Business Spotlight - Vivomotion
Sci-art may be a term that may sound unfamiliar to some, but with Dundee being a hotspot for both science and the arts, it may be a term that will continue to gain popularity. Dr Mhairi Towler and her innovative business Vivomotion are certainly leading this drive in bringing together two of Dundee’s most prized fields.
Vivomotion is a science animation production company, based in Dundee. They offer a range of services including 2D and 3D animated graphics for presentations/websites, diagrams for papers and books, 3D printing and everything in between.
Through the medium of animation, science stories are literally brought to life. This allows easy visualisation of scientific concepts that otherwise would not have been seen and understood to the same level
To find out more about Vivomotion, we put a few questions to Mhairi:
Business owner: Dr Mhairi Towler
Date business started: August 2012
Business tel: 07709 939 557
Website: www.vivomotion.co.uk
1. What did you do before you started your business?
I worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at The University of Dundee.
2. What drew you towards your field of business?
I used animation in my lectures to help explain biological processes and decided there was an opportunity to help all scientists communicate what they do using animation.
3. What hurdles and challenges have you faced in getting to the stage you are currently at?
The challenges are mostly finding the time to do all that is required to run a business when you are the one working “on” and “in” the business.
4. How has Elevator and Business Gateway helped you and your business on its journey?
I had business advice from my Business Gateway advisor initially on finance and how to make cash flow projections. For someone who had little experience in this, it was very helpful to map it out. This permitted me then to seek funding from Dundee City Council, which was awarded. Another advisor then gave me a workshop on how to make a sales pitch. There was some excellent advice offered in this forum also. I attended all the free workshops available for starting up a business, on topics such as marketing and book-keeping. These were a fantastic grounding for starting a business.
5. Since starting your business, if you could have done one thing differently, what would that be?
There’s a lot that I have learned, but I would probably try to delegate more tasks instead of trying to do everything myself. I now know that there are a lot of students looking for work placements and they can be extremely helpful to a start-up company, bringing youth, new skills and dynamism into the business.
6. What aspect of your business have you taken the most pride in since you started?
Pride for me comes when I see the client satisfied with the animations we produce and the purpose they are made for being fulfilled. We are also very proud of the many awards we have won over the first 3 years. In November 2015 we received a special commendation from the judges of The Courier Awards in the category of Young Company of the Year.
7. Do you have any entertaining stories or experiences since starting your business, unexpected events, or interesting developments?
It was an unexpected finding that there is such a strong entrepreneurial community in Scotland and it feels exciting to be part of something bigger, especially when you are sitting in your office alone… There is so much to be learned from those more experienced in this area and I have now joined Entrepreneurial Scotland as a Future Leader and am part of
The Scottish Institute for Enterprise Scottish Entrepreneurial Academy. Finally, I am now a member of The Royal Society’s Young Academy Scotland. These are all unexpected outcomes that I never expected when I started a company.
8. Has the business recently secured significant orders, expanded its premises, taken on new staff, received funding, produced something unique, increased exports, etc.?
We have recently been working on our sales process and it is starting to pay off. Since the end of December we have taken on 3 new clients, one is a Start-Up Biotech company based in Aberdeen. It is great to be able to help local companies with their growth plans. Last year however, we had a few International clients in The Netherlands and France. We are also now developing e-books, which will be a new revenue stream for the business.
9. What do you love about running your business? Or the sector you work in?
I love the independence and being my own boss. It is exciting, as every day is different, and you get to meet so many different people from many backgrounds. Learning about the current entrepreneurial ecosystem in Scotland is hugely inspiring.
10. What plans do you have for the future of your business?
We plan to grow the business in terms of turnover and staff and establish an animation studio based in Dundee with a global outlook. Dundee has an international reputation in the life sciences and in the creative industries, and Vivomotion will draw on the current strengths of the city, creating jobs that cross these two sectors in a city that has expertise in both. We will carry on building business within the life science sector locally and internationally through organisations such as BioDundee, The Universities and The James Hutton Institute. Using social media we have already gained new clients and we will continue our marketing strategy using Twitter and Facebook.
We are growing our portfolio of Universities offering our training courses to include others across Scotland and the U.K.
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If you’ve got a business or idea that can fill a service gap or gap in the market, then Elevator & Business Gateway can help.
From a wide range of free workshops, through to supporting you every step of your journey, Elevator & Business Gateway can help you launch your business or service with confidence.
Contact your local office now to find out more:
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