This week, I announced that The User Story is letting go of the whole team. It’s been a few weeks coming, and it has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve made in my career.
(Sidenote: If you’re looking for a Customer Success Manager, UX Designer, Senior Product Strategist or Lead Researcher, then please get in touch because my team are going to be rapidly snatched up)
I accidentally started a business
A few years ago, I spoke at a brilliant Norfolk Network event series, run in association with the Norwich BID, about being an ‘Accidental Entrepreneur’.
I started The User Story almost ten years ago when I quit my position at MMK Digital (now Brew), to venture into contracting by myself. When my contract fell through, I picked up freelance projects and hustled my way into work in a few different places, quickly realising I couldn’t do it all by myself and taking on my first employee to help out (who, last year, became my wife!).
I never meant to run a company. I never wanted to. What I loved, and what I still love, is helping teams build incredible digital products and ecosystems that users enjoy using. Over the last decade, I’ve built a team that builds teams, productised our process and offering, worked with some incredible brands and enterprises like Ad-Lib.io and Dunnhumby, and advised dozens of startups.
So when our beloved Studio Manager Sammy decided to move on this year, it served as a catalyst for my own career decision. Staring down the barrel of another gruelling hiring hunt for a replacement person in a pivotal role that has so much impact on company development and culture, especially in an environment where it’s getting harder and harder to stay afloat, I realised that my energy was depleted.
And I feel so conflicted about this.
Every other person in this company relies on me to bring in new projects and to set direction, objectives, and vision so that we can succeed as a team and they can pay their mortgages and grow their careers. Quitting is a dereliction of that duty. I quit, and the whole company was forced to quit, too.
I am fighting every instinct in me. In deciding to let go of our team, I’m shunning my tendency to look after the people around me despite my own health and needs. It’s alien, and I don’t like it at all. I’m a caring person by nature, and even in writing this down, it feels completely wrong, selfish, and self-indulgent. I don’t want sympathy. I want this whole team to find their next role, something that deserves them, and only then can I properly relax.
Agencies are in trouble
It’s no secret that across the country, service-based businesses like agencies and consultancies are in trouble. Almost every agency I’ve spoken to over the last 6-12 months has been having a bad time. New business pipelines have potential projects in them, but the lead times are 2x to 3x what they used to be.
Larger agencies are shedding staff as projects fail to materialise. Smaller, more agile agencies have been finding it easier to adapt, especially if they have loyal customers with good relationships and a solid, unique service offering, but even in these businesses, the squeeze is now becoming harsher.
There’s oodles of evidence of this, even when agencies aren’t publicly speaking about it. Even ignoring all the anecdotal conversations I’ve been having with agency owners across Norfolk and London over the last year, the Benchpress survey shows that 2023 has been a really tough year for agencies. 50% of agencies have reduced headcount, and operating profit has dropped to 12%.
We always see it in an economic downturn: Large brands pull their marketing and new project spending, instead choosing to put their cash into known and trusted materials that they already own—making do with what they already have rather than trying something new.
As a result, clients have dropped agencies all over the shop. Projects have been cancelled or reduced, lead times are longer while brands assess their options and wait for market indicators to improve, and retainers are slashed while companies try to bring work back in-house. Because of this, almost a quarter of agencies now have less than a month of overheads in cash - a really dangerous position.
We have been sensible at The User Story. Our financial prudence meant that, until my decision to scale back this year, I’ve not had to lay off a single person because we couldn’t afford to keep them. And in fact, that’s still the case. We’re not losing the team because we have to - but because I have run out of steam.
This makes me feel even worse. When agencies are closing and scaling back across the board, and the design market seems to be under pressure, making a conscious decision to push people into the market feels awful.
My friends and colleagues would say (and have repeatedly said) that I haven’t been happy for a while, that I’m not able to do the work I enjoy, and that it’s completely valid for me to prioritise my happiness and make a decision that’s right for me. But I can’t help but feel selfish and careless. I need help not to lose this fight with my conscience.
What’s next for The User Story?
I’ve received an absolutely huge outpouring of love and concern over the last few days, for which I can only thank everyone. The community, especially in Norwich, is just wonderful. After “Is everything OK?” the next question is always “What are you going to do next?” to which I can only answer: I have no idea.
For now, I know I need a break. Once I know that everyone in the team has something to go on to, I can actually let my shoulders drop from around my ears. I want to reflect on the last two decades of my career so far and write a little about what I’ve learned.
Ten years is a long time to do one job. My job evolved and grew just like The User Story did, but I’ve never stopped to look back at it. Like many leaders in the agency world, I barely had any time for reflection or to take a breather, and this feels like as good a time as any to think about what makes The User Story such an interesting and rewarding place to work and what mistakes I’ve made along the way.
I’ll write a bit more about agency life, design and product, and lots more. There is so much that we don’t talk about that we really should. Imposter syndrome and a lack of objectivity amongst agency owners are rife - as are poor mental health and a lack of looking after ourselves.
I’ve also enjoyed playing with video recently. Running a business at the same time always felt like a slog—like a necessity, crushing my creativity when competing deadlines and priorities. I hope a bit more free time will help me see things differently.
The User Story is still around. I love working with startups, and on digital products and experiences. The User Story is still here, and I need to work out what the next evolution looks like.
In the meantime, if you’re running a startup, need help with a digital experience, or want some advice for your small business, give me a shout.
I might have some time on my hands.
Your future self will thank you for making the hard decisions now xx