Hub and Spoke
The Hub and Spoke Business Model
Keyclicks is a UK based creative design agency that works on a ‘hub and spoke’ business model. Such working arrangements are sometimes called ‘creative hubs’, ‘creative networks’, ‘creative clusters’ or perhaps ‘creative collaborations’.
The Idea
The idea behind our business model is simple.
The central ‘hub’ is made up of a small team of employed business professionals which includes, project managers and administrators whilst the creative design and development aspect of our business (the ‘spokes’) is delivered through independent and talented creative professionals who are experts in their own disciplines of design, web development, marketing or video production.
The whole package is held together by the ‘rim’ of the wheel which is the proven infrastructure, working practices and quality control procedures built up over a number of years by Keyclicks. Invoicing and project management is controlled through the ‘hub’ to give the client a ‘one stop-shop’ point of contact thus presenting a unified service delivery and direct contact to our designers and developers throughout the duration of their project.
Ultimately our clients benefit from such an arrangement because the formula offers a greater degree of working and creative flexibility for each individual project, in that we only involve a specific creative person (and the subsequent cost of that person) on a project as and when they are needed according to the skill-set demanded by the project. This avoids the need to maintain a costly overhead of ‘stand-by’ staff that may not be required for any individual project.
In turn we have found that the arrangement results in an overall lower cost for our clients in comparison to many of the larger agencies that deliver the same level of service and creativity. This is because a larger percentage of our client’s fees are directed towards the creative aspects of their project as and when they are needed and not towards maintaining a large overhead cost of employed staff or offices.
Choosing a ‘Spoke’
We choose the ‘spokes’ of our business very carefully based upon a number of criteria.
More often than not the process is initiated by an introduction following a personal recommendation from someone that we already know and trust; such as an existing client for example, who may have used them for a specific project of their own. Once an intial meeting has been set up if we feel we can work with a person, we require that all our creative professionals hold a minimum level of professional indemnity insurance, must have been trading independently for a least 2 years with a supporting portfolio to back it up and they must be able to supply us with at least 3 client references of their work that we can follow up.
It’s a tough call, but one that we have worked with for a number of years and have found works for both our clients and for us a company, allowing us to remain profitable and debt free throughout our history. This in turn results is a stable business that aims to be around for many a year to service the needs of our clients.
Tags: creative clusters, creative collaborations, creative hubs, creative networks, design agency business models, design and marketing agency business models, hub and spoke business model
