Three Big Changes I Made In My Design Business This Year
2021 was an interesting year for… just about everyone. I made some big changes and some small changes this year, and as the quarter comes to a close, I thought it would be fun to reflect on three of the biggest things that changed for me in the past 365 days.
1. Choosing to Stay Small/Run a Lean Business
For the past few years I have been feeling a lot of pressure to grow – there’s a pretty popular sentiment circulating in the design world right now regarding the importance of hiring a team – combine this with the number of people who are doing studio buildouts and it doesn’t take much to feel like if you don’t have a handful of employees and a fancy office, you’re not a real designer. This was the first year that I finally listened to my gut and decided to fully embrace my desire to run a lean business.
What is my personal definition of staying small/lean? For me, it looks like continually choosing the simplest route. In every situation continuing to ask myself – do I need this? Will this create additional anxiety? Earlier this year I was ready to hire a junior designer, had my attorney develop the contract, had the application ready to go, the communication plan set to launch and at the last second scrapped it all together. My primary fear was hiring someone to work 40 hours per month and then needing or wanting to step back and being responsible for continuing to pay them despite a revenue slowdown. I realized that it would be much more productive and less stressful to work with supporting creatives on an individual project basis. I ended up raising my prices and started working slightly less to alleviate some of the burnout I was experiencing and referred overflow work to designers who were looking for referrals.
Right now my business is about as low-key as it gets: I design and creative direct everything, I hire illustrators every few months for one-off projects, I have a small studio in a building that is not super sexy aesthetically but extremely convenient with affordable rent (we’re talking less than $375/month ), and I have part-time project management help. I have realized in the past few years that life has a funny habit of throwing curveballs, and I really value staying nimble. It gives me a sense of power and control that allows me to channel my inner calm.
Staying nimble/lean means a few things for me:
I get to design more. In my last full-time job, I served as the Creative Director for a rapidly growing apparel brand. I loved it, but I found that I was often just telling people what to do, not actually doing it. The way my studio is set up now, I am in the Illustrator and InDesign trenches every single day and I. Love. It.
When I do require help, I source it with greater intention. When I do hire someone to help with a project, it’s on a one-time basis for a specific task. This means that I get to hire very deliberately and for the specific needs of the project. Moody, realist imagery? I am going to turn to a different illustrator than when looking for support for a modern cartoon-style dog mascot. Additionally, because I am not locked into paying a junior designer for a set number of hours per month, I have greater flexibility to offer high rates to the freelancers I turn to.
Less liability for my studio. Outsourcing work or having contracted designers on staff comes with variety of potential legal issues. Minimizing my exposure to this risk gives me peace of mind.
I can offer more competitive prices to business owners, making my services more affordable and accessible than they would be otherwise. With little overhead in my business, I have more freedom to price competitively and offer discounted or pro-bono services to non-profits and organizations that I believe in.
I have a deep sense of peace, knowing I have stayed true to myself. There is no right or wrong way to run a business – what works for me may or may not work for you. When I saw endless other designers promoting their team, hiring tons of employees, or having exquisite workspaces, I used to feel like I was doing something wrong. Like I needed to learn how to want that, or I would never make it. Now, I feel totally at peace. This is who I am, and for now, this is what I want. Onward.
2. Firm Project Timelines
Previously, I operated with a sort of “go with the flow” philosophy as it relates to project timelines, but this year I utilized really strict project timelines to keep things moving, and it was a hit. The increased structure that I thought would find stifling was actually oddly freeing – it keeps me and my clients moving, sets clear expectations, and facilitates my constant desire to have a “paper trail” of client sign-off on any and everything.
My process now:
Client books
Send project timeline for review and approval (Client signs off on all delivery dates for design materials and all due dates for their feedback)
Schedule strategy session call
With each design round I deliver, I write in the email “Feedback is due on x date” to keep the process moving and remind clients of the timeline that they approved
A sample timeline might look like this:
Week of November 8: Strategy Session
November 17: Round One Delivered
November 23: Round One Feedback Due
November 30: Round Two Delivered
December 2: Round Two Feedback Due
December 6: Round Three Delivered
Like anything – there are exceptions to this rule. And one thing I definitely didn’t change this year was my ability to go with the flow. I always say that when you have a lot of hard and fast rules – things you NEVER do in your business – it’s easy to get frustrated when you inevitably have to break those rules. So I always try to lean into my boundaries as just that – boundaries – moreso than “rules.” In the past 12 months I have had a few clients with specific circumstances that resulted in their project timelines totally ballooning out of control – and you know what? I just rolled with it. I always try to be as understanding as possible, but also be gentle in letting them know if delays will mean major changes to the schedule (ie, I’m booked for all of
3. A Four Day Work Week
This was a big change made out of necessity – we no longer have childcare on Fridays, so I switched to a four day work week! I added this to my contract, email signature, proposals, etc. so that there could be no questions, comments, or complaints when clients can’t get ahold of me on Fridays. And guess what – instead of getting angry, I have had two clients change their entire business to a four day work week as well! It has been really nice to get to spend some quality time with my child on Fridays before jumping into the weekend. I will still do a little email cleanup on Sunday evenings, but it feels like a real mental break that has helped me feel really excited to get to work every Monday morning. In reality, Fridays were always the most difficult day to get ahold of clients even when I did work a full day!
That’s a wrap! I would love to hear any aha moments you had or major changes you made this year!