Our guest for today is Russ Perry of Design Pickle.

Russ Perry has been involved in branding and marketing strategy for the last decade. He has worked to shift the status-quo with brands such as Apple, Morgan Stanley, Pebble Tec, LG, Botanicare, and the Harlem Globetrotters.

In 2015 he launched Design Pickle – the world's #1 flat-rate creative platform.

Tell us about what your software does for people?

• It is a network of a global creative team.
• They connect entrepreneurs and businesses to on-demand creative help.

How does Design Pickle differ from competitors?

• The scalability of their service and platform.
• The quality of their services.
• Consistency.
• Their software and platform

How did you help found Design Pickle?

• He had his own design pickle that needed to be fixed.
• He set up an early version of Design Pickle with some third-party software and a couple of other people.
• He realized that the model worked really well, especially as some of the designers were overseas, as the work was done “overnight”.
• He looked at it and thought “what if I could package this”.

Where did you get the idea for the name and logo?

• Russ is really great at branding.
• The name for his previous consultancy was long and unwieldy, so he decided his new company had to be easy to remember and spell.
• He likes fermented food, so he went with Design Pickle.
• He made 2 sketches, and the one his daughter could identify as a pickle he used for the logo.

What were some of the moments where you realized exactly what Design Pickle needed?

• The need for software to manage the business as they scaled.
• Having instant communication with your designer.

What made you decide to dedicate a designer to each client?

• It came down to the quality of the experience.
• If a creative can really get to know the client and their brand, they can deliver better designs.
• It makes it easier to track the customer’s experience.

How did you keep you and your family afloat when you started Design Pickle?

• He kept his business relationships from his agency alive, he got some consulting work from past clients.
• He was actually getting paid more and working less than when he had an agency.
• He invested in personal development, he hired some coaches, and went to events.

Do you have any examples of your challenges and how you overcame them?

• Russ has written a book about all of his personal challenges (see the bottom of the notes for a link)
• Russ realized that isolation was his biggest challenge, and being able to open up about his problems is key to overcoming that.
• All of your problems are personal ones.

What advice would you give to entrepreneurs?

• Be hyper niche and specific in your business, you can always branch out later.

Resources:

Websites: 

Design Pickle

Data Automation

Books mentioned: 

The Sober Entrepreneur

Get hold of Ryan:

https://russperry.co/ 

Suggest a SaaS founder for the Automate, Delegate, Eliminate show at:

podcast@dataautomation.com