Small business case study: A DAB hand on the radio waves

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A DAB hand on the radio waves

By Wendy Grossman (Telegraph.co.uk)

Only a few years ago digital radio was a niche market. Now, sales of DAB radios have topped 7m, and millions more listen over the internet.

The platform doesn't matter to Chris Gould, founder of All In Media; his company "provides technology services to radio stations to help them launch non-audio services." One of the benefits of DAB's 1.2 megabit stream is it can deliver data.

"The majority of bits are used for radio spectrum licensed by Ofcom," he says, "but it's just a data application encoded in radio format. Our software uses the rest of the bandwidth."

DAB data services include Dynamic Label, a text service of up to 128 characters that can be updated every few seconds; Intellitext, which stores that content; Journaline, a Teletext-alike service; electronic programme guide; Broadcast Slideshow, which delivers images; and Broadcast Website, which delivers web pages over DAB.

Gould worked for 18 years in the radio industry doing everything from producing audio and programming to studio engineering and digital editing. He provided services to Digital One at the end of the 1990s, when DAB first went live. As development director for Unique Interactive, part of UBC Media Group, he oversaw the development of the group's DAB applications. At the end of 2006, he left.

"I was 34," he says. "I wanted the challenge of setting up and running my own company, and I thought if I didn't do it then I'd never do it. It was one of the bigger decisions I've made in my life to jump and go it alone." As radio is a relatively small community, he couldn't spend months canvassing contacts to test his prospects. "It was a big risk."

He did, however, ask a couple of very close colleagues, "Am I mad?" Their reaction: "Not entirely."

Very quickly, he landed some breathing space in the form of consultancy work advising National Grid Wireless on the data aspects of its bid for the second national commercial multiplex.

Then he met Jason Malaure, a software developer and former chief technical officer for an interactive TV company.

"He's one of the best software developers I've worked with," says Gould. "It's not just his skills as a coder but he understands the business." They began a "test marriage" in mid-2007 with Malaure assisting Gould on a trial of broadcast images for Emap's London stations in mid-2007 on a revenue-share basis.

"It worked well and made some money," says Gould, "and Jason joined as technical director in August 2007. " Without someone he could trust to write software and understand what he was trying to achieve, he says, "I'd have been nowhere."

AIM's revenues come from software licensing and some support fees. Because it supplies its products to stations, the company is only called upon for support if the station's own engineers can't fix the problem.

For the first three months, Gould ploughed all but his costs back into the business, taking no salary. After Malaure joined and the focus changed from consultancy to products, they wrote up a business plan and talked to investors.

However, "We decided that at the time it probably wasn't the right thing because we were starting to generate enough income to fund the growth ourselves. And growing the business that much more quickly wouldn't have helped us very much." They'd have burned through more cash and built more tools, "But we wouldn't have had more revenue." In December 2007, Global Radio, bought their first product. "It was great for us, their having faith in us to be their launch partner." Other clients include Irish national broadcaster RTE and Australia's Austereo - Malaure lives in Australia and runs the development team there.

Gould promotes the company largely by being seen at conferences. "We don't do a huge amount of marketing," he says. "I know a lot of the people I need to know, so it's really just keeping in touch." The main thing, he says: "Delivering good products and good service is what has driven us forward, because then you get word of mouth."

Trust your instinct, and be prepared to say 'no' if a sale isn't in the long-term interests of your business.

Always try to over-deliver on what you've promised to customers...

Get as much advice from friends and colleagues who've already been through this process as you can.

Don't

Over-commit yourself. Stay focussed on the markets and the services you know you can deliver.

Have too many rules. You need to be open-minded and prepared to adapt to changing environments.

Underestimate the importance of customer satisfaction. If your customers are happy with what you've delivered, the chances are they'll be happy to recommend you to others.

Fact file

Name: Chris Gould
Age: 36
Company: All in Media
Founded: January 2007
Startup funds: £10,000
Total staff: 4 full-time, plus distributor in US
Turnover: £100,000
Website: www.thisisaim.com