I’ve spent quite a lot of time talking to entrepreneurs lately, and I’ve heard a similar refrain: flexibility is the key to success in this challenging economy. Here are some examples of flexibility.
One small company spent years only producing and publishing expensive coffee-table books. In the past two years, this market has been steadily shrinking. So the owner expanded his “publishing” business to include content and design for online publishing and DVDs and has expanded from coffee-table books to other kinds of publishing products for a much wider variety of clients. Rather than hiring full-time employees, he has developed a group of reliable contract editors, writers and designers. Reinventing his brand and hiring just the talent he needs is producing slow but steady growth.
Another small firm with expanding work was trying to decide whether to hire full-time employees or contract with talented individuals in different locations who could tackle various projects as they arose. This president chose to contract to allow her to bring in the specific talent she needed for certain projects. With so many tools for working and communicating electronically, this flexible work style is a growing trend. She is competing successfully against larger firms with higher overhead because she keeps her administrative costs low yet achieves the same results.
A stay-at-home-mom with a master’s degree and five children is writing brief articles for an online business publication for extra income; the site is written 100 percent by freelancers. A recent college graduate is updating social media sites for several businesses while waiting for a new job to start in the fall, and plans to continue this work for extra income. An award-winning graphic designer has his own company, but also teams up with a large agency when it bids out significant projects and wants to show depth in the design arena.
A large university is hiring experienced fundraising writers as contractors to do the work previously handled by three full-time employees. In previous years, this work was never contracted outside the university, but a hiring freeze has created a necessity to look for creative solutions. One academic medical center has asked its academic deans to serve in dual roles as administrative vice presidents.
Flex schedules, new markets, four-day work weeks, dual roles, work from home, job sharing, executive contractors, affiliate groups, distributed teams, “virtual offices”… There is no one right way to successfully navigate today’s economy.
Full-time jobs are at a premium, and many companies and organizations are “doing without” for a while, creating enormous pressures on existing staff – and creating an unprecedented depth of available, experienced talent in numerous professional fields.
Until the pressures ease, this economy creates an interesting opportunity for flexible, creative entrepreneurs who are willing to fill in the gaps – and an opportunity for large organizations to seek out nimble partners and fresh perspectives.
