How design consultancies can extend their capability without adding headcount
Winning a project that needs more than you can deliver is a good problem to have. Here’s how to extend your capability without expanding your team.
Design consultancies often face the same scenario. A client brief comes in, it’s a good project, and it needs more than the studio can offer in-house: mechanical engineering, DFM, tooling management, supplier sourcing, factory oversight.
There are three usual responses, and none is ideal.
- Decline the parts you can’t do. The client goes elsewhere for them, and may take the whole project with them.
- Hire. Permanent specialists are expensive and hard to keep fully occupied when project demand fluctuates.
- Muddle through. The quality of the work suffers, and so does the reputation.
There is a fourth option: partner with a specialist team who can bring the missing capability in when you need it.
Working with a technical partner lets a consultancy:
- Say yes to more. Take on projects that go beyond design and into engineering and manufacture.
- Keep overheads flexible. Pay for capability when there’s a project that needs it, rather than carrying it permanently.
- Access specialist knowledge. Engineering, DFM, supplier selection, factory auditing and quality control are deep disciplines. A partner who does them every day brings that experience.
- Offer clients a fuller service. Clients increasingly want a partner who can take them further than a set of concept designs.
- Protect the relationship. With the right arrangement, the client relationship stays with you throughout.
The key to making it work is choosing the right partner. Look for someone with demonstrable engineering and manufacturing experience, established supplier relationships, and a clear approach to working behind the scenes. Look for people who understand that your client is your client.
The result is a consultancy that can extend its capability without expanding its team, and take on more ambitious work with confidence.
If you’d like to explore how this could work for your studio, talk to us about partnership.