How do you scale your business, from 2 to 20 and beyond? A creative company's approach: Part 1

The question of scalability in the business space, especially the start-up environment is a daunting task for creatives. Whether you are a start-up that has 5 people or 500, business structures must be in place, and you must be committed to trying things and failing early on.

In our industry, there are so many talented designers and web programmers out there, each with his or her dream of being their own boss. And while the freelance community supports this methodology well, building your business from being a designer in the living room, to becoming a business owner that manages multiple facets of the service offerings, client requests, budgets, payroll and so on, is not an easy task.

One of the most critical facets of building a creative shop that can scale is ensuring that no matter what structure is in place, the staff can be flexible within their job descriptions. In other words, team members must wear many hats at a small firm, and so having a team backing you up that can not only serve many roles, but also can take on new responsibilities through promotion and other benefits, is absolutely critical for scalability's success. As a small business, if you cannot promote those from within, you can never scale up with any certainty that as the owner you won't be micromanaging everyone, every day.

In addition to the ingredients of the structure, i.e. the employees, business operations and thought leadership, the structure itself must scale or be flexible enough to allow for new positions to be adopted as the firm grows from a smaller shop into a more mature creative machine.

Over the years here at Killswitch we have tried different structures. Some have included managers, some have not. Some give employees equal input on many facets of a project, or an operational problem. Some include project managers or in other scenarios, development managers that manage different aspects of the operational and development portions of a project. And over the years we have grown into a model that works for our level of firm and clientele.

But there is still always a lot of room for improvement.

And there should be with any small business, not just a creative firm. The most important thing to remember if you are a new creative starting out, and looking to build your shop up, is not to worry about the things that are not going to be with you tomorrow. Concentrate on the big picture items, and that should serve you well to ensure the details of your client's project are being taken care of.

For the back story on how Killswitch grew, I would recommend reading this article first, and then coming back to this one, as it offers a more clear back-drop for what I am talking about here.

Below I have outlined the most important things I have learned over the years in scaling a creative business, from getting it off the ground to maintaining it, and everything in between.

1. When you first start out, you have to understand that you will make mistakes. If you are a creative person, you probably do not have a business background, so from the start, be comfortable with the fact that you're probably not going to just step on your own toes, but you may at times, step on a few clients' toes as well. The most important thing you can know when you first start is that you must learn from these mistakes the very first time you make them.

2. Your business never gets big enough, and you never get busy enough to ignore the work that is being sent out. Even at a firm of 10 or 15 people, work can squeak out that the owner or managing partner never sees, especially when there is more than one owner. Control the flow of outbound information, design, and anything else that will impact your brand. This point is especially important in an early growth stage company. Work that is not up to par early on can have a worse impact than many think. Some of those early client connections will be the ones that bridge you to your next project and next tier of success.

3. Work, work, work. If you expect only to do good design work and be successful, you've got another thing coming. Designers are a dime-a-dozen these days. At Killswitch, we receive between 3 and 4 resumes per day from creatives. Clients have so many options for their projects, and so it is important that the design strategy and execution not only be good, but that you distinguish yourself from the rest. This could be a service that you offer, in addition to design. It could be the way you manage a client, or it could even be the thought leadership you employ if you are a slightly larger company. The bottom line is that your work is never enough in the small business space. You should always have to offer more.

4. As your business grows, your bank account should too. Just because you are a designer, and you now have a studio with employees, payroll, deadlines, and all the other things that come along with this, doesn't mean you should be living like you were in college. Quality of life, when you are a small business owner, comes with a lot of stress, but should also come with plenty of rewards if you are doing things right. This is a topic that is overlooked a lot in this industry. The saying goes that if you do something you love, the income and quality of life that you desire will follow. Well, that is just not true. You must decide where you want to be, and how you want to live and work towards those goals, whether they are financial, or a mix, it doesn't matter. Just don't forget to think about this as you grow your business and client base.

5. Think about your employees first and your clients second. This statement might sound a bit off, but in many circumstances, you must consider the impact a project has on your talent, especially in this industry. Cultivating a small business is as much about building a talent pool as it is building a client base. Killswitch was fortunate early on to land some big accounts, and while those have lead us to where we stand today in many regards, there are things that would be done differently now when it comes to employee impact and so on. Creative firms will lose some great talent no matter how well you manage your employee morale, but you should try to make sure it is never because they are burnt out on a project or a client. Staffing and other strategies can be used to ensure that employees don't get burnt out on one client or project, and I would recommend using everything in your arsenal to ensure this does not happen

6. When your company is more established, and you have operating income and the freedom to make a great hire, do it, and do not hesitate. More importantly, when you hire someone, make sure they are not just qualified for your position, but are better at what they do than you are. While being a small business owner and creative professional can make it hard to hire someone more talented or experienced than you are, this strategy will never let you down. By surrounding yourself with great talent, you will see your business grow quickly.

7. Secondary to the point above, and my concluding point... put the power in the hands of your staff. Allowing your staff to make the recommendations and to have a voice is a very critical practice, especially at a smaller, more collaborative studio. At the end of the day you might be surprised at how much better the outcome is for your client. The real power here, is that as your staff become more active in the business and critical decisions, the easier it will be for you to scale up and hire more team members.

Many of these points help contribute to the base that allows you to scale. Once the base is in place, read Part 2 for specific strategies to execute that will help you succeed in scaling up

Feel free to email me through our general email address if you have any questions or need help figuring out how to get things off the ground with your new venture.

Born in Barcelona, but currently living in Madrid, Oscar Gimenez is an extremely talented illustrator who has worked for a broad range of clients including Adobe, Audi, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Schweppes, TGV France and Zara. Gimenez's works have been exhibited internationally and featured in several publications, such as Big Book of Fashion Illustration: A Sourcebook of Contemporary Illustration, Essential Fashion Illustration: Color and Medium, and What is Illustration?

With that said, it brings us immense pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with Oscar and provide a glimpse into his background, his inspirations, and just what makes him tick.

www.oscargimenez.com

Your father and uncle were both artists, but for years, you refused to follow in their footsteps and went on to study languages. At what point did you start to become interested in pursuing illustration for a living?

When I realized the job I was doing made me completely miserable. By then, and that'll be about 8 years ago, I was working as a language teacher, a job I thought would bring me stability and comfort. I was wrong. The work we do takes so much time and energy off of our lives that it's worth at least trying to do what makes us happy. So I decided to risk it and give it a go. It was hard at the beginning (and it still is sometimes) but I still believe it was worth it.

Did growing up in a creative family influence your art in any way?

It definitely has. In a way, and although being very young when I was exposed to that atmosphere, it taught me some valuable do's and don'ts. Be as professional as possible, even when you are starting. Avoid working nights whenever possible. Learn to say no. Save up (still pending). Be bold. Work to live.

Let's briefly talk about inspiration.

Inspiration comes with work. At least in my case. I love working on commission. I know others don't, but I like facing new challenges all the time, being put to the test. I find it very stimulating.

What music are you listening to these days?

Music is essential when I'm working. Lately I've been mostly listening to The Phenomenal Handclap band, The XX, Bill Withers, Crystal Castles, Koop, The Horrrors, M83, Team9 and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Your work spans so many industries, from music to fashion to film to corporate. Are there particular industries you like illustrating for most?

Right now I really like doing music illustration and want to do more. It's just so creative. Recently the Canadian band, Creature, asked me to do some t-shirt designs for them, and I'm loving it. Doing some more film stuff would be great as well. I used to be quite keen on fashion work but I got bored with it at the end.

Do you keep a sketchbook?

I don't... shame on me. Truth is I don't like drawing in my spare time. My regular work takes already enough of my time.

Do you feel the projects that give you the most creative freedom wind up being the most successful, or do you like having some guidelines in place?

As I mentioned before, I don't mind being directed at all. If a client gives you both guidelines and creative freedom, that can add up to resulting in a very successful project. They give you the exposure and you can show your best.

You were commissioned to illustrate scenes for an online animation about the Audi Q5. What was that like, creating all of these illustrated elements and then having them all come to life? Tell us about that process.

It was the first time my work was to be animated and I was thrilled. I worked closely with an animation studio. They would give me a detailed storyboard of all the scenarios, elements and moves and I would draw all of them separately. I had to be very careful with keeping everything coherent though. We would do one scene at a time and then move on to the next one. It was a tough, very intense process.

In your artistic career to date, what would you say has been the most challenging experience for you? And which has been the most rewarding?

Probably the animation job I just told you about. I ended up doing three different animations in three different styles all located in different cities of the world. It required a lot of documentation and a whole lot of dedication.
The most rewarding, I hope, will be one I'm doing now. I'm working on a series of music illustrations based on concerts I'm attending together with a journalist from a Spanish TV channel. He writes the reviews and I illustrate them. Thanks to them, I got a commission for Rolling Stone magazine and the Canadian band I told you about. 
I hope it will all bring a lot more of this type of work.

What's in store for you in 2010? Exciting projects? Travels? Anything?

Hopefully more and well-paid challenges! I recently moved from Barcelona to Madrid and that was enough excitement for a while. I do expect to travel to Argentina and NY within this year.

Illustration is a highly competitive industry. What words of advice would you give to anyone thinking about illustrating for a living?

To me, it's a combination of dedication and talent. If you're talented and are willing to work hard for it, you're half way there. Be persistent but also realistic. And don't be envious, it might just be you are not trying hard enough.

One final question... from The Proust Questionnaire: What is your favorite motto?

"When you think it's bad, it's probably already been worse."