Graphic designers must master many visual disciplines in order to create work that will make an impact. Designers are students of form, composition, color, type, contrast, imagery, and pattern. A good designer knows how subtle effects of font choice, or image size, or color balance will impact their designs. Designers will labor over font sizes, […]
Category Archives: Money
When you, as an owner of a design practice, face business realities like finances, schedules, sales, and employee turnover—does the creative part of your soul start to shrivel? Does it feel like all the creativity gets sucked out of the room? As an artist or designer, you live with an uneasy tension between your creative […]
What’s your ideal hourly rate? I bet it’s higher that you’re charging today, right? You should start charging that ideal future rate today. Before I explain why and how first let me say that I strongly advise my clients against charging by the hour at all. For a variety of reasons, this is a self-defeating […]
If you don’t have time to read this post (or finish reading it since you’ve already started) you really should finish this one. When I consult design firms I use a methodology I call the 5M Assessment. It evaluates the firm, or the freelance practice, from five vital perspectives Money, Measurement, Marketing, Management and Motivation. […]
When I was transitioning from the start up phase of my web design company to managing a growing firm, I was often overwhelmed by how many things there were to do! Between doing some of the actual work (which had become an exclusively night and weekend activity), to managing employees, to hiring, to marketing, to […]
As a part of my marketing process for Rewarding Toil I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn reviewing design firm websites. Sadly, the frequency with which my research leads to 404 page is far too great. Design firms go out of business with sobering regularity.
How do you know if it’s time to hire a business consultant? Consultants are typically an expensive investment. How do you know when you need to make it? As a consultant, and as someone who has hired consultants, I think just about any design firm would benefit by hiring a consultant with experience in their […]
Contending with cash flow can be one of the more frustrating aspects of managing your firm’s finances. But before we look at some solutions, you should first consider if what you think is a cash flow problem might actually be a profitability problem. After reassuring yourself that the ups and downs of receivables and expenses […]
The book of Ecclesiastes begins, “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” If your design firm is not operating profitably then the answer to this question is probably, “not much.” Of course you could be profitable and still not have much […]
Whether you’re a freelancer or an agency principal, setting your firm’s target hourly rate is a crucial decision. While I would advise my clients not to bill by the hour, setting a target rate is essential for estimating projects and evaluating your profitability. Your target rate must take several things into consideration. Most importantly your […]
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