I'm stoked to have Russ Perry on the podcast today. He's the founder of the #1 unlimited graphic design company in the world, Design Pickle. He built a great business in a short amount of time. We'll talk with Russ today and learn how authenticity can scale any business. Design Pickle was launched in 2015, but spent the prior 10 years helping brands and entrepreneurs be more creative.

Time Stamped Show Notes

• 0:00 – Introduction
• 5:00 – "Find your pickle." What this really means is operating from an authentic place for who you are. You're clear with what you want and you put yourself first. It's realizing what's right for you and pursuing it while you ditch what's not working for you.
• 8:00 – Solving your own problems. Design Pickle was born from a solution that Russ had created for his own needs. He figured out a way to brand it, market it and grow it into what it is now. Russ gives three tips for replicating his successful strategies:
• 9:20 – Tip 1: Provide a valuable service or product. If it works for you and solves your own problem, you know others will find value in it as well.
• 10:10 – Tip 2: Niche down for success. Once you have an authentic approach, find a narrow market to target. Doing everything for everyone makes it very difficult to find and pinpoint any problems that occur when helping your clients. When you're fearful about niching, just know that the market is there. Niching allows you to get really good at a set amount of things that you want to pursue.
• 13:40 – Scaling your business is easier when you're niched. If you're doing everything under the sun, it's very difficult to manage and delegate your employees or the services you use. Know what your strategy is. When it comes to scaling and growing your business, being niched down and having a clear path make it more likely you'll find success.
• 15:10 – Tip 3: Operate with Mission, Vision, & Values. This might sound hacky, but it's truly game changing when you do this. These are a non-objective advisor that you can run decisions through to ensure everything keeps in alignment. Following these allow for a great company culture.
• 16:55 – Values: Friendly, smart working, resourceful and service. Mission: To be the most helpful graphic design company in the world. Vision: To change lives through creativity (both for clients and employees within the company).
• 18:40 – Create a great place to work. This is accomplished through creating a positive workplace and having a career path for your employees to progress to.
• 20:00 – Tip 4: Create a system for repetitive tasks. Have a written process in place that you or your delegates can easily follow. This creates consistency in what you do, and allows for quicker scaling of your business.
• 24:35 – Work from your values. These play into your interpersonal relationships with employees, vendors and even clients.

Resources Mentioned:

• Design Pickle: Website
• 25% off for 2 months service: use the code "nerd16" at com
• Learn more about Russ: Instagram | Twitter | [email protected]