2019 was our best year in business, so we decided to scale back. Here's why we did it

Hold on to your hats, gang. This one is from the heart. 

These days, within every business book, every event, podcast or blog post you won't get too far in without hearing the word "Growth". 

Growth hacking, growth mindset, grow everything! Grow grow grow!

When most businesses have their strongest financial year to date, they usually pop the champagne, splash out, and celebrate.

But here's the thing, we’ve just had our best year, and we've decided to do the opposite. 

We're intentionally scaling down, and here’s why.

I want to share this because, actually, most companies don't. In times of change, most companies play it down, lay low, hope nobody notices. 

But then again, many big changes in business are drawn from a place of crisis. We have a story of strength, and here it is. A story that starts with highs, lows, twists, turns, endless heart palpitations and a doctor saying "you need to make some big changes now". A year of asking questions and a moment of intense clarity that ends with saying "fuck it, let's do it" over three and a half glasses of wine with my wife and business partner, Kate.

Phew.

So. If you have ever been scared to listen when your gut shouts loudly. This is for you. This is the chapter in all those business books that nobody has the balls to write.

A quick recap

I started this business 15 years ago, I couldn't find a job after University so decided to apply for a Prince's Trust loan to buy a camera and make films, the deposit for the first job paid for the computer to edit it on. I had serious beef with the traditional way of doing “corporate videos” and I had a mission to show everyone there was a different way to do it.

I never set out to be a "Founder" or an entrepreneur. I'm not interested in driving a Porsche, or drawing my status from having my name on Companies House. I simply love making films and animations, so in the beginning, I just did as much of that as I could without a clear plan.

But then something happened. Soon the business was busy enough to employ a small team, then an even bigger one. Clients came, clients stayed, clients even recommended us to their friends. 

Although it’s ridiculous to admit, we have never done any proper sales or marketing. We don’t really have a sales process, just a website and email newsletter. But because of referrals, we grew. People seemed to like what we did. Kate joined the business, then became a director, then took over as Managing Director, propelling the creative energy into a business that ran more smoothly than it ever did with me at the helm, we developed systems and processes, and even started to make a profit.

We attracted the best talent in the region, over time we built up a solid reputation, we made bigger and better work. 

Then one day I looked around.

All of a sudden it's not a small side hustle in my mum's spare room anymore. Suddenly we're one of the biggest video agencies in the UK. How the hell did that happen?

It sure was fun. But it was never the plan. When you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.

But in 2019, we reached a fork in the road. 

We were lucky to have a wonderful team, amazing clients, outstanding work and a balance sheet that was stronger than ever. 

But the burnout was real, and after 15 years with our skin in the game, the speed we were operating at was making us ill. The busy twists and turns of agency life was taking more from our health and well-being than it gave back. I was only able to take two days off when my first son was born.

I remember giving the team feedback on work on day 6 of a 10 day commercial shoot in the middle of a forest, with heart palpitations, a trapped nerve in my shoulder from carrying too much tension and a face full of cold sores from being run down. I was spreading myself too thin and failing the team and our projects. 

Then an ECG showed something it shouldn’t, so it was off to see the cardiologist who explained my heart was “acting a bit wonky” (exact words) and I’m given orders to think long and hard about my lifestyle and how to reduce my stress levels. 

We’d associated being “busy” with success, we’d somehow made stress the default setting. We’d made good success out of it, sure, but being “busy” all the time is not success at all. Because now, it was making me ill. 

Step back, delegate

So we tried. We delegated. We asked the team to lead the work more and for us to simply oversee. We saw our incredible team take a deep ownership of clients and projects to a level we could never have imagined, resulting in remarkable work.

But stepping away meant spending most of our time managing, not making. The further we got away from the work, the more lost we felt. The more unhappy it made us.

But by stepping back from project delivery, we bought us some time, for the first time in 15 years to think about where the hell we were actually going. We tried to visualise the future of the business, we stared at blank pieces of paper. We read all the books, but we didn’t find the answers.. Not just writer's block, but full-on brain block. After years of one year rolling into next, when we stopped to think “what do we actually want to do?”, we just felt...nothing.

When you've fixed everything in the business, when you’re surrounded by incredible talent, and yet still something doesn't feel right, you have to ask yourself…

Are we the problem? 

The answer, dear reader, is, yes.

Don’t hate the players, change the game 

The realisation that you’re the only thing holding back the business you’ve dedicated almost half of your life to is in equal parts terrifying and freeing. And, seeing as sacking ourselves wasn’t really an option, we gave ourselves permission for the first time ever to design the life we really wanted to live. How, where and when we worked, rested and played. We decided to create a new game, decided the rules, and most importantly of all, decided how to win. 

I’m the first to admit that I’m a deeply flawed person. I love shiny new things, I’m impatient, outspoken, I’m always losing my keys and late for meetings. But I am a great conceptual thinker. My comfort zone is that weird place between a blank page and a great idea. I have ideas thick and fast, and I know exactly how to bring them to life.

Kate is the other side of the coin. Where I bring the chaos, she brings the calm. She is logical, rational and sincere. She takes the messy art of creativity and weaves it into clarity and order like a beacon in the dark. Those of you who know her personally, know she also delivers an exceptionally well-timed swear. 

What unites us both is that we’re happy when we’re making great films. Working with bold and disruptive brands who value authenticity and creativity. When we’re only saying “yes” to the briefs that we know we’re going to smash out of the park. 

But we also need to think about how our careers fit within the wider ecosystem of well-being, family, community and health. To design a life where we can work hard and play Lego without feeling like we’re doing a shitty job at either. 

We took our time. We took advice from people we trusted. We modeled up all the options, picking up each one in turn to see where it worked and where they were broken. We found one that wasn’t broken. It was scary, and bold. We didn’t know if it would work. 

We tried to think of some other ways to fix things instead. 

But we kept coming back to the same place. 

Then, after three and a half glasses of wine, we said “fuck it, let’s do it”. 

The next episode 

The next evolution of Fat Free is our stake in the ground. Our attempt to do our best work and be the best versions of ourselves at the same time. 

We’ll write and direct video campaigns for brands just like before, but scale back to Kate, Neil & Friends. Bold creative, made with a close circle of trusted collaborators. We’ll put all our our love and energy on a smaller handful of projects that we know we can make the biggest impact on. No big overheads. No big office. No big sales targets. 

In a Hollywood film crew, specialists at the top of their game are assembled for each specific project and, from April the 1st, we’ll use this method for the whole production process.

Let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. The impact of our soul searching will have very real consequences. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking to our amazing team about the decisions we’ve made. Our team, (who have shed the blood, sweat and tears right alongside us over the past few years) will be leaving the business by the end of March.

In an amazing twist of fate, half of the team have decided to jump into uncharted territory along with us, and will be launching freelance careers, which gives us the honour of potentially becoming their first client. I type this with a massive smile on my face. This gives us everything we loved about working at Fat Free, the artistry, the talent and the collaboration, without the bits that kept us up at night. 

Inevitably, freelance life is not for everyone. There are some people in the team who will depart for pastures new, and our focus is on helping them move to their next steps, shouting from the rooftops about how amazing they are to all the creative businesses we know. 

The life changing magic of not having it all worked out

So there you have it. As this chapter of Fat Free comes to a close, another appears on the horizon. And, whilst the pillars and principles of the next evolution are set in stone, like a choose-your-own-adventure, there’s just enough space to let some extra magic in. 

We might write a book (...this article is probably long enough to be one already). We might develop a consultancy offering, or run workshops, or develop our speaker profiles. We might try all that stuff and decide to stick to making exceptional films. And that’s OK too. 

I said this was a story of strength, and it is. Not big, shout-y strength. But the quiet version that is in all of us, if we’re just open to listening to it. 

If you’ve stuck with me this far, I’d love to hear from you. A note of confidence, of “I’ve been there too”, or even of “I’ll hire your team”. Feel free to leave a note, or send me a message.

[email protected]

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash