WD: What is the key advice that you would give to a
designer that is thinking about starting his or her own studio?
JH: Be creative
but relevant - for each pitch or portfolio item, have a business case for why
or how your creativity will increase the clients return on investment and not
just look great.
FV: And
concentrate on doing the best work you can do. If you are the lead creative, be
the lead creative – don’t get bogged down in production work. Your time is more
valuable even if given free if you’re producing work that inspires clients.
WD: What prompted you to set up your own agency?
JH: The feeling
that I not only knew where I could take my own career, but where I could take
the industry. It was at a time of my life that I could 'risk all' and put
everything into a new venture, with Felix Velarde as the Entrepreneurial skill
and my creative vision.
FV: I've done
this four times successfully now, the last two with Jason (our previous agency
became the digital arm of Lowe). The key driver was having a vision of how we
felt design for marketing could and should be - and really wanting the freedom
to realise that vision. Doing it for ourselves meant we could concentrate on
high quality without the baggage of projects we didn't want but working for
someone else would have inherited.
WD: Do you think the current business climate is
conducive with setting up a new digital design agency?
JH: Yes - but
there are far more small companies (as a percentage of the whole) than large
agencies than there have been, so clarity for what you do is very important.
FV: If you get it
right - yes. There are very few overheads for a small company, you can be lean
and focused, and operating in a recession will give you skills that will stand
your in good stead once it's over.
WD: Should new digital agencies specialise or offer a
full service?
JH: I believe in
specialists, even if it's just what is seen from the view of a possible client.
Start small within your client's organisation and prove your worth - then you
can offer your wider set of services. For example, we are famous for our eCRM
expertise, but this encompasses lots of disciplines like email, websites and
social. The platform of real strategic insight into customers has opened all
sorts of doors for us.
FV: Full service
comes with scalable processes, and that makes it almost impossible for a small
agency to compete with an established operation. I agree with Jason - if you
specialise everyone knows what you do, and if a client needs that, they know
who to turn to.
WD: What skills do you wish you had when you started
your studio?
JH: Delegation -
I'm still working on it 16 years later!
FV: I wish I'd
understood Gross Margin Percent - it would have made life an awful lot easier
in the beginning.
WD: What would you have done differently when you set
up your agency?
JH: Nothing -
even the big mistakes have shaped what I do and how I do it today.
FV: I'd have
sought out a mentor sooner. Having an experienced hand to give you advice and
steer you towards opportunity and away from catastrophe, even if it costs a few
grand a year, is well worth it.
