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Like many young professional couples living in Dunedin, Mark and Victoria considered taking their careers "up north". Mark was working at the Dunedin College of Education as the Network Manager. Victoria was working as a Network Administrator at Clarke Craw & Partners. They both began to realise that there was not much more room for growth in their current jobs, so they would have to move on if they wanted to move forward. Dunedin is a small city and opportunities for promotion within most companies are limited.
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So they agreed that they would consider moving to Wellington. Wellington was the hub of all things IT, so that was where they would go. But rather than packing up and going, they decided instead to take a holiday there. Just a few days. Just enough to get a feel for the place and see what the job market was like. And so they went. The job market was good, prospects seemed plentiful, recruiters were keen to take them on board, confident that they could be sold. The final evening came and they sat down for their final dinner. Victoria says to Mark "I don't want to live here". Mark looks at Victoria "Neither do I" he replies.
So unlike many young professional couples living in Dunedin, they decided "up north" was not for them, and returned home wondering what they would do. Several weeks later, one lunchtime, Victoria turned to Mark and said "we could go into business..." Mark scoffed at the idea, but listened to Victoria's idea. "You already have a small number of people who ask you to work on their workstations, and I have a background in sales. Between your skills and mine we could build our own IT company." Mark thought about the idea for a few weeks and was convinced. It was a good idea, and they could do a great job.
As so in July 2001, Decision1 was born. They leased premises, Victoria gave up her job and began generating sales while Mark continued working at the Dunedin College of Education. 6 months later they had enough clients to maintain them both full time, so Mark gave up his job and they were truly launched into business.
Like all businesses Decision1 has had its ups and downs. Some years have been better than others, some ideas have been better than others.
The best part of being in business is our clients. We are lucky to have such a diverse range of outgoing clients. Our clients make doing business easy.
In early 2018, Mark passed away suddenly, however Victoria continues to drive Decision1 into the future using Marks passion for IT as a template for the years ahead.
So unlike many young professional couples living in Dunedin, they decided "up north" was not for them, and returned home wondering what they would do. Several weeks later, one lunchtime, Victoria turned to Mark and said "we could go into business..." Mark scoffed at the idea, but listened to Victoria's idea. "You already have a small number of people who ask you to work on their workstations, and I have a background in sales. Between your skills and mine we could build our own IT company." Mark thought about the idea for a few weeks and was convinced. It was a good idea, and they could do a great job.
As so in July 2001, Decision1 was born. They leased premises, Victoria gave up her job and began generating sales while Mark continued working at the Dunedin College of Education. 6 months later they had enough clients to maintain them both full time, so Mark gave up his job and they were truly launched into business.
Like all businesses Decision1 has had its ups and downs. Some years have been better than others, some ideas have been better than others.
The best part of being in business is our clients. We are lucky to have such a diverse range of outgoing clients. Our clients make doing business easy.
In early 2018, Mark passed away suddenly, however Victoria continues to drive Decision1 into the future using Marks passion for IT as a template for the years ahead.