart from salaries, rent is the most important expense we have.
So why not share this expense by sharing a house like many people do today? It's an opportunity we seized. We currently share our premises with a graphic designer (Mathilde Veuthey).
Feedback:
It is beneficial to find a person with a profession that is complementary to one's field of activity. The work atmosphere is better and it allows you to broaden your knowledge by keeping an eye on what is being done in other sectors. It is also an opportunity to create a privileged partnership.
Conclusion
In our case, Octree is helping to fund Thyme and we had to find our own ways to launch it. To achieve our goal, we didn't come up with a single, magical solution, but several small ones. Some things worked because the context was right.
In addition to providing a means of funding for Thyme, Octree also brings us the satisfaction of working together on exciting projects, while offering us the opportunity to consolidate and perfect our team.
