It’s times like these when being psychic is a mixed blessing.
Let me explain. You see, we run a hybrid media studio called Psychic Bunny, which we founded as a new kind of production company with an innovative business model. From 2004, we grew steadily. And then the financial meltdown happened.
The reasons are familiar. We grew too fast, the company lacked clear direction, and we trusted that work would continue to appear the way it had in the past. We knew we were in trouble by September, but the nose dive continued through December.
Here’s the catch–that was 2007, not 2008. As I write this, we’re not only in recovery but celebrating the best year we’ve had.
Herewith are a few lessons learned from a Bunny that, true to namesake, witnessed near disaster a year ahead of the rest.
First: a creative company is still a business, but use it to your advantage and think creatively. We work in film, TV, new media, interactive, and for a diverse range of clients. Being multidisciplinary produces exceptional work, but it also saved us. When the WGA strikes happened we switched focus and were able to keep working.
We’re also scalable. We rent localized rooms on the same floor of a high-rise. When times are bad, we can give up a room or two without having to shut down and relocate.
Likewise, we keep a very small permanent staff, bringing on freelance contractors for a big job. We hire top-dollar people only for the time when they’re needed without draining the coffers while talented people sit idle waiting for the next job. Normally this translates into low overhead, a savings we pass on to clients. When it got bad, this became also a major reason we were able to last long enough recover from the dive.
Take the time to refocus. We spent a month distilling what we were about and what made us unique, and then we rebuilt the business to exploit that. The best tool for this is brutal honesty. Self-criticism is hard for creatives, but it’s a crucial survival skill. If that’s not enough incentive, we’re also turning out far superior product as a result of this new honesty.
Finally, we were struck by genuine anger when we read recently about the Big Three taking private jets to Washington to ask for a bailout. The mindset that executives are beyond reproach is what got us into this mess.
The problem starts and stops with management. Lead by example.
On the brink of closing, the Bunny’s four founders were the ones who were up all night on graphics workstations and writing spec pitches and trying for meetings. When we ran out of money, our employees got paid on time. We didn’t.
As I said at the beginning, being clairvoyant rabbits is a mixed blessing. It’s terrible that what we went through was a preview of a global disaster, but at the same time, it gave us the foresight to change things just in time.
Our unique company ethos deserves a lot of credit, but we also believe this signals a paradigm shift for the industry. And as for what that new paradigm might be, well, the Bunny’s been spending a lot of time with the crystal ball lately.
Jesse Vigil is a creative partner at Psychic Bunny, Los Angeles.
