"Don't mention the economy"

Image: frankfarm

We had a discussion about recession, downturn and the likely affects on digital agencies a while ago when the sub-prime thing kicked off.

The consensus then was that we'd all be OK :)

The real-world ramifications of those early signs of a changing economy, back then, are now starting to bite.

And I'm now thinking that a 'it won't affect us' or a 'let's not talk ourselves into a downturn' is a non-view, an irresponsible burying-head-in sand and for me personally would be an avoidance of a responsibility that I have as an employer of great people.

From today's FT: 'Dollar plunges to record low'

The dollar plummeted to record lows and the price of gold touched $1,000 on Thursday as retail sales figures confirmed that the US is in recession and concern intensified about spreading distress in the hedge fund sector.

At our board meeting in forty minutes time I am going to suggest that we as a company take a view, and plan for it.

That view will be flexible, it will evolve according to what we see and feel and hear, and we will not allow it to stifle our growth if smart growth (vs. bloat) is possible and sensible.

That view will inform our decision making around people, clients, services we offer, investments we make and whatever happens we definitely won't stop 'marketing'.

Lastly, that view will also affect my personal planning. I've been tempted in recent times by the lure of consumer credit - all friendly and fluffy and 'take it, no please take it' in good times, and somewhat darker, I'd guess, when their (the lenders) situations worsen. I plan to get my financial house in order. And if it never materialises, great. But if it does, I'll be ready.

I better go buy some tinned food and bottled water too, and maybe build an air raid shelter in me back garden.

Comments

[neilperkin]

Wise words, Will. Especially about marketing through a recession. Too bad most organisations don't see the benefits in this.

[Dom Whitehurst]

I totally agree, surely when money is tight people need more encouragement to part with their hard-earned cash than when they're bathing in the stuff.

Are you also advocating slower company growth or no growth for your company, where rapid expansion would leave NM overstretched or unstable?

[Will McInnes]

Good question Dom - I think growth itself is the goal of any business or team, but I think most of the business world is addicted to growth in scale, in size, in turnover and headcount, and also of course growth in profit.

At NixonMcInnes we do think differently about growth - for us we'd like to grow things like:

- quality of the relationships with our clients
- interestingness of the projects we're working on
- type of clients we're working with and their fit with us and our beliefs
- profits per person (so smarter growth rather than bloat)
- the smartness of how we run the business and get things done

I'm really not interested in size for size's sake, and so with the above economy shizzle in mind, I think we'd have to feel really really sure that individual's are going to bring something exceptional to the team, something clients will pay for, or something that allows us to operate the business much more intelligently, before bringing them into the fold.

We don't want to be the biggest team in the world. We want to be the best :)