We remained committed to our core purpose: unlocking the potential of the New Economy to leave behind a better world. This manifests in the types of clients we work with, and how we help them grow. This year, we met our target for impact level ‘amazing’ (our highest level of impact discounting) but went a little over on ‘good’ clients (full fees) and a little under on ‘great’ impact clients.
We maintained a strong value for money (3 is about right; we hit 3.4) and client satisfaction (9.2 likely to recommend / NPS of 75) but fell short on our revenue target. See our goals and results here.
Harvey's team is a rare find, combining highly technical skills with a strong commitment to good design and logical thinking. They have provided innovative solutions to various website challenges, showcasing their technical expertise and creativity. Their openness to collaboration makes them truly exceptional.” - Pete Chappell, Digital Performance Manager, Merry People
Our purpose
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Our clients help move the needle on some of the most pressing issues of our time through their work, either directly or indirectly. For clients scoring on impact, we offer 25% and 45% discounts. Sort of like mates rates.
It works like this
We have a framework based on the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to help us make informed and conscious decisions about who we work with. The output is an overall negative or positive score.
Step 1: UN SDG Rating
Prospective clients are assessed against the UN’s 17 SDGs as either destructive, negative, neutral or indirectly or directly tackling.
Step 2: Impact score calculated
Any ‘negative’ points must be balanced with positive points. Any ‘destructive’ ratings disqualify them from working with us.
Step 3: Impact discount level
Based on the prospective client’s points score, we decide their discount rate: Good (0% discount), Great (25% discount), Amazing (45% discount).
Our framework is subjective, which is why we’re constantly fine-tuning the way we come at it. We also acknowledge the issues with the UN’s SDGs – some see them as perpetuating structural oppression at a global scale, and by others view them as not really shifting the dial on anything (all talk no action). We use them as a general guide to assessing our clients rather than cherry-picking good / bad things out of nowhere.
So, how did we do?
$340k discounts delivered
That means 93% of our clients received significant discounts, coming in at $340k. Noting that we did less pro bono (100% free work) than in previous years.
Bad actors, should we exclude or include?
At B Corp Assembly 2024, Becky participated in a Fishbowl debate on the question: “Should we include or exclude bad actors?”
On the one hand, excluding those who engage in harmful practices sets standards and makes a statement: you only support businesses that align with ethical, sustainable practices, which reinforces your commitment to integrity.
On the other hand, working with bad actors can drive real change. Instead of shutting them out, we can guide them toward better practices. By influencing from within, we turn potential harm into opportunity, helping them adopt more ethical behaviours.
Our approach has always been a balanced one, which means we avoid the heavily destructive, profit-driven organisations (we’re not going to be rebranding an oil rig anytime soon) but we also support those who are sincerely committed to improving their impact. That’s why we try to support higher-impact organisations through discounts. It’s our way of incentivising clients to always be better.
It’s a thorny issue. Here’s what Becky shared in the fishbowl debate.
How our clients feel about us
Do we meet or exceed clients' expectations? Are we delivering impact and good value for money? We survey our clients throughout the year & after projects to measure us on some key metrics.
Describe us in 3 words or less
People described us as approachable, caring, passionate and professional. Okay, that’s four words.
“Partnering with Harvey was the best decision we could have made when choosing the right partner to build our new website." - Luke Dean-Weymark, Director, Compass Studio
"Firstly, they ticked a big box for Compass Studio with their ethical and sustainability mindset and way of working. Secondly, the Harvey team were great listeners and highly experienced with a wealth of industry knowledge. They delivered us a fantastic website that has truly transformed our brand and business for the better!”
What is our value for money?
100% of our clients told us we were good value. Huzzah! 12.5% of those said we could charge more, and 0% said that we charged too much. We love this feedback, and want to maintain this high value-for-money rating with our lean and nimble team and no-nonsense marketing approach.
“Working with Harvey feels like the guys are genuinely and unconditionally on the team, I've never experienced this level of involvement with any other external service provider, advisor or consultant.” - Nikolai Schwarz, Head of Global Operations, ATEC
It’s important for us to know the impact we’re having on our clients’ businesses and their work. If you’re interested, here's the survey. We changed how we asked for feedback this year. We used to do it bi-annually. Now we do it monthly as projects meet milestones, sort of like a pulse check, so we can change and improve during a project, rather than after the fact.
Here are a few things we learned from the 27 responses from 16 brands over the year.
Would you recommend Harvey?
Most would (or have) recommend us - our NPS (Net Promoter Score) sitting at 74 NPS (74% promoters, 26% neutral, 0% detractors).
“Harvey are just wonderful to work with. Their authentic approach to bringing about impactful change is exactly what our organisation needed.” - Kellie O'Shea, Deputy CEO, CPSN
Where we need to improve
Set clearer expectations on time involvement from the client's side upfront. Also, balancing out data-heavy charts with bite-size insights. Read: sometimes we didn’t give enough detail in our plans or went into too much detail in data/charts & analysis. It’s something we want to get better at.
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Beyond thrilled with this client list
80% of our revenue came from 10 clients
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All up, we worked with 13 returning and 19 new clients
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6 were B Corps, 7 were NFPs and 7 had Diverse Ownership
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For Profit, or Not.
We worked with fewer “Good” orgs and more not-for-profits, which doesn’t technically align with our “New Economy” purpose. Don’t get us wrong: we love NFPs. But if we’re aiming to shift the economic paradigm, working with for-profits that embody better and more regenerative ways of doing business is the sweet spot for us.
We wrestled with this all year. But so many NFPs are doing such great work often with such little resources, so if we’re able to work with those who’re changing, and working efficiently to achieve impact outcomes (not all NFPs are these things), we’re all in.
Awesome faces, new and old.
In FY 23/24 we had more new clients (19) than returning clients (13). Which is kind of how you want it when you're running an agency. We love our long-term regulars, and we hope to be working with them for years to come, but we also love sinking our teeth into brand new sectors / industries through the door.
Our second First Nations led client
We were stoked to have our second First Nations organisation come on board this year, the wonderful Common Ground. This is a fundamental part of our reconciliation learning journey: to work with Indigenous businesses and help build and sustain the First Nations economy. We can’t wait to do more work in this space over the coming years.
Building for the future
Interestingly (and not through any deliberate strategy on our part) we’ve started picking up lots of clients in the sustainable construction and building industry. This year there was Chaulk (sustainable architects), Envirotecture (eco-friendly building design) and The Salvage Yard (recycled building materials). These guys joined our returning client, The Sociable Weaver, giving us a really firm foundation in the construction sector. Maybe word’s getting around… also specific shout out to Marnie Hawson who’s a fantastic photographer and even more impressive Business for Good champion - thanks for her recommendations to some of these (and other) clients.
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