| In today's business world, it's no longer the big fish | | | | are ones that are not trapped in cubicles, hustling |
| that eats the small fish; it's the fast fish that eats | | | | through traffic, burning 30-40 hours and hundreds |
| the slow fish. | | | | of dollars a month in commuting to a fixed place |
| In the same way the information revolution has | | | | to do work that can be done anywhere. The fact |
| changed how customers and market share are | | | | is, happy employees do better work, particularly |
| won, it has also reshaped the old systems that | | | | the ones responsible for great creative work. |
| once governed how companies operate and how | | | | Moreover, work systems based on having |
| people work. The future of business is more | | | | everyone in a centralized office all day are terribly |
| flexible, faster, leaner and smarter. | | | | inefficient. To see this, you have to look beyond |
| This is not just about adopting a telecommuting | | | | hard costs and expenditures and consider the |
| policy or forgoing the purchase of that expensive | | | | man hours wasted on meetings, scheduling, water |
| copier. It's about changing how business is done, | | | | cooler talk, Web surfing - the list goes on and on. |
| both in philosophy and in execution. | | | | Replacing the physical office environment are |
| The penalty of clinging to old business practices is | | | | proven virtual office management and |
| losing clients that no longer can justify bills with | | | | collaboration systems like Basecamp, video |
| unneeded overhead baked into them. As leaner | | | | conferencing, cloud computing and mobile Internet |
| and smarter companies emerge, the old | | | | connectivity. Most importantly, the philosophy |
| juggernauts who are slow to change are quickly | | | | behind the work is based on maximizing project |
| dying. | | | | development efficiencies rather than filling up a |
| Marketing agencies | | | | 40-hour work week simply for the sake of |
| At the top of the scale of corporate bloat are | | | | adhering to convention. |
| marketing and advertising agencies. While not all | | | | 3. Utilities |
| industries can shed their physical offices and adopt | | | | From security systems, electricity, heating and A |
| a virtual model, the dominance of digital marketing | | | | C to cleaning and facility repairs, the auxiliary |
| coupled with the very nature of marketing's | | | | costs of maintaining a facility can be |
| day-to-day business operations afford these | | | | extraordinary. This is an expense that virtual |
| agencies a clear-cut path to modern efficiency. | | | | companies leave behind and don't pass on to their |
| However, in reality, few have changed. The | | | | clients. |
| majority of marketing firms hang on to these old | | | | 4. Landline phone systems |
| systems of operations, passing on the burden of | | | | In an age where business is a 24-hour, anywhere |
| their expenses to their clients. | | | | and everywhere proposition, corporate phone |
| Why? Most find changing their methods of | | | | systems are an enormous waste. Everyone has a |
| operations to be just as hard as adapting to | | | | cell phone, and most working professionals carry |
| today's Web culture and the new rules of doing | | | | smartphones. For many, the superfluous office |
| business. Too much has changed too quickly. In | | | | phone collects dust, and voicemail systems are |
| clinging to old methods - even those of its own | | | | rarely used. In a time when most households are |
| self-promotion - the traditional marketing firm still | | | | shedding the costs of landlines in favor of more |
| maintains an expensive posture to attract its | | | | flexible and leaner mobile options, many |
| clients with their lavish offices and costly travel. | | | | businesses still lag behind. |
| These companies force work into physical | | | | Agencies that continue to operate from a physical |
| locations, perpetuating the punching of clocks and | | | | facility must pay to maintain and upgrade |
| shuffling of paper, while carrying years of old | | | | expensive landline systems, adding yet more |
| business operations in the form of debt, all of | | | | extraneous dollars per hour to their clients' bills. |
| which must ultimately be paid for by the client. | | | | 5. Office furnishings |
| There's a reason why marketing companies are | | | | Expensive offices, conference room tables, desks, |
| dying left and right, beyond becoming irrelevant in | | | | chairs, bathrooms, kitchens, interior decoration and |
| the digital age. Today's clients no longer accept | | | | even trophy cases displaying purchased accolades |
| invoices inflated by bloated operations, particularly | | | | are omitted from the overhead costs of all virtual |
| when virtual companies can do more at a fraction | | | | companies. |
| of the cost. | | | | 6. Computing infrastructure and LANs |
| The rise of the virtual company | | | | So many companies still keep gobs of file and |
| It took time for companies like Amazon, Netflix | | | | printer servers along with data backup systems, |
| and Apple to revolutionize and overtake industries | | | | server redundancies, uninterrupted power supplies, |
| that were once based in bricks and mortar. | | | | routers, switches, cabling, internal e-mail systems - |
| Replacing the physical form was a challenge in | | | | the list goes on. |
| reconditioning the mind of the consumer and in | | | | For virtual companies, the idea of a LAN (local |
| reshaping traditional systems, such as fulfillment, | | | | area network) has been replaced by cloud |
| customer service and exception handling. | | | | computing, with Web-based service providers, |
| These initial obstacles were quickly overcome as | | | | project management, collaboration systems, and |
| consumers realized the advantage of lower prices | | | | applications. These systems are accessible from |
| by way of lower overhead, mutually beneficial | | | | anywhere in the world, offer true collaboration |
| partnerships and geographical barriers being torn | | | | with anyone and are always backed up and |
| down and giving way to an expanded market. | | | | protected. |
| Today, that same virtual model that started | | | | What's more, project management in the virtual |
| strong in the retail sector is being adopted | | | | space allows for new and innovative work habits |
| throughout all applicable industries. As a result, | | | | that promote speed, efficiency and flexibility in |
| virtual companies are growing at record pace. | | | | ways old companies employing old work systems |
| 2010 will see the emergence of the virtual | | | | simply cannot keep pace with. |
| company in full force. The convergence of | | | | 7. Paper |
| technology, communication, new service-based | | | | So many of the slow, dying companies we see |
| companies and systems that meet the demands | | | | today still live in an office with paper circulating all |
| of companies that no longer carry the burden of | | | | the time. Believe it or not, nowhere is this more |
| bloated operations will allow more companies to | | | | true than at your local marketing agency. Also |
| work smarter, faster and from anywhere. | | | | included in this paper-filled world are printers, |
| As virtual companies continue to refine their | | | | copiers, fax machines, shredders and a |
| systems and clients continue to realize the value | | | | never-ending variety of supplies, all in support of |
| in receiving better service for less money, the | | | | paper trails that lead from the office to the client |
| virtual company will gain strength and overtake | | | | and back again before ending in nicely |
| the outmoded traditional business models. This not | | | | climate-controlled filing cabinets. |
| only improves efficiencies but tears down | | | | Virtual companies exist in a paperless world, and |
| geographical barriers to markets and talent. | | | | the best work circles around those that stay in a |
| As we enter the age of the virtual company, let's | | | | paper-driven office. The benefits of going (and |
| review ten things you pay for from traditional | | | | staying) completely digital are immense. Digital |
| marketing agencies: | | | | documents are searchable, sharable, versioned, |
| 1. Facilities | | | | more secure and viewable on nearly any device. |
| Office space is typically the largest expense on | | | | The more files that are kept, used and cataloged |
| the books for marketing agencies. These | | | | in digital format, the more efficiencies will increase |
| obligations range from rented space in a shared | | | | overall. |
| office park to owning (and owing for) real estate, | | | | 8. Support staff and personnel |
| freestanding buildings and parking facilities. | | | | When agencies pay for an office, furnishings, |
| Virtual marketing companies shed this expense | | | | phone systems, computing infrastructure and |
| because the nature of the business simply doesn't | | | | everything in between, they also require additional |
| require it anymore. Marketing is digital, and print is | | | | personnel, time and resources to support those |
| dying. All the infrastructure that was once housed | | | | systems, including office managers, receptionists, |
| in a physical location is now replaced by a range | | | | IT staff, cleaning crews, landscapers and security, |
| of new digital services. Communication is | | | | to name a few. Thus, these already excessive |
| conducted through e-mail, mobile devices, video | | | | expenses are further exacerbated and passed on |
| conferencing and client dashboards rather than | | | | to the client. |
| on-site meetings and client lunches, the costs of | | | | 9. Restricted geographical barriers |
| which are ultimately passed back to the client. | | | | If there's one thing the Internet has brought to |
| The marketplace demands geographic barriers be | | | | the economy, it's the expanded marketplace. The |
| removed to hire, collaborate and partner with the | | | | business systems of virtual companies are not |
| best talent in the industry. The virtual company's | | | | only set up to take on clients without most of |
| employees work remotely within a virtual space | | | | the additional expenses suffered by traditional |
| that accomplishes anything that a physical location | | | | companies but to hire the best talent available |
| provides and more. They are mobile and available | | | | anywhere. |
| at a moment's notice to meet with clients. Even | | | | Truth is, many marketing agencies are restricted |
| remote offices, meeting spaces and presentation | | | | to their local markets. While these firms would in |
| rooms can be rented by the day or hour, as | | | | theory jump on a plane to take on a client nearly |
| needed, so as not to waste money on a fixed | | | | anywhere, most find in practice that only local |
| building that sits there to house all the bloated | | | | clients are cost-effective given the traditional |
| systems and conventions the traditional marketing | | | | systems still employed. |
| company clings to. | | | | 10. Debt |
| 2. On-site employees and physical work systems | | | | The result of all of this expense in a world that is |
| For many office-based companies, the days of | | | | quickly shifting to leaner and smarter operations is |
| having people gathered in a building to work is | | | | that this much of the excess is carried forward in |
| gone. For these businesses, the act of keeping | | | | debt that comes at a premium paid to a bank in |
| people around was just another form of time | | | | interest. That ongoing obligation is passed to |
| card punching, rooted in old systems founded on | | | | clients along with the cost of all other |
| the demand for people to be present and | | | | inefficiencies. |
| available to coworkers and customers from 9 to | | | | Virtual companies that start fresh, using smart, |
| 5. | | | | lean and flexible systems of operation don't carry |
| Virtual companies don't operate according to fixed | | | | years of bad investments in outmoded, expensive |
| 9-to-5 schedules. Instead, their systems and | | | | systems on their backs. In fact, as traditional |
| employees are faster, more flexible, working | | | | marketing agencies continue to lose clients and |
| within tighter deadlines and using new, more | | | | market share to these more adept modern firms, |
| robust project management conventions. | | | | the additional debt taken on to stay alive will |
| Telecommuting is more prevalent today than | | | | eventually lead to the extinction of the slow, |
| ever, for reasons that go beyond avoiding the | | | | bloated traditional marketing company as we |
| cost of expensive office space. Happy employees | | | | know it. |