The Power of Partnership

Our founding partner, Richard Shrout mentioned the other day that we are still unique in our business model, which has endured since 2006. Our collegial partnership of book indexers, taxonomists, and editors has served us very well over the years. This is a good time to go over the workings of this little group of ours, just in case the model might work for you.

Getting Acquainted with PI

Most book indexers work alone. So, when I first found out that four indexers had created a limited-liability company (LLC) to pool not just their own talents and experience, but also contract with many other freelance indexers who could lend their expertise to a variety of indexing, taxonomy, and other content discovery projects, I was amazed.

I’d heard of other indexers who had small groups of employees or subcontractors, but never an actual partnership model like this one. I joined up as an associate in 2007 and reaped the benefits of access to larger-scale projects that would have been impossible for me to manage as an individual.

I saw the advantages to clients, too, in the availability through PI of a company point of contact to negotiate contracts with and ensure quality even if multiple professionals were working on a large-scale or series project.

Growing into Partnership

What about the actual partners? I found that as I moved into a partnership position myself in 2014, that this model had a significant return on investment over time, which continues to this day. Although some part of the return is monetary, that’s not the major point. What’s more valuable to me is the opportunity to use the management talents that I’ve stored for a number of years (was an Air Force officer in my younger days) to support the partners in making their systems more efficient. I also get a great sense of support and camaraderie working with this small group of information access professionals. This more intimate networking community just feels good.

Where to Now?

We feel like we’re on a twenty-first-century trend now with our small group (five partners and about thirty independent associates). We’ve had four-to-five partners at different times and up to sixty associates, but we are finding that growth is not everything. We have enough talent and management skill to make this LLC create a little profit for us, keep the work coming in regularly, and support each partner’s life. It is enough.

PI has been visible as a professional online presence for some time, but that presence has varied between being dynamic and relatively static. We are in a dynamic presence phase now, with regular blogging and more activity on LinkedIn. We feel like we have a unique perspective and a broad range of thought leadership to share. And not just about indexing either. We are all freelance operators, so we can speak about the freelance life and working at a desk in front of a computer all day.

So, stay tuned for more great content on our profession, along with insights into life in a small partnership located both on the Internet, and simultaneously in several far-flung parts of the United States all at once. We love our “virtual” partnership!

Let us know in the comments about any questions you have on our partnership model.