By Catherine Lang-Cline
When we opened our doors about 10 years ago in Columbus, Ohio, there was really no one else doing what we were doing. Staffing and recruiting had been around for years, but no one had the sole specialization of finding creative talent. Back then, we had a couple of laptops and a fax machine. What we knew best was graphic design, so we started our business finding work for the best graphic designers that we knew.
Not long after that our satisfied clients started to ask for copywriters. So we found copywriters. Then they requested production designers and project managers and we found those, too. We learned quickly what it took to fill every role in an advertising or marketing department. And then, game changer, things went digital.
Over the past 10 years Columbus has grown by leaps and bounds in the arts as well as in the level of creativity in general. The city has world-recognized Fortune 500 companies, retail firms, galleries and agencies. With that comes a higher-level demand for what is creative and cool and cutting edge.
It has been our challenge to always stay ahead of that demand. At the same time, local traditional staffing companies decided that they could also try and feed the creative need. Which meant that we had to be better. We had to know digital. As a result, we began to meet people and join groups and solve problems. Now we place more web designers, mobile app creators and social media specialists and because of our efforts we know that they are good.
Over time, our clients grew from needing just one person to asking us to build their entire team. The workforce has also become more fluid, more mobile and more temporary. It’s a decade into our creative staffing business, and we find ourselves in the midst of constant evolution so that we can offer workforce solutions that perform without skipping a beat.
Business owners must understand that what they’re building is ever-changing because the world is ever-changing. What your business looked like the day it opened will very likely not be what it looks like 10 years down the road. You can fight the process or embrace it but know this: while change is sometimes challenging, only those companies that evolve will survive.