THE Evening Times continues to shine the spotlight on another of the dozens of new businesses determined to succeed.

They are the future for Glasgow and the west of Scotland's economy and are working hard to achieve success as the UK starts to recover from economic hardship.

Many new businesses are beginning to take off and this column aims to offer advice for potential start-ups.

Each company will answer the same questions about their business and their answers will appear in the Evening Times each week.

This week we highlight Glasgow firm Zude PR.

Who are you?

I am David Sawyer and I run a firm in Pollokshields called Zude PR. It is named after my children Zak and Jude.

What does your business do?

I offer peace of mind public relations to busy, senior business people. Services include media relations, crisis management, content marketing and social media.

Where are you based?

My registered address is Albert House, Albert Drive, Pollokshields. Day to day I can mainly be found at the Digital Enterprise Glasgow hub, next to the BBC's building in Pacific Quay. It is an incubator space to help creative/digital/media start-up companies.

How did you get started?

The four physical things I need are a laptop, a computer tablet, a smartphone and internet access. That means I can be flexible about my location. Before launching my company, I split my time between my home office and coffee shops in Glasgow's West End.

What is your background?

I have worked as a senior PR consultant in Scotland for the past 17 years and have won 11 worldwide awards for clients, including one from the United Nations. Before setting up my company I had spent the last five years heading up the world's biggest public relations consultancy's Glasgow office, working with organisations such as the Energy Saving Trust, Scottish Enterprise and the Glenmorangie company.

What is your top tip?

Make every day a school day and share what you know. Things are different to how they were five years ago. Those that guard their knowledge jealously will not prosper. And share publically, on social media.

Yes, you might help one or two competitors along the way, but you also position yourself as an authority on given topics and the answer to most things nowadays is only a Google away, anyway.

How long has your business been running?

I launched it in early April.

Did anyone help you get started and, if so, how?

Lots of people have helped me with advice, including friends, former colleagues, business acquaintances and family, particularly my wife Rachel. You do not realise exactly how many people you know until you set up your own business.

I have also employed a good accountant and excellent branding expert/web designer.

In terms of public sector support, it probably helped that a lot of my clients had been public sector organisations, so I knew my way around. It was my Business Gateway adviser Bill Cameron who put me in touch with Digital Enterprise Glasgow.

In addition, some of the start-up courses I have attended through Business Gateway have been excellent. Glasgow City Council has also helped.

Contacts:

0141 569 0342

www.zudepr.co.uk