With a bit of delay, here is the second part of the article…
2005
I think this year is the most important one so far in the entire X3 history (short history, to be honest). The beginning of the year was marked by some new arrivals in the design team, Sorin being one of them. And slowly but surely something happened that I hoped would avoid us as a team: cliques - I believe it’s the right term to be used here. We had enough work to keep us going without much pressure, but it wasn’t enough to keep everybody occupied at all times - one of the reasons some discussions emerged, I think.
And the day came when I didn’t feel any drive, any pleasure in going to work. I had no more patience left to listen to all those little things, or try to resolve some childish conflicts that kept appearing… This company was supposed to be more than this. And that’s when I realized I needed to change something.
I heard many rumors that we went bankrupt or that the team quit all at once, and other such exaggerations. What did happened however was a restructuring. On September 1st I reduced the team to 6 people instead of 12. And I can honestly tell you it was the most difficult decision I ever had to make.
In the next few months it proved to be the best decision as well, which did resolve a situation that could have slipped out of control. We had enough work for everybody at all times (even if we did refuse some of the smaller projects). The guys that remained were able to take the next step and see the glass half full; everything was going great. The overall office atmosphere became what I always hoped it would; there were no more useless discussions, no more pulling the wagon in different directions. It was a fresh start.
And to keep the financial criteria part of this story, I should mention that we increased our revenue for the year by more than 50% compared to 2004 - and strangely enough, our most productive months were in the second part of the year.
2006
After everything that happened, 2006 was a quiet year. We minded our own business (so to speak), everything was going well. The quality and complexity of our projects rose from one project to the next, the team learned how to work well together. This was also the first year that we managed to respect the budgets we’ve forecasted, invest a lot more in new technologies - with other words, we were doing everything we wanted to get done.
But of course, things couldn’t stay like this forever ;). That summer I started searching for a new office space - the lease we currently had due to expire. This time around, the search was more specific, keeping the company’s development strategy in mind - yes, we did have something like that ;). The new office was supposed to be a functional space for a team structured in different departments but also meant for sustaining client meetings. We wanted an office we could all be proud of and that would impress anybody that came to visit. But since all the spaces I have seen were very far from our vision, I decided we should build it! Thus, on August 12 we started the work on what was to become our new office.
Even if with the restructuring from the previous year our hiring policy has changed (meaning that we would only hire new guys when there was no other way to keep up, and so avoiding having the same problems again), our workload grew so much that in December we were 10 people again. Even so, the usual work day for that last month of 2006 was 9-10 hours a day. Our revenue for this year did reflect this increase, surpassing last year with almost 50%.
2007
We’re building, building, building… The initial estimate of 4 months for completion of the new office turned into 6 months and then 8… Should I even bother to say that the beginning of this year was anything but calm? For better or worse, on April 14 we moved! And a new era in the life of this company started.
The short and medium term business strategy of the company became the penetration of the national and European market. The new office finally gave us that possibility, both physically and mentally. We were no longer a ghost company from some apartment in the projects, step by step, the name of the company started to mean something (except that specific car model…) - and personally, I started seeing more than the next 2-3 years.
We implemented an organizational structure that works extremely well since then. The creative team earned a few new very valuable members, and Sorin, who meanwhile became the Art Director, managed to integrate perfectly with the rest of the team. The programming department also grew under the critical supervision of Calin, with new juniors proving themselves worthy of becoming team members. Andreea successfully started the Client service department, bringing people from different backgrounds and work styles to be on the same page - and yes, we know it wasn’t easy, Andreea ;).
2007 was also the year in which X3 Studios changed its owners: Calin, Catalin and Andreea were invited (as part of the benefits package offered by the company) to become partners with me (and surprise: they said yes!). And of course, the papers were signed on November 30, the official X3 day ;). It was a very cool moment (trust me, I was thereJ).
Financially, the year 2007 was a difficult one. Even if our income grew significantly (another almost 70% growth from the previous year), the new office required some massive investments that we all felt. But there is a difference between a calculated financial effort and real financial problems. It seems we were lucky ;).
Instead of the end…
Initially, I thought I’ll finish this article by telling you what was next - but I think that’s better suited for another post ;). Instead, I have a question: how do you define success? Is it the money? The office you’re occupying? The awards you win? Your client list?
The title of this article (articles, to be precise) implies a success. But the success I am talking about has nothing to do with money, offices, awards, strategies. I am talking about people. I am talking about each person I have ever worked with, from whom I had a lot to learn. I am talking about those who are the team today, who teach me new things every day. They are the true success story - I was just lucky enough to be around.
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