Читать книгу Start & Run a Graphic Design Business - Michael Huggins - Страница 29

The following story gives you another view on partnerships. This story is from Matthew Rogers, who is the principal owner and founder of Primarily Rye, a creative communications and design firm based in Nashville. Rogers and his partner, Nate Hook, speak very positively about partnerships.

“Our business is founded on the partnering principle. It actually gives us our differentiation in the marketplace. We use the partnership model to attract and inspire those who work with us to work hard to attain partnership status,” says Rogers.

Their firm serves clients all over America and currently focuses on the telecom and securities industries. Hook explains, “Although we focus on a couple of specific markets right now, we won’t limit ourselves to only one particular industry.” Their model is a simple one. Gather people together who have a range of design and business expertise and package them together to deliver a highly creative and profitable product for the end user — the client.

“We try not to turn down any project that requires a creative solution,” says Rogers. “We would rather find a solution to the problem by discovering someone who has an expertise in the area. But we don’t want someone who is a ladder climber or an opportunist. We want people who have total buy-in to the vision of this company. Partnerships are a great way to get that buy-in and commitment.”

Their business model is based on performance. In other words, a person needs to prove himself or herself first before they bring him or her on board. In many cases Rogers and Hook bring on specialists in their field to work with them first on a contract basis. But the big difference between their firm and others is that they will often share the profits with those who are critical to the project’s success, in order to determine if the person is a good fit for a partnership in the firm.

“Another advantage of having a partner is having access to someone to talk and vent to. Though it might not seem like a big deal right now, being able to work through your thoughts by sharing with someone is a big deal, especially if you’ve ever been on your own,” says Rogers.

That’s not all. Hook adds, “When you have a partner, you have someone you can trust. Someone who is on the same team as you. You basically get a cheering section and a determined designer who is motivated to work towards the end goal of the client’s ultimate success. What you do benefits them, and vice versa. So there is more openness to sharing ideas and thoughts, and not the typical guardedness that is rampant in the design industry. That means you can bounce ideas off your partner and get a fair and honest response. If the idea has merit and it represents an opportunity for the company as a whole, we will obviously consider it. We don’t shut down the process of sharing ideas — we foster it.”

When asked about the challenges of partnerships, Rogers says, “The biggest one is the process it takes to find the right partner. Finding a good partner who is compatible with you, your work ethic, and your corporate vision is not an easy thing to do. It can take months and sometimes up to a year to find the right person.” Rogers says that trust is a paramount concern when looking for a partner and that can be extremely challenging. “You need to trust that person implicitly,” says Rogers. “To do that, you need to invest time, money, and energy. Take this step lightly, or rush the process and you could end up with more problems than you solve.”