Jeremy Burbidge drove his business Ticket Media forward by using print technology to sell advertising space on transport tickets.

Where did you get the idea?

We were producing till receipts and I started to develop machinery that could print images on the reverse side. I then came up with the idea of using this technology to sell advertising space on the back of bus tickets.

How is it funded?

For the initial investment in machinery, I got a bank loan of £106,000, which took about five years to pay off. Since then, we’ve always been self-funded. A lot of what we earn goes straight back into the business.

How did you get off the ground?

We approached companies targeting certain demographics, such as the youth market. Our first deal with a local southern firm, and soon after that we got a national promotion for KFC. We do a mixture of regional and national contracts, with around country-wide campaigns a year.

What have you learned?

Don’t expect anyone to do anything for you. If you leave the business alone, things just won’t get done. That attitude has meant that my work-life balance hasn’t been great, but my work has been my life and I’ve always enjoyed what I do.

Where next?

I want to grow the business to five times its current size and retain control over it until that point. After that, I’d be interested in selling to a company that could take the business to the next level.

SmallBusiness.co.uk