Creative industry survey 2013 Benchpress the results...FreeAgent / IRIS OpenBooks KashFlow Other O....
Transcript of Creative industry survey 2013 Benchpress the results...FreeAgent / IRIS OpenBooks KashFlow Other O....
Creative industry survey 2013the results
Benchmark:Workout #2
Benchmarking fo
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Creative Agencies
BENCHPRESSBenchmarking for Creative Companies
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Benchmarking for Creative Companies
Benchmarking for Creative Companies
BENCHPRESSBenchmarking for Creative Companies
Benchmarking fo
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Creative Agencies
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2BenchPreSS | Workout #2 www.thewowcompany.com
Who Completed the surveyThis document contains the results of a nationwide survey of the Creative Industry, conducted in January 2013 by The Wow Company. Thanks to everyone who took part… the results are really rather interesting.
If you were one of the Digital / Interactive agencies that completed our survey, then you’ll want to find out more about what BIMA can do for you:
BIMA is the British Interactive Media Association, with offices in England, Scotland, and Wales, plus regional representatives across the country. BIMA exists to do three key things:
Support and promote the British digital industry
Share knowledge and best practice
Reward great work and encourage the next generation
If you’re not a BIMA member already, you might want to check them out:
http://www.bima.co.uk
Digital / Interactive
Full Service / Integrated Agency
Design
Marketing / Advertising
TV / Film / Video
Designer
PR
Social Media
Artist
Free spirit (none of the above)
22.8%
22.1%
13.4%
7.4%
6.7%
6.0%
4.7%
2.0%
1.3%
13.4%
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Less than 1 year
1-2 years
3-5 years
6-10 years
10 years +
How long have you been running your current business?10.7%
11.4%
24.2%
18.1%
35.6%
£0-£99k
£100K - £249k
£250k - £1m
£1m - £3m
£3m - £10m
£10m+
Turnover band32.9%
14.8%
24.8%
17.4%
7.4%
2.7%
73%<£1MTURNOVER LESS THAN
OF COMPANIES ASKED
TO SEE AN EVENT WHICH CAN HELP YOU INCREASE
GO TO PAGE 10
PROFITS
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2013 – the year of groWth? 88% of you are either bullish or optimistic when looking
ahead to the prospects for 2013.
Bullish
Optimistic
Pessimistic
Worried
What best describes your mood when looking ahead to the prospects for 2013?
11.6%
76.3%
4.7%
7.4%
I am not expecting to increase turnover
We’ll grow by less than 5%
Between 5-10%
Between 11-25%
Between 26-50%
More than 50%
How much do you plan to grow this year?
11.1%
16.3%
17.9%
25.3%
15.3%
14.2%
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Proactively sell to existing customers
New products / services
Strategic alliances with other creative companies
Recruit new expertise
Increase marketing spend
Focus on vertical niche
Increase prices
More overseas work
Increased use of freelancers
White-labelling your offers to others
Joint ventures with clients (swapping fees for equity on certain projects)
Open another office
Using while-label offerings from others
Licence a product that you have created
Merger or acquisition
Diversify into completely unrelated area
Franchise your business
Reduce prices
How are you planning to grow this year?69.5%
55.3%
41.6%
39.5%
32.1%
25.8%
23.7%
21.6%
17.4%
15.3%
13.7%
10.0%
8.9%
7.9%
5.8%
5.3%
2.1%
1.1%
ARE PLANNING TO10%
ANOTHER OFFICE
24%WILL INCREASE
PRIC£SIN 2013
22%WILL BE SOURCING
MORE WORKOVERSEAS
24%WILL INCREASE
PRIC£SIN 2013
22%WILL BE SOURCING
MORE WORKOVERSEAS
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#1 – proaCtively sell to existing Customers
Get a plan in place – the headlines on one page of A4 is a good start. How do you plan on increasing revenues from existing customers?
Set targets for what you want to achieve and get the whole team involved in hitting them. This isn’t just the job of the Account Managers or Sales Team – everyone should be on the lookout for opportunities.
Don’t give away time for free – if you’re asked to do extra work on a project, charge for it. If you don’t value your time, then don’t expect your clients to either.
Grade your clients and make sure you spend more time with the best ones!
Explore your larger clients – If you’re working with blue chip clients, start proactively making contact with other areas of the business. Draw an organisational chart - who else could you get introduced to?
Hold events – This is a great way to connect with clients to share useful & interesting content (as well as explaining all the ways you can help them)
hoW are you planning to groW in 2013?
Use the Wow Cross Selling Matrix to identify untapped opportunities within your client base. Request your copy by e-mailing: [email protected]
Today
2013?
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#2 – neW produCts & serviCesA great way to find out what additional products & services your clients would buy from you is to… ask them! When you survey your clients, as well as finding out how they rate you, ask them what they’d like to buy from you in the future (and how much they’d be willing to pay for it). Market research. Done.
#3 – strategiC allianCes With other Creative CompaniesNearly 50% of creative businesses are planning on doing this in 2013… so what are you waiting for?
Get on the phone and book a few meetings with other creative businesses that you know. Let’s get those creative sparks flying!
hoW are you planning to groW in 2013? continued
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agenCy insight – seCret stats…
PER MONTH
DRAW MORE THAN
£5,000
24%OF AGENCY OWNERS
62%ARE PLANNING ONOF CREATIVE BUSINESSES
ARE EXPECTING TO GROW
RECRUITINGIN 201362%
ARE PLANNING ONOF CREATIVE BUSINESSES
ARE EXPECTING TO GROW
RECRUITINGIN 2013
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What’s holding you baCk?
What is the biggest factor currently restricting your growth?
24.2%
16.8%
13.7%
13.2%
11.6%
4.7%
2.1%
13.7%
Reduced client budgets
Finance / Cashflow
Economy
Finding talent
Reduced number of client projects
Increased competition
Government regulations
Other
TO FIND OUT HOW TO BREAKREAD ON DOWN THESE BARRIERS IN 2013
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breaking doWn the barriers in 2013 continued
reduCed Client budgetsIf you’re feeling the squeeze from clients when it comes to budgets, attend this event to find out how the UK’s fastest-growing creative agencies are overcoming this challenge in 2013:
event…building a super-profitable Creative agenCy
Thursday 16th May (5-8pm) Brettenham House, 2-19 Lancaster Place, London, WC2E 7EG
finanCe/CashfloWIt’s been a long time since small businesses could rely on banks to provide funding. However, the gap left by the traditional lenders has been filled by a myriad of alternative ways of financing your business.
Attend this seminar to get the inside track on the very latest ways to raise finance:
event…raising finanCe... the alternative Way
Wednesday 17th April (5-8pm)Brettenham House, 2-19 Lancaster Place, London, WC2E 7EG
Click here to book your place: www.raising-finance.eventbrite.co.uk
Click here to book your place: www.profitable-agency.eventbrite.co.uk
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let’s talk teChAs well as the stats, this survey also gave us an insight into the technology solutions and providers that you’ll be using in 2013 to drive your business forward. We thought it would be useful to share some of the names that cropped up the most:
BasecampAdobeCloud DropboxGoogle Docs
StreamtimeTwitterXEROWORKFLOW MAX LinkediniPAD Magento
SALESFORCEZendesk
Skype Social Media
BasecampBusinessCloudCMSDropboxGoogle
StreamtimeTracking Software XEROWORKFLOW
Docs INTERNET Linkedin PlatformsiPAD MobileiPhoneProject Management SALESFORCESkypeSocial Media
try something neW todayBeen thinking of implementing any of these solutions into your business? Maybe now is the time to make it happen? Those that made the leap 12 months ago certainly haven’t looked back:
What one pieCe of teChnology has made the biggest differenCe to your business in the past 12 months?
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is your head in the Cloud?If you are one of the 51% of businesses planning on purchasing technology hosted in the cloud in 2013, it’ll be more important than ever to ensure that you’ve chosen the right hosting provider. We recommend you talk to Peer 1 Hosting – we’re always hearing good things about them from our creative clients. Click on the logo below to find out more.
let’s talk teCh continued
All on-premise
Mostly on-premise, with some in the cloud
Mostly in the cloud, with some on-premise
All in the cloud
Is the software you use to run your business...24.4%
45.5%
22.2%
8.0%
On-premise
In the cloud
The technology you purchase in 2013, will it be mostly...
49.4%
50.6%
13BenchPreSS | Workout #2 www.thewowcompany.com
Where did all that profit go?If you are one of the 47% that don’t use project management or time tracking software, you might be missing out on a trick. Our research shows that there is a direct correlation between profitability and using a project management system. So, what do people recommend? Well, agencies are using a number of different systems, but the name mentioned most often (and with the biggest praise) was Streamtime. Find out more about them by clicking on the logo below.
let’s talk teCh continued
Yes
No
Do you use project management or time tracking software?
52.8%
47.2%
THERE IS A DIRECT CORRELATION
AND USING A
PROJECT MANAGEMENTSYSTEM
BETWEEN PROFITABILITY
THERE IS A DIRECT CORRELATION
AND USING A
PROJECT MANAGEMENTSYSTEM
BETWEEN PROFITABILITY
14BenchPreSS | Workout #2 www.thewowcompany.com
using sage or spreadsheets? it’s time to Change...Spreadsheets are great to start with as they are simple to use and don’t cost you anything. But once you become VAT registered then you’ll need something more to help you keep your finger on the financial pulse of your business.
It’s hard to choose from the many accounting software options available, so we thought we’d make it nice and simple for you and recommend one that is LOVED by our creative clients: Xero. And for the 25% of you using Sage, we also think you’ll be amazed by what Xero can do for your business. Click on the logo below to find out what Xero has to offer.
let’s talk teCh continued
What accounting software do you use?
26.5%
22.9%
18.8%
7.1%
5.3%
2.4%
1.2%
15.9%
Sage
Spreadsheets
Xero
I still use paper records
QuickBooks
FreeAgent / IRIS OpenBooks
KashFlow
Other
XERO IS HERO
If you’d like a free 30-minute demo of Xero, e-mail [email protected]
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With thanks toA huge thank you to everyone who completed The Wow Company’s Creative Survey 2013. We hope you found these results useful and that the insights will help your creative business grow even faster in 2013. We’d also like to thank some people who helped spread the word about the survey:
www.bucfe.com www.schoolforcreativestartups.com www.creativeengland.co.uk
CheCk out What’s Coming in future BenChPress rePorts:
PrediCtions – What does the future hold for the creative sector?
intervieWs – With the UK’s top-performing agencies
adviCe – On how to grow quicker & more profitably
stats – Including:
Average profit per agency
Wage spend
Directors’ remuneration
Hourly rates
Growth figures, by size, by geography
Quartile analysis – where do you fit in?
Click here to receive future reports
Benchmarking fo
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Benchmarking for Creative Companies
Benchmarking for Creative Companies
BENCHPRESSBenchmarking for Creative Companies
Benchmarking fo
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Creative Agencies
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