Spotlight Series: William Ferreira
Legacy Club shines a light on some of our members to see what makes them and their business tick.
We spoke to William Ferreira, Founder of Social Buff.
Please tell us a little bit about you the person (not you the business owner): I’m a 26-year-old entrepreneur currently based in London. I was born in Taiwan and spent the majority of my childhood living in Asia, the Netherlands and then the UK. Due to being an ex-pat, I attend boarding school in the UK from the age of 13, here I developed a passion for the arts and sport. Rugby was my first aspiration for a career, I played to a fairly high standard and had prospects with a premiership academy, but due to injury had to choose another career path.
I found a love for film and storytelling, which led me to attend the Brighton Film School where I trained as a Director. Whilst studying I looked to expand my knowledge in the creative industry where I worked in a branding agency as a freelancer. As a way to make extra money, I saw the opportunity to connect my network of creatives with brands and this developed into an agency.
During my second year of film school, I was balancing my studies with building an agency, I used to attend film school three days a week and then work on the agency the other five days.
My co-founder and I decided to set up shop in Bournemouth and during my summer break from university we were able to build the agency from a small collective of freelancers to a 12-man full-time team, this then gave me the financial stability to not return to university and focus on the business full-time.
We gained a lot of traction within our first year and we're fortunate to work with some amazing brands such as Nike, Deliveroo and Jaegermeister. We gained recognition from the likes of Forbes, the Daily Mail and Virgin StartUp where I was invited to become an ambassador and mentor. Here I found a passion for public speaking, working with like-minded entrepreneurs and developing new ideas for potential ventures. I sold the agency in 2018 and took the time to work as a consultant, advising startups in business development, marketing and fundraising. During this time I split my time between Amsterdam and London, adopting a remote lifestyle.
During my time working with startups, I saw an opportunity in e-commerce, as brands were looking to invest in direct-to-consumer models. This led me to launch Social Buff, a performance marketing agency for DTC brands.
Describe your business in less than 30 words: Social Buff is a performance agency for direct-to-consumer brands. We partner with entrepreneurs and investors to build new ventures or work with existing brands to help them transform and scale. We offer an end-to-end solution, our in-house services include brand development, e-commerce solutions, paid advertising, social media marketing and content creation. We also have a third-party network that offers funding solutions, product manufacturing, logistics and fulfilment.
What industry or sector does your business fall in to?: FMCG & Tech
What did you do before you started your business?: I studied film at the Brighton Film School and worked as an account manager / business development manager at multiple agencies.
What have been the biggest struggles that you have encountered, and what did you do to overcome them?: Building a business always has a range of barriers to overcome, in my first venture it was understanding the fundamentals of running a business e.g. business management, finances, sales. I had a good understanding of people and that's how I was able to create opportunities, whether that's for talent or the brands we serve. To develop my skills as a good business owner, I invested my time in working with mentors, self-development and looking to always learn to improve.
My second venture was slightly different, I had more knowledge and with that more choice. I struggled for a long time to commit to one idea and with that, I saw a lot of failures. For over a year I jumped between ideas and really had to work on my ability to focus and execute on an idea.
Have you had any external investment to date?: No
What has been the impact of COVID-19 on your business and did you make any changes, or pivots?: Similar to a lot of businesses, COVID-19 had a negative effect on our P&L at the start. However, we were in a very unique position as we mainly focused on the e-commerce market. We anticipated a shift in market demand, but at the time we only offered a small fraction of the services we offer now.
We made the decision to reach out to our network of freelancers and curate a new service offering that accommodated a lot of the requirements businesses needed to adapt to the new normal. We opened our doors to free consultancy for anyone looking for advice and offered multiple solutions to help businesses survive the initial lockdown.
Because of this, we made long-term relationships that stuck with us and eventually contributed to the significant growth of the agency.
Do you struggle with, or have you found any of the following barriers to your business growth?: Access to markets
Do you have any business hero's, if so, who are they?: I have never looked up to one Individual, there are a handful of successful entrepreneurs that have influenced me in some way. However I would give credit to my parents, both are self-made, entrepreneurs and have always taught me the meaning of hard work, dedication and persistence. They've been there through the highs and lows, always giving me guidance when needed.
Financial Rewards or Business Awards?: Financial Rewards
What was the last book you read?: Will by Will Smith
Tell us something totally unique about your business: As an agency we offer a hybrid model to allow brands to work with us in different ways e.g. retainer based, profit share or equity.
Finally, please tell us what we can look forward to with your business in the next 12 months.: As we evolve from initially being a social media agency to a full-service DTC agency, we'll be investing in a total rebrand of the business incorporating additional arms to the business that will complement the agency. Alongside this, we aim to double the team in size and potentially raise capital to help accelerate our growth.
