Why a Semi-Virtual Company Model Is Awesome for You. (And
Us!)
MOOv is based in Denver. And San Francisco. And Salt Lake City.
And lots of other places around the country and world when it's
convenient. We are a 50% "virtual company." We have a modest
headquarters, no cubicles, no employee break room, no HR office
where we take job applications. What passes for office locations
are the communities in which our nearly 50 tribe members (19 core
Tribe members —our Circle of 19—are employee-like) live and
work.
Our Clients Benefit from our Virtuality
The whole concept of our quasi-virtual model has to do with HOW
we work, not WHERE we work. Following are but a few of the benefits
to our clients:
- Access to a much larger talent pool. Optimized for
virtuality, we can tap some of the best talent around the country
without them needing to relocate.
- Access to a much deeper talent pool. We have access to
some of the best talent that is already gainfully employed by the
best brands in the country. These people are simply not accessible
any other way.
- Perfect team, perfect time. Extensive access to talent
means we can create a custom team with exactly the skillsets you
require and at the appropriate levels of time. Typically agencies
are under significant pressure to convert employee hours to
"billable hours" and accordingly are conflicted when building
internal teams for clients.
- Direct cost savings. We maintain core competencies,
especially strategic and creative direction in-house, and outsource
or offshore the heavy-lifting. Our systems and process is
rock-solid and gives your business the benefits of less expensive
labor without having to manage multiple relationships. Also, a
physical facility, equipment, etc. will cost an agency about 20% of
its net revenue. A virtual agency cuts these costs by 70%.
- Indirect cost savings. Agencies must mark-up their
talent's hourly rates by multiples of of 250-300% because of the
tremendous amount of overhead and non-productive time attributed to
having specialty expertise on the payroll. We don't have any of
that.
- We practice what we preach. As a digital agency, it's
only natural we would be wired to the max. Each of us is proficient
with online collaboration tools and being virtual ensures we walk
that walk.
- We are more efficient. Rather than driving 30 minutes to
work and back, our tribe members are accessible virtually 16 hours
a day. With video conferencing, instant messaging, VOIP, webinars,
and email, we are all connected, all the time.
- We do better work. Tribe members have the flexibility to
make their personal lives work, which makes their work life that
much better. It is a well-known fact that graphic designers do far
better work in pajamas.
Technology Isn't a Substitute for People
So even though we work from our home offices, we are still as
relationship-oriented and all about people as a company could be.
In fact, as a "being-based" business, we are likely more in touch
and closer with each other than most companies. We also hang around
with each other alot. Just less so around water coolers and more
likely around coolers at the park!
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