Business School alumnus James Morgenstern (BA Hons Industrial Economics 2011), has won Hertfordshire’s Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award in recognition of the incredible success his company Ideal Insight has achieved over the past 12 months.
At the age of 21, James started Ideal Insight from his bedroom after approaching Google with an idea to produce 360º virtual tours with Google Street View technology. The idea for starting the company came during James’ travels throughout South America where he and a friend exchanged virtual tours and photography, for accommodation and day-trips – if it could work in the Amazon, it could work anywhere!
Three and half years later, Ideal Insight is now the UK’s official contractor to Google for the production, development and marketing of 360º Google Virtual Tours which brings Google Street View ‘off the street’ and ‘inside businesses’, enabling companies to showcase themselves as potential customers search online. The company also boasts many of the nation’s leading brands and venues as clients including John Lewis, Virgin Active, Topshop, Rolex, The Olympic Park and the British Film Institute.
18 months ago, James also launched Ideal Insight’s commercial photography and video service, providing businesses with stunning imagery, tailored to their brand at a fraction of the price large agencies charge. Having conducted more than 1600 photoshoots to date, with over a 99% rate of client satisfaction, Ideal Insight is now one of the foremost market leaders for business photography and video production, carving a unique reputation for delivering quality service and imagery to businesses in a professional, hassle-free and inspiring manner.
With a county population of over 1.1 million people, The Hertfordshire Business Awards (HBA’s) is one of the UK’s most prestigious business awards, and notoriously hard to win! With over 130 entries, the judges were overwhelming impressed with James and had no doubt that his forecast of achieving revenues of £10million in 4 years time can be realised.
Judge Mark Stevens, Head of Sales and Business Development, KPMG (Northern Home Counties), remarked: “Approaching Google with an idea is one thing, taking it and building a profitable enterprise is a completely different and far more difficult thing to do. James has done both and with a huge amount of success. When you listen to James talk about his future strategies there is no doubt that they are original and achievable given his leadership and the quality team he has around him.”
Upon winning the award, James remarked, “It’s really humbling to have even been nominated, and winning the award is the icing on the cake to round off an incredible year. When I started the company, I had over £30,000 of student debt so with no start-up capital, I just started selling to businesses by knocking ‘door to door’. Three years later, it’s surreal to see the business operate across the UK, Europe and the Far East with many of the world’s leading brands.”
“Giving up everything to start Ideal Insight was a huge risk and has required countless sacrifices in every part of my life, so to win an award which recognises this dedication really means a great deal to me!”
On a personal level, James has had to overcome a severe stammer which made selling to ‘cold leads’ door-to-door a phenomenal challenge! He still works hard to control his stammer, however James’ entrepreneurial spirit refuses to let it get in his way!
Moving from selling sweets from his blazer at St Clement Danes School to running a confectionary distribution business whilst at The University of Nottingham, it is clear the ‘conventional career path’ was never really an option for him. Commenting on the part the University played, James said: “As a proud alumni of Nottingham University Business School, I have no hesitation in saying that the skills and knowledge learnt from my Industrial Economics degree provided a fantastic foundation to build a business from.
"I started the business just a few months after graduating, and found the management, accounting and economics knowledge vital in the early days of starting up. The University really helped foster my inquisitive and questioning mind-set which continues to help in evaluating difficult decisions on a daily basis. Whilst at Nottingham, I was also an active member of the Nottingham Entrepreneurs Society and helped run James Caan’s Blinds In A Box competition. This experience allowed me to learn some soft skills of managing a team, as well as providing an extra confidence to start my own venture”
Ideal Insight has exciting plans for growth over the next 12 months. The company is very shortly relocating to a state of the art studio three times its existing size in the Watford Business Park, and has an active recruitment drive planned throughout the New Year.
The company operates a unique collaborative and networking open door policy - actively encouraging photographers, account managers and all aspiring creatives to come and use the space to work in for themselves. Ideal Insight is forecast to double in size with strong growth sustained from loyal customers and ever more businesses demanding great photography, video and 360º content.
Visit the Ideal Insight website
Watch a virtual tour of the London Aquatics Centre
Watch a virtual tour of The Gherkin
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