In This Economy, The Right Choice May Be to Send the Work Offshore

Earlier this week I had two separate discussions in which I was trying to be helpful, and ended up on the receiving end of some pretty accusatory comments.

One of these discussions took place in an online forum on LinkedIn.  It was about the fact that many business startups can't afford the high prices graphic designers charge for custom logos.  So the business ends up getting a boring cookie cutter logo because that's all they can get with their measly budget.

My initial contribution to the discussion was a comment about how a resourceful small business owner can find good quality talent at low prices.  I even cited an example from my own experience where I got a very good logo for $300 from a company in Canada (see Grouvia.com for the good logo).

Based on the rather lively discussion that followed, my comment hit a nerve for graphic designers.  I understand that many professionals feel miffed that work that "should be theirs" is getting sent off-shore.  Clearly there are some very strong feelings about that and my opinions are shared by few.

However, my point about getting a $300 logo designed had nothing to do with off-shoring work. (I probably could have found an American to do it, but the Canadians had the best pitch.)  My point was solely to help small business owners understand there are other options available to them - they just need to be flexible and resourceful.

Starting a new business should not have such a high barrier to entry.  In this economy, entrepreneurs should be encouraged and supported.  Many people are out of work and the only way they'll find work is to create it for themselves.  These are future business leaders who will create companies who will employ many other US citizens. 

If you tell a potential entrepreneur that it will cost her $1,500 to get a good logo designed, and she shouldn't even think about starting a company without it (not to mention the complete identity package for another $3,000, oh and do you want a brand with that?), you are basically telling her "don't bother, you can't afford to do this, go back to the unemployment line."

I am sorry, but I just have a HUGE problem with that. 

I didn't feel it was appropriate to get deeply into this on the LinkedIn discussion forum.  I would have spent my day defending myself to people not willing to listen anyway.

So, if you have an opinion about this, I'd love to hear it.  After two discussions this week, I'm kind of itchin' for a fight.  (JK!)

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