Running a design business: what it's really like
Starting a design business is hugely rewarding but it takes hard work.
Many people start a business because they want more time or to have an ‘easier life’ by working for themselves.
But you are not going to build a successful business by working 9-5. In my experience having a business means working much longer hours than you would in a paid job, especially in the beginning.
In this post I want to set your expectations about what it’s really like to run your own design business.
Building a successful design business is about 30% design work and 70% business skills.
In the beginning you won’t have staff or others you can rely on and you will be responsible for wearing many hats. You will be in charge of marketing, sales, HR, client management, design, finance and more.
To manage all of these ‘hats’ you will need to create systems and processes for how you manage your time and how you break up all these different types of jobs so they are manageable and actually get done.
If you want to be a business owner you can’t go in to this thinking that you ‘aren’t good at marketing’ or ‘don’t understand finances’ or ‘you don’t like social media’.
As the owner of your business it is your responsibility to understand all of the various parts of your business, at least at a rudimentary level.
I have never outsourced an aspect of my business before I have made an effort to understand it and learn how to do it myself - at least at a basic level. The reason being that if I am going to outsource something I want to know if I am getting good value and I want to be able to have intelligent discussions with the people who help me with those tasks. That means I have had to teach myself a lot about many tasks I didn’t originally know very much about.
It can be tempting to skip over areas you don’t think you are interested in or good at (e.g. marketing or sales). But learn as much as you can about running your business as a whole so that in time, as your business grows, you can outsource things you don’t enjoy but do it with the confidence that you are getting good value for money.
To build a business you need realistic expectations.
It is going to take time to build up a client base and steady stream of work.
It is going to be a learning process to work out how to find clients and how to manage their projects successfully. Your business is unique to you and your circumstances and you are going to have to play around with the ideas until you find the right combination that works for you.
If you struggle with this or with finding clients then a great place to start is my lead generation short course. In a few hours you will learn the strategies that will actually help you get clients the right way - rather than waste time on strategies that cost money and don’t actually work (e.g. when people ask me whether letterbox drops are still a good idea - noooooo!)
You may not get it exactly right in the beginning.
Your business may have some evolutions before you hit the right thing. That's totally fine and that is what running a business is all about. I personally love the ‘game’ of business - trying things and seeing what works (and what doesn’t).
Don’t be afraid to try stuff and see what happens. Don’t always just do things the way everyone else does it. Be interesting and unique to you. If your idea fails just move on to another idea.
You also need to remember that the market is always right.
What do I mean by this? I mean that if you create your offers, set up your marketing and put yourself out there but still find that you are having trouble getting clients then you need to look inwards.
Are you offering a product or service that the market actually wants and needs?
Do you have a design aesthetic that people are looking for?
The market is always right and has a natural way of filtering out products or services that it doesn’t need or want.
That’s not a reflection on you as a designer or business owner. It just means that somewhere along the way you have misaligned the service or product you are offering with the client base you are trying to serve.
If you struggle to get clients you need to ultimately look at your product-market fit.
Do the people in your market actually want what you are offering?
Is there an actual need?
Can those clients actually pay?
If any of these things are out of alignment then you’ll struggle to get clients or build a profitable business.
Most businesses go through many iterations of products/services as their business starts and grows.
When I first started my business I was doing house styling. Over the years I gained experience, clients and success stories that meant that I increasingly started doing more complex projects for higher fees.
The last project I completed before I hung up my designing boots to move on to helping you guys start and grow your own businesses was a year long project of a 5 bedroom, full home renovation. This was my dream project to work on. But getting to work on projects like this took me many years of doing projects I didn’t enjoy quite as much.
So don’t worry if you have to start out working in an area that you don’t think is ultimately where you want to end up.
There are plenty of opportunities to start a career in design and plenty of opportunities to specialise and find a niche that fits your skills and experience perfectly. Some examples include wardrobe organisation, children’s rooms, kitchen design, bathroom design, full high end residential design, commercial design - the possibilities to specialise are endless.
So what’s the point of this post?
The main point of this post is to remind you that running a design business is not easy.
If you’re finding it difficult then that’s completely normal!
You are going to have to work hard, be committed, be flexible and adaptable and perhaps even do things you don’t necessarily want to do.
But if you persist and move forward bit by bit you will start to build up something that has value and that you can keep steering in different directions until you find exactly what you want and love to be doing.
So keep moving trying new things, drop what isn’t working and have don’t forget to have fun along the way!
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
