Launch Online was able to make bold business decisions with the support of finance partner, MAP
Paid media agency, Launch Online, has seen the largest growth in its history, doubling in size in just 20 months. The Exeter-based agency is expecting to hit £1 million turnover by 31 August 2021 (double its January 2020 turnover), and in doing so, achieving its 2024 target three years’ early. Favourable market conditions, pivoting its services, employing rather than furloughing staff and having the backing of its agency-focused finance partner, MAP, have allowed Launch Online to surpass its goals.
Jaye Cowle, MD of Launch Online, says, “We started 2020 with seven employees and a turnover of £0.5 million. We now have 13 employees and are on target to reach £1 million turnover by the end of our financial year. This incredible growth wasn’t expected but is due to favourable market conditions and us being able to make the right business decisions when it mattered the most.”
At the start of lockdown, Launch Online saw a drop in business, losing 40 per cent of its clients in just one week. The agency decided to pivot its services and provide UX and CRO services to help customers convert website traffic. It became more of a business support service, helping clients to navigate their way through the crisis and to continue advertising. Soon business started picking-up and the agency began hiring more staff.
“When competitors were furloughing staff, we were employing people”, says Cowle. “We recognised that the market conditions were favourable to digital businesses and wanted to capitalise on this.”
However, Launch Online wouldn’t have been able to keep growing the business and employing more staff during a pandemic, if it didn’t have confidence in the figures. With instant access to up-to-date accounts and cash flow forecasts, together with the ongoing support of MAP’s finance team, Launch Online was able to make bold business decisions.
Cowle says “We were able to sure-up our defences financially, and I had the right information at my fingertips 24 hours a day. This meant that all my energy could be spent on looking after our clients and staff and moving the business forward. We were a small fish in a big pond but we’re now out-performing some of the largest agencies because we were so agile at maximising new business opportunities.”
Having hit its turnover goal ahead of schedule, Launch Online is now busy re-establishing its ambitions in partnership with MAP.
Cowle adds, “It’s so exciting to imagine where Launch Online can be in a few years’ time. We’ve already surpassed our aspirations so the only way is up!”
