Dodgy Code 2022 Year in Review
Maybe it’s a recession, maybe it’s COVID, or maybe it’s just luck.
The past year is best described as a long winter. The world seemed to catch up with itself, like slow frost creeping across the landscape. Companies that were once performing gymnastics to keep up with shifting consumers, a pandemic, and a changing digital landscape all slowed to a pause.
In the USA — roadblocks were met across housing, student loans, and the dissipation of many pandemic relief programmes.
For the UK — three prime ministers, an economic crash, the death of a Queen, and the devaluation of the GBP left companies stunned as they waited to decide how to proceed.
Globally — energy costs skyrocketed, with side effects on affording everything from electricity to food.
So, where did that leave us?
It’s Always a Recession (Somewhere)
Over the past year, we’ve consistently heard the same word pop up in industry forecasts, client concerns, and our partnerships. Hello there, recession, long time no see.
We’ve been expecting this slow down in the tech industry, as 2020–2022 saw a rapid ballooning of tech within the COVID crisis and remote work boom. As with any surge, we expected the swell to peak and then swing back closer to a state of equilibrium. Others did not.
As 2022 progressed, more and more businesses paused their contracts or suspended their interest in new work. As we often collaborate with other agencies, we noticed a sharp decline in long term contracts and a slight increase in adhoc work. Some of our longest client relationships dimmed down to embers in the wake of financial hardship, as their own clients tightened spending and boarded up the windows for an impending storm.
At this point we wondered if predicting a recession facilitates causing one. With companies reacting to the forecast, spending diminished, the business atmosphere became tense, and resourcing scarce.
With the decline in work demand, we:
- Paused any plans for active hiring spend
- Focused on adapting to the changing needs of our client base
- Increased our lead generation efforts via RFPs and Networking
- Re-focused on our engagement with the developer community
- Planned for the development of 2 or 3 new in-house projects for 2023
- Re-evaluated our tools and equipment for longevity and savings
- Lent our networking and mentorship to fellow developers in need
- Prioritised our employee’s wellbeing and pay security
Did you know? 2020 was the 3rd official recession in the USA, and the 2nd one for the UK, since 2000. While many tech industries experienced a boom at that time, it’s been feeling the deflation in years since.
Our Philosophy as Employers
Some of our founding beliefs came into play during this difficult time. When we first started contracting employees, it was a unanimous decision to ensure their pay security and employment needs came first. We also knew to ensure that, we’d need to build a foundation that could support it.
Be Honest
We find no value in putting up appearances with our core team. When income is thin, they’re aware and we work together to reach out and bring in business. When it’s booming, we share the wealth with bonuses and pay increases. There’s never any mystery about what’s going on.
Grow Slowly
Ensuring we have the funds when it all goes wrong before hiring new staff is how we ensure that everyone can count on us. We’re comfortable with turning away work when we’re too busy, and negotiating schedules. It’s not worth it to expand without a solid base.
Staying Small
Our ethos is best met by a small team, working directly with clients to achieve their goals. A core principal for Dodgy Code is staying small, so that we can best serve our staff and clients.
Global Mindset
Dodgy Code is a global agency, servicing multiple countries and markets. This helps us to be well rounded, and diversify our work.
Diversifying Our Delivery
For 2023, we’re engaged in strategy to diversify ourselves with some more internal projects, in addition to our web development work. Keep an eye out for plug-ins and other offerrings!
Expect the Unexpected
Did we expect all of the events of 2022? No! But this is why we prepare for the unexpected. Whether it’s turning down a bad project fit (to make room for potential awesome ones!), or setting aside disaster money for work dry spells, always expect that it could go horribly wrong at any moment. Accept that it can, and rejoice when it all goes horribly right.
Pushing E-Commerce Boundaries
If web development had a zodiac, 2022 would’ve been the year of elaborate E-Commerce. We produced two major deliveries, each with its own unique challenges.
Shop Local RI
An online marketplace for shopping and selling local Rhode Island goods.
https://shoplocalri.com
Features: subscriptions, Stripe Connect integration, vendor dashboards, shopper dashboards, e-commerce, curated products, sponsorships, search, categories, blog, business profile pages, self-service account management
CoverSports
Online sales and quoting for a manufacturer of sports venue equipment.
https://coversports.com
Features: custom quoting tools, complex products, custom freight shipping integration, Salesforce integration, e-commerce, search, advanced filtering, product spec data, blog, video hero, advanced SEO needs, Stripe integration
One of the ways we tackle complex websites is by using re-usable (a.k.a “modular”) code. Think of this approach like buying Ikea furniture, where the same set of cubes can be transformed into a desk, shelves, or an adorable cat playscape.
By creating an element that can adapt to multiple uses, we cut down on the time it takes to build and allow ourselves to update the core elements in one place… with the effects impacting any of the systems that use them. This is fantastic for being able to reskin and refresh sites as they age, without diminishing their performance.
It also makes it so that platforms, like Shop Local RI, can be replicated for additional regions and communities. Interested? Reach out to our partners at Visual Thrive to discuss opportunities your own Shop Local network.
We’ve levelled up our e-commerce game, but we’d also love receiving some arts, brochure, and marketing site work please! We’re starting to dream about shipping calculations and it’s scaring us…
What’s Next?
So, what’s next for the Dodgy Code team? We’ve mentioned some new offerings to come in 2023, and we’ve paused our hiring initiatives, but we also had to pause our global relocation plans too.
Our relocation to the UK is postponed
As a quick recap for the unfamiliar — the UK has changed Prime Ministers twice in the last year. It’s experiencing the effects of a global energy cost crisis, the effects of a monarchy change, inflated food costs, and the highest recorded borrowing rates in recent history. The GBP fell to a record low, and with the work slow down on top of that… it’s just too expensive right now. It’s still our goal, but we’re watching and waiting for now.
Amsterdam?
Somewhere above, we talked about expecting the unexpected. We don’t know how long it will take for the UK to stabilise again, but we also know the struggles we have where we are now. So, let us present a pit stop: Amsterdam. It turns out visas for Americans to live and work in the Netherlands are a viable option for us. Information is still early and incomplete, but dutch has definitely entered the chat.
Projects
In case we weren’t clear before, we want to work with you! If you have ideas for a project, or want more information about how we could assist you, visit us at https://dodgyco.de
Dodgy Code is a global agency specialising in custom web development, brilliant authoring experiences, and making creative designs come to life.
