Winning Awards Gives You Extra Credibility

Entrepreneur: Cheryl Laidlaw

Business name: Reyl Design Group (CeCe Digital, London Web Girl, My Medical Website)

Industry: Website design and digital marketing

Business location: London

You recently won Gold in the Online Business of the Year category in the SME London Business Awards. Does winning awards boost the success of your business?

Yes, it really does give you credibility. When I’m designing someone’s website I always ask if they’ve won any awards because that award badge is a trust signal that I can put on their website. It makes them stand out as a leader in their field. We all want to be the go-to expert, but you need the credentials to back it up.

People do comment on my awards badges. They think I must be good because I’ve won awards and I know for a fact I’ve got work as a result. I’ve also discovered that some corporate clients are required to employ a certain number of women to tick their diversity boxes, so winning at the Businesswomen Awards definitely helps as these big companies go out and see who has won awards in these categories.

How does the process work? Do you nominate yourself?

Yes, you either get nominated or you can nominate yourself. You answer some questions and then it’s all sent to the judges so there’s no votes or no payment involved.

Winning awards hasn’t come easy to me. My business is now in its 16th year and I’ve only just won my first gold. I’ve won four silvers before this, so I’ve really had to try and try and try again.

In 2024 I won Best Businesswoman in STEM at the Best Businesswomen Awards. I also won the Rising Star in the digital category of the WeAreTheCity Awards, 2020.

You’ve been in business for 16 years and it sounds like you’ve gone from strength to strength. What’s the secret of your success?

Networking. I always say to people to get out there, talk to people, join groups, get memberships, join members’ clubs – that’s how I grew my business. I was in my first job as a junior designer at a web agency when my manager asked me to go along to a BNI networking event. I met some great people, and realised that I was the only one who was employed. I started to get invited to other events and after about a year of this I found the confidence to set up on my own.

I was a member of the AllBright women’s members club for years, as well as the Institute of Directors (IOD) and The Athena Network, and I’ve networked at events with EAGB and Sister Snog. I now run my own networking group called Work the Room, where we meet four times per year.

Obviously you can make connections online, but there’s nothing like a face-to-face meeting. All the networking that I’ve done has set me up so that when I’m on LinkedIn or other social networks, I’m connected with all the people that I met, and they all remember me.

» MORE: Find what your customers really want and give them more of it

Have you carved out a particular niche for yourself?

Your whole business life you get told you should niche, but I didn’t take much notice. Then, in 2019, I sort of fell into it. I designed a few medical websites and realised that clinicians often wouldn’t shop around because they were so time poor. I could see that people were googling things like ‘medical web design’ and ‘healthcare web design’, so I decided that I was going to take advantage and built My Medical Website showing my expertise in that area.

Now I would say that 70% of my clients are doctors, and that’s partly because my SEO is really good and clinicians love the fact that I specialise in medical websites. I run this alongside London Web Girl, which I created in 2015 when personal branding became a big deal. I keep that going because it’s still number one in SEO for ‘female web designer’. I also have CeCe Digital, which is my luxury digital marketing agency. This has attracted some really high-end businesses. So I’ve got more than one niche, but really it’s just about marketing myself from a different position.

» MORE: Temp staff aren’t a stop gap, they’re growth insurance

Do you run all of these as separate companies?

No, although they all have separate websites they’re not separate companies. I’m registered as a sole trader and my trading name is Reyl Design Group. I have quarterly meetings with my accountant and we’ve agreed that there hasn’t been a good reason for me to change to a limited company. I pay a lot of tax and VAT, but the admin would increase if I became a limited company. I’d outsource all of that to my accountant so my costs would double, for no real benefit other than separating myself financially from my business. I’ve never had any issues with payments in 16 years, so I won’t change things unless I need to.

» COMPARE: Best sole trader business accounts

What do you think is the most challenging aspect of running your own business, and do you have any advice for other small business owners?

I would say that the things I worry about now are exactly the same things that I worried about when I first started out: when am I going to get my next job? I think all business owners can relate to that, can’t they? I don’t have a retainer so I’m forever in sales mode.

My main worry is probably accounts, and I’d say it took me at least ten years to get my head around accounting. There’s absolutely no way on earth that I would have done my accounts myself, so I got an accountant very early on. The first thing I say to people who are starting a business is ‘get an accountant.’ They always say they can’t afford it, but you can – you have to. It should be your first, and most important, expense.

» MORE: Do I need an accountant for my small business?

Image Credit: Cheryl Laidlaw