How We Quickly Grew Our Six-Figure Design Business
Not too long ago, we were recent college grads with a big, scary dream to launch a successful design business... [SPOILER ALERT] We did it and are now running the brand and web design business of our dreams! And we 100% believe you can too.
And in this post, we’re sharing the real story of what it looked like to grow our brand and web design business to six-figures in less than two years.
How It All Started
When I (Cassidy) met Amanda, I was a fresh college grad who had been freelancing in many creative endeavors but had just decided that I wanted to really pursue Squarespace web design and photography.
Amanda was about to start her last semester of school for graphic design and had just launched her graphic design business, Foxtrot Branding!
Amanda hired me for brand photos for this new business, and we quickly realized how our career goals totally aligned and that we had super complementary creative skills. One week later, we were getting our business license and opening a business bank account.
If this sounds like the girl boss, business version of a rom-com, that’s because it basically is. 😂
What Did Starting Our Design Business Actually Look Like?
I joke that I miss the start-up energy I used to have because the excitement of starting a new business is literally all-consuming.
We immediately started brainstorming our service offerings and looking for friends who could be our first clients.
Amanda had already established our business name and logo, so we worked together to create our website which we were super proud of, but looking back now, it was….pretty rough. 😂
Our very first client was a friend who wanted to start taking her blog more seriously, so she paid us $200 to create branding and a web design.
From there, we worked hard to book clients, nail down our offerings, and really figure out who Foxtrot was and what we specialized in.
With each project, we incrementally raised our prices and worked our way to charging $15k+ for brand and web design.
What Really Worked for Us
Our first year of business was truly a bunch of trial and error, but here are the things that really worked for us:
We connected with and tapped into our local community
We were OPEN to rolling with whichever services, clients, or marketing tactics worked best
We were optimistic (even when something didn’t work out the way we planned, we viewed it as a learning experience)
We got clear on the fundamentals of good design (Thank you StoryBrand!)
We were super consistent with our Instagram presence from pretty much day one
We put ourselves out there in every organic (not paid) way we could: social platforms, networking events, in-person fliers, asking for referrals, etc.)
We always did our best to create a great client experience that would create raving clients who wanted to share about us with their friends
Areas That Were More of a Struggle
These are some areas of our startup days that definitely needed improvement or took time to grow into:
We had a lot of blindspots as to what our services & pricing should look like
Our contracts were lacking in some industry-specific clauses that are essential for designers
It took time to get to the point of being consistently profitable- income was not guaranteed
We often acted as “order takers” with clients, rather than guiding experts
We had a hard time setting boundaries with clients
Our process was ALL over the place and we kind of started from scratch with every client when it came to timeline, documents, and meetings.
What Would We Change?
So many of those things on that list of struggles could have been avoided if we had a design mentor to help us understand things like the going rate for design services, key things to include in our contract, or how to position ourselves as experts with clients.
And, while these are things you can eventually figure out on your own, having guidance from designers who have been there before will save you from so much unnecessary stress and wasted time.
That’s exactly why we are so open with you all when it comes to resources and education- we want to help you not make the same mistakes we did, and have that crucial support and encouragement you need when starting your own business.
Is a Thriving Design Business Possible For You Too?
Something we’ve really made an effort to speak more about is how unique every designer’s situation is.
Your story will not look exactly like ours and that’s a good thing! We all bring different backgrounds and experiences to our dreams of starting a design business and your story will be unique to your life journey.
Something I’ve been saying a lot lately is, that you don’t have to have a formal background in design or even years of experience to be successful; what you do need is a willingness to learn new things, a positive outlook, and people who will support you.
If this is your dream, today is the day to start pursuing it!
