Ground Floor: Beehive Consulting wants to spread buzz for fellow businesses and nonprofits

After many years of collaborating on their respective freelance projects, longtime friends and colleagues Andrew Male and Austin Spooner decided to join forces last March.

The result is Beehive Consulting, a creative agency that offers graphic design, printing, web design, and video editing services.

'We like to package everything together to be a one-stop shop for our clients for their design and printing needs,” Male said. 'We can design the logos and print their business cards and letterhead.

'Our focus is on establishing partnerships with our clients by building relationships with them.”

Male and Spooner met through their employment at New Covenant Bible Church in Robins, where Male works as production associate and Spooner as technology manager. They operate Beehive Consulting as a side business while maintaining their full-time jobs, but they eventually would like to grow the business into a full-time endeavor.

Male and Spooner said their partnership works well because they bring complementary skills and strengths to the table.

'Andrew is the creative end of the business,” Spooner said. 'He does the design work and makes everything pretty and engaging, while I'm the technologist. I know how to take the design and implement it technically.”

'We like our designs to communicate something, and we work on that together,” Male added. 'We're pretty passionate about integrating the creative end with technology to find solutions for our clients.”

Male and Spooner said that much of Beehive's work in its first year of business has come by way of referrals from past clients and contacts the men have made through their work with the church. As a result, they have not had to do any advertising or make cold calls to keep busy.

As they approach Beehive's anniversary, Male and Spooner plan to focus the company's second year on making connections with non-profit organizations and other small, local businesses.

'One thing we are passionate about as a company is working alongside other organizations that are making an impact in our community,” Spooner said. 'We are especially interested in partnering with clients that are helping others in the community and not just trying to make money.”

Some of their past projects have included a fundraising video for the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, a website design for a new bridal store, and designing and printing roll-up banners for a youth group event.

l Know a company or manager who has been in business for less than a year that would be ideal for 'Ground Floor”? Contact George Ford at george.ford@thegazette.com.