The Best Way to Start a Design Business and Be Successful

With technology development, web design is becoming easier and more accessible to everyone, which does not mean that everyone can design.

On the other hand, the need for web design and redesign is not lacking. Moreover, this need is growing along with the development of technology.

It is becoming more and more common for designers to decide that they want to work for themselves. They want to be their boss. To run a company, make decisions, and make more money.

It doesn’t matter if you just graduated or you worked for ten years in web development in Chicago. What matters is that you decided to start a design business.

You have decided that you no longer want someone to tell you how you should work. You finally prevailed and decided to give it a try. You want to run a design business on your own.

Here are some essential steps on how to run your design business successfully.

Start with a business plan. 

The business plan is the most important document of your company. It describes the goals, mission, and vision of your business, as well as the way you plan to implement them.

 You need a business plan to see if your ideas are achievable and realistic. It is a roadmap that your business needs to take to achieve its goal, mission, and vision. Along with your business plan, you will need to create an LLC for your new business.

 Writing a business plan involves detailed research and analysis of the circumstances in which you will operate. You are the best person to assess what is a risk for your business, what is cost-effective, what project you are ready to accept, and which types of projects you don’t want to consider at all.

On the other hand, it is useful to have a business plan because individual cities/states or organizations offer incentives to start new businesses. If your company is new on the market, any kind of incentives could be helpful for your business.

1. Assemble a team.
2. It isn’t simple to run an extensive web design project.
3. You first receive an order from a customer. A qualified person is needed to see if you meet the criteria. So after that, an action plan is developed. A manager is here to manage the project. Then someone needs to do the design. In the meantime, communication with the client should take place. Yes, a team is needed. 
4. You are committed to a long-term project. Therefore, you need to surround yourself with diligent and loyal partners. Your relationship and your joint work form the pillars of the company’s progress and development.

A division into two teams is advised: 

• The design team: Project Manager, Requirements Analyst, UI/UX Designer, Web Developer and QA Engineer.
• The communications team: Copywriter, Digital Marketing Specialist.

1. Invest in your website. 

Since you decided to start a company and invest your time and money into the website design business, take your website design as your first and essential project. Given that you will mostly be present on the internet, it is unquestionable that you have a top-notch website.

Your website is the first and most important point of your company’s portfolio. This is what you will show to your first clients. It speaks for yourself.

Find your first clients. 

Once you’ve written a business plan, assembled a team, and created a website, it’s time to start hunting for clients. The best practice is to introduce yourself to local businesses that need some of the services you offer, be it a logo, brochures, or website design.

The point is: someone needs your service. In some cases, you can work without a financial gain. But, as already emphasized above, it is significant to build a portfolio for your business.

With a portfolio filled with quality content, searching for clients will become easier. Clients will have an idea of who they are engaging in business cooperation with. Later on, you can offer services that you have specialized in. 

Specialize in one particular field. 

Being a generalist is acceptable during the starting phase of your business. Being a generalist means accepting all projects until you build a portfolio. And it is justified, given that you are new to the market.

But later on, it is significant to get a status of a specialist in one particular field. That’s the way to go from zero to hero.

Although this move seems to narrow your field of action, don’t worry. The market is looking for specialists, not generalists.

Clients value specialists. When someone starts earning more thanks to your mastery, they will show their gratitude by recommending your business. 

Deliver on time.

One of the things that makes you a professional in the business you do is meeting deadlines. This habit must be acquired as soon as possible. Once you start breaking deadlines, you’ll have a hard time getting back on track.

By respecting deadlines, you respect the client. You respect your mutual agreement on the work you have agreed upon. There is no division into important and unimportant clients. Every client is important.

Also, meeting deadlines means that your company has good time management. Quality time management opens the possibility of participating in several projects simultaneously.

Be unique. 

By acquiring uniqueness, you automatically become more recognizable in the market. Being unique is what sets you apart from other players.

But to become unique requires a lot of effort and commitment. That’s why you need to have a good team, why you need to meet deadlines, why you need to be a specialist.

Uniqueness is, after all, a matter of respect.

Value your work. 

Well-paid work means that you value the time and knowledge invested in that work. Some would say that making a logo is a couple of hours of work for you, but you are aware of the fact that you have invested years of your life in studying techniques and programs to learn how to make that logo that will immediately catch the eye of passers-by.

On the other hand, try to be affordable to your defined target group or a new client. If you realize that the client does not have significant financial resources, try to find an agreement that suits both parties.

The cost of your work grows along with the experience and references you get from your clients.

Be patient, but appreciate your work.

2. Include down payments in your business practice

It is not uncommon for a client to receive a service you have done for him and disappear in vain. Such clients are not that common, but they do exist.

One should be careful in the design business. That is why the down payment is so important.

On the other hand, the down payment is important because it is a kind of tacit agreement that the work will be completed. It gives you the enthusiasm to get the job done, and it takes the burden off the client of thinking about whether the job will be done. The down payment is a positive tool for both parties.

Down payment in combination with a contract is a winning combination. 

But we will talk about that later.

Learn how to communicate. 

An important rule in the web design business is patience. The web designer should be patient when listening to the client’s requests and demands. Once the client makes the requests, take some time to make a proposal. 

Also, communication should be continuous until the work is finished. It is important to have a dialogue. By using dialogue, you avoid problems that may arise later.

On the other hand, clients can be too demanding. It is important for a web design business owner to learn to say who is in charge. This prevents potential interference in the business.

Create a contract for every project.

In this case, having a contract is important for one simple reason: you will do the job, and the client will pay you for it. It also includes deadlines, terms and conditions. The contract obliges both parties to abide by the agreement.

Also, you can combine a down payment with contract. As we already mentioned, down payment obliges both you and your client that you will finish the job. If you put it in the contract, both you and your client are safe and protected.

3. Attend seminars and conferences

In the era of digitalization, it is really difficult to follow all possible trends, especially trends that appear in an industry like this. 

Although designers are often in some kind of collusion, it is impossible to capture all possible developments from the world of web design.

That is why seminars and conferences are organized. To present the latest trends and to gather the best experts in the field in one place.

The significance of attending this type of event is immeasurable. In addition to the fact that you can gain new knowledge and meet new contacts at seminars, these events represent a team building activity.

And the more connected the team, the more unique and successful the company is.

Author bio

Travis Dillard is a business consultant and an organizational psychologist based in Arlington, Texas. Passionate about marketing, social networks, and business in general. In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing for DigitalStrategyOne.