New offices!
In my last post we were just about to move office, well that has happened and I’m now sitting here with a splendid view of the river Foss and York Minster.
Our new office is fitted with marble work surfaces and we’ve just bought all new (and very comfortable) leather chairs. The office is really spacious and I’ve also invested in five new PCs. We’ve found that productivity has increased by at least 100%, as things actually work. We have access to an IT team, which makes things easier if you have a problem.
In the old office we had screwdriver, nails, hammer and other tools on hand just in case there was any breakdowns of any PCs. You become rather crafty when you start out.
In the early days I got a lot of my office furniture and equipment from Freecycle, and when we moved into the new office I made sure we passed it all on. I gave away
everything, including the old PCs, to new businesses, and people just starting out.
The business is undergoing a lot of developments at the moment, so our new facilities are just what we needed to get the ball rolling even faster! We’ve just secured distribution with WHSmith. So from the next issue we’ll be in 110 WHSmith high-street shops, plus 80 Borders stores, which makes Aesthetica Magazine available anywhere in the UK and Ireland.
All of this means that we’re turning into a much bigger player in the UK arts publishing industry, which is ultimate goal. Although it looks like this is on its way to being achieved I am not finished by any means. I have a lot of work to do and it’s non-stop and continuing.
It feels like things are getting easier, both with the business and in terms of actually having a computer that works and six phone lines in the office! A lot of the stress that I had last year has been alleviated. I feel like there are a lot more opportunities opening up for the publication, it’s becoming a lot easier to secure the interviews and obtain content that I want.
It takes a long time to prove yourself. Aesthetica was A5 and my hobby, which I started while I was finishing my MA. After I graduated, I became a teacher and worked on the publication at night and on weekends. It took me a year and a half to make the business professional and to turn Aesthetica into a nationally distributed A4 glossy arts publication. We still have our ups and downs, but it’s all coming together.
