Being what many people would describe as stubborn, I tend to want things my way. As does Amy. And in this case, that meant making it work (didn't know how yet) and performing above expectations despite the Achilles heel. (Well, whale bellies.)
So we got hopping on plans that would make a big agency proud. Being a very small business, Redhead had traditionally skipped a lot of the paperwork and rigmarole that characterizes creative agencies—things like formal hot sheets and production meetings and employee manuals. But having both "grown up" in a larger agency, Amy and I were versed in the how-to of such things.
We spent the coming months building all of the above. We spent time detailing how to answer the phone when a client calls, who to contact if there was a problem with the building, where and how to re-order supplies. We did basic things like stocking a petty cash drawer and making (very well designed, thank you) forms for petty cash withdrawals. Yes, this sounds like minutia. But if you're an employee somewhere—think about it. Someone, somewhere, does this for you. There is a person to handle this administrative minutia, so that you can concentrate your actual job function. And if you're a small business owner, remember with me: did you really start your design business (or bookstore or restaurant or fish tackle shop) because you loved administration and paperwork? Yeah, that's what I thought. Of course not.
I will take a moment here to bow at the alter of people who are good at administrative minutia, because I think it's a very difficult task, making the world run smoothly. Those of us who are bad at it really, really, really need those of you who aren't.
Ok, so. We put serious systems into place that generally would only belong to a studio three or four times our size. If we were to have any hope of having other people fill in for us—so we both could have some semblance if a maternity leave—these systems would be critical.
And… the people. In preparation for our leaves, we hired two part-time designers to help take up the slack. We trained them as thoroughly as we could on how to do things the Redhead way. We made sure clients saw their faces and got to know them before Amy and I were out of the office. One of them, Jessy, is still with us, of course. It helped that she's a people person and knew a lot of the folks in the neighborhood. She's good at being a "face" to clients. And Jake was able to take the lead on web projects so we enjoyed a break in that arena.
Finally, we had to deal with hardware and logistics. Of course, there were the standard things, like making sure Amy and I both had upgraded systems & printers set up in our homes. But there were also the not-so-normal things like figuring out where both of us would have the space to pump. Ours is an open office, with no private rooms. So we built a new room in the basement that we affectionately call "The Dairy." It's stocked with two breast pumps and a refrigerator, you see.
