In September 2021, Transcendit turns 21 years old. To celebrate, Transcendit are running a charity fundraising event, 21 for 21. We've been chatting to Adam Kuznesof to find out more.
'Because Transcendit is 21 years old this year, we're celebrating by doing 21 of something,' says Adam. 'Like running 21 miles, hiking 21 kilometers, cycling for 21 days; something that you feel you can accomplish that is loosely based around the number 21.'
Adam remembers Transcendit's first day, September 1st 2000, as one which was exciting and nerve-wracking, 'We went into our office in Newburn; myself, Dave Scott, Lee Irving, Tom Tinsley and Dick Davies. We got a call pretty much as we opened, and got a few hours work from that, and then spent the rest of the day getting ourselves organised and staring at the phone.'
'We were nervous about whether anyone would ask us help them or not, and wondering whether we were too small and too unknown to actually get things going,' says Adam. 'We knew we had a team of 5 competent IT engineers, but none of us were sales people, none were business people, we were just making it up as we went along.'
Adam says that they decided that not being involved in sales or business was a strength, 'Our starting point has always been, find out what the customer actually wants, and how we can help them. And that was better than us upselling products and services at clients that weren't appropriate or they didn't want.'
Two or three years into Transcendit, Adam says that he felt like this approach had paid off, 'There was a point when we realised that the phone was ringing, and that we weren't calling anybody, and everyone was calling us. That was the moment when we realised people were just buying our services now, as opposed to us selling them, which is what we wanted.'
'There was an acknowledgement that the business had evolved to a certain state, it had become a more stable thing,' says Adam. 'When you first start a business, it's all on your shoulders. Getting work, and keeping an eye on our finances was very much front and centre to keep the business going.'
'And then we had support customers who were on longer term contracts, we had employed a person, and we all noticed the shift. The business had changed from 5 individuals that worked really well together, to an organisation that could support itself, and our employees. And it's grown from there.'
One aspect of the business that the directors were passionate about was community, 'We wanted Transcendit to be a good business that helped it's employees and their families, and the wider community. And part of that for us was getting involved in fundraising, and supporting the charities that we cared about.'
It's been a difficult year for charities, and Adam is hoping that 21 for 21 will help to raise some money for organisations which are struggling, 'We're hoping that people sponsor our staff, and that the money raised will go to a group of charities that we work with, or charities we've worked with in the past.'
'Community has always been a huge part of our culture at Transcendit, and we're keen to celebrate that, and some fantastic North East charities too.'
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