Pixelcrew bands together to take on web-based work

The closest thing Stephen Couchman has to an official title is Problem Wrangler. That’s what the web designer from Royal Oak does more than anything else in his job.

“It’s not about designing websites anymore,” Couchman says. “It’s about solving problems.”

And that’s what he does with his loose band of techie contractors called Pixelcrew. The group of slightly less than a half dozen is based in a number of areas across southeast Michigan, ranging from Royal Oak to South Lyon. One even sets up shop in the Toledo area but does most of his work in Metro Detroit.

Each member has their own specialty, which includes hardcore coders to corporate advertising. They throw clients at each other, working almost exclusively off  referrals from jobs they have done for companies like Urbane Apartments and Healthy Ventures.

“Just about 100 percent of our work comes from referrals,” Couchman says. “Once in a while someone might take out an ad but 99 percent if referral-based. We do good work for our clients and it comes back.”

The crew, which is more of a conglomeration than a business, doesn’t expect to expand anytime in the future. As Couchman puts it, they are “very finicky about the people they work with.”

However, Pixelcrew does see a lot of growth coming their way soon. He notes that talk of a national recession late last year spooked a number of companies into shrinking fulltime positions. And so the contract market has boomed. Couchman expects this year and next to be “absolutely booming.” With 16 projects currently on his plate it seems the boom has already started.

“We’re right at the beginning of a massive business opening,” Couchman says.

Source: Stephen Couchman, problem wrangler for Pixelcrew
Writer: Jon Zemke