Why we built our own desks.

It’s a Sunday afternoon in Summer 2017, and downtown Toronto is moving a bit slower than it would on a busy Monday morning. We find ourselves sweating like mad in the front seat of a rented Zipcar van, downing an iced coffee from DarkHorse on Geary Street. We have three hours to pick up wood, tools, and the vintage refrigerator door that would soon become our boardroom table. 

Coming from the start-up world, we have worked for companies that have moved into their first offices and it usually consisted of a couple of hours of putting together some prefab desks from Ikea with those small wrenches. 

We didn’t choose to do that, because this was our office and our company that we held with much pride. As we started to piece out the wood, measure, and fire up the tools we realized when you care about something you are willing to put in the time and effort to do it right...and your way. 

It’s true that we have spent many weekends building tables, desks, benches, and many other pieces for our houses and backyards. It made us think about what goes into building something great, something of your own. So let me break down why building our own desks was so important to us and how it relates to how we do business. 

1. Have a plan, visualize the end product.

With any good build, you need to have a vision of what that end product is going to be, and a plan on how you are going to get there. This takes creativity but also a very analytical mind to weigh all the challenges that might arise. With any campaign/client we take on, this is where we start. Knowing where you want to be and what success looks like is key. 

2. Don’t go it alone, many minds make light work.

We were lucky enough to grow up learning how to build and fix things, and that means we’re usually the first people to be called on by our network when a job needs to be done. There is a beautiful thing that happens when a group of people get together to take on a task, and that is collaboration and trust. We didn’t go about building our office furniture alone, we had a couple friends that we trusted that could help us build it right and be something we were proud of.  We truly believe the only way to be successful with a client is to be part of the team and share all of our knowledge to help them get where they need to go.  

3. Measure Twice Cut Once 

Taking the time to make sure every cut is right and every screw sinks in at the right angle takes time, but in the end, you’re left with a great product. Digital campaigns may not be exactly the same as our desks, but the care we put into it is. To achieve great results you need to pay attention to the details and be able to put in that time and effort to do so. 

4. Customization

We didn’t want the same desks or the same typical office every agency has, we wanted our desks and our office. Being able to choose the height and the wood that we used was important to us because it was truly ours and fit our needs. Customization is one of the most important values we bring to clients. There is no cookie-cutter solution to making your campaigns ROI positive (if there was, we would be out of a job). It takes a deep understanding of what each client and industry needs to succeed and customizing a solution to fit their needs.

5. The right tool for the job.

You don’t hammer in screws and you don’t screw in nails. Having the right tools for the job is essential, it will save you time, money and a lot of frustration in the end. The thing about tools is that you may not always have them yourself, which reinforces the importance of collaboration. Having a saw without a measuring tape is a bad idea. We understand that our clients have many tools within their team and we are there to balance out the tool belt and make sure we build it right. 

6. Pride

There was no better feeling when we were done the desks and the boardroom table and got to take a chance to be happy with the work we did. Same goes for the work we do for our clients. Mastery and Pride in our work are what drives our business and allows us to get great results for companies like yours. We are proud of the work we do and the goals we accomplish with our clients.