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Ross Brandon aspires to do something most CEOs try to avoid: keep his company small.
While most startup founders place “scaling” at the top of their list of priorities, Brandon instead aims to assemble a modest group of specialized professionals for his digital agency, Masonry. He contends that in Austin, a town rife with creative talent, a small but thoughtfully curated team of specialized professionals can compete just as easily with a large company.
What it lacks in size, Brandon said, Masonry makes up for in experience: the company’s three employees contribute a combined 25 years’ worth of experience in website design, digital marketing, and front- and back-end development.
Furthermore, Brandon said, in the design agency space, a smaller team keeps costs down and talent up, eliminating circuitous practices and distractions along the way.
“There are many shops that are affordable, but provide templated solutions, and there are some shops that create a completely customized process but are more than some businesses can afford,” he said. “We view ourselves as the best of both worlds. Because of our experience, we are able to provide that large-agency customized process, but we have really streamlined methods which allows us to offer competitive pricing that is reasonable for small to medium-sized businesses."
It’s that approach that Brandon hopes will separate Masonry from its competition – and improve the design firm model in the process. Austin is teeming with digital agencies, but too few of them actually listen to clients, Brandon said, prioritizing fast or cheap options or neglecting the client’s aesthetic requests rather than supplying a truly useful, long-lasting service.
“It is surprising how rare [listening] can be in the creative world. We are very responsive to clients' needs and take the time to sit with the client, learn about their struggles and goals, to create a solution that is tailored just for them,” he explained. “Not every business fits into what free CMSs can do and sometimes the fast, cheap solution is not always best. The main feedback from our clients is that we actually listen well. There is a lot of creative talent in Austin, but we feel like when we combine great talent with really good customer service, it fills a place that is currently lacking in the market.”
The agency is young – Masonry launched just over three months ago – but its formula of small size plus concentrated and specialized talent may be working. Though Brandon described the client roster as "not huge," it carries prestige, weighted by such names as The Texas Tribune and TDK RF Solutions.
According to Brandon, landing higher-profile clients is simply a product of careful work, attentiveness, and common sense: three qualities he hopes the Masonry infrastructure will sustain.
“We pride ourselves in listening to what they need. Then we focus all our early efforts on doing extensive research on their industry and competition. Once we have a really good idea of their market, we put together a strategy plan and educate the client on what we can do for them, how it all works, and how they can be the top in the field. Even though this seems like it should be standard, we actually follow through with what we promised,” he said.
“We want to be known as the go-to company for providing a strategy for what each business needs, not just a single solution that is for everyone,” Brandon continued. “I would like for Masonry to be known to creative talent that it is a place to work that is fulfilling because you are actually doing work that makes a difference in people’s businesses and lives as opposed to producing digital work just for a paycheck.”
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