Case Study

After graduating from University, local entrepreneur, Ethan Savage was finding it difficult to secure work as he did not have the required years of experience that employers were looking for. Not letting this stop him from pursuing his passion for design, he set up his own business in August 2019 and the rest is history.

ES Visuals offers a range of design services including logo design, video production, social media page creation and the development of a range of marketing collateral for any social accounts that a business might want to advertise with. His customers are from a range of differing industries and backgrounds, but most of them are sole traders looking to display their products in the best light.

“I feel my key strength is having the ability to turn a vision into a reality, I take a very personal approach to my designs, making sure to fully realise any ideas that the client may have and as a result of this, the end product is always the closest possible version of the client’s original dream”.

Since starting the business Ethan has faced many challenges, the biggest of which is learning that the business should be reflective of him as a person. “I want to make people want to work with me”. If you try too hard to be someone else, you will attract clients who are not compatible with you as a person, and you’ll constantly feel pressured to act like someone you’re not”.

To help him on his entrepreneurial journey, Ethan availed of support under Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s Business Start Up Coaching Programme. He was assigned a coach from Antrim Enterprise Agency, who he described was like “getting a friend to look at things for me and give me advice on how to make them better”.
When Ethan started out, he had no idea how to market anything. He had a wide range of great skills in the areas of design, production, and management, but in terms of getting his voice heard and his business recognised, he did not know where to start and this is where the programme helped him achieve his business goals.

“Some of the biggest achievements to date for me is Antrim Credit Union used one of my designs on a billboard and producing a really great ad video for Lifestyle Fitness”

Ethan is keen to further develop his business and provide businesses with design solutions that are right for them and for him.