Business survival isn't luck
Many creative businesses fail not from lack of talent, but from risks they never saw coming.
This ebook helps you identify and avoid the business-ending risks before they destroy everything you've built.
A survival guide written by designers who've weathered every crisis: from recessions to pandemics to industry disruption
Risk management for designers
Every week we hear about talented designers whose businesses collapsed. A key employee left and took major clients. A project went wrong and led to legal action. Rapid growth created cash flow problems that couldn’t be solved fast enough.
We wrote this book because we’ve survived it all: the paste-up era, computers, dot-com bubble, two recessions, GFC, and a global pandemic. We know which risks can actually kill a business and which ones just feel scary.
This isn’t theoretical risk management, it’s practical survival strategies from designers who’ve seen businesses thrive and die, and learned to spot the warning signs early.
What's included?
What could end your business:
✅ reputation damage from internal or external forces
✅ unplanned growth that destroys cash flow
✅ key person risk – losing critical team members
✅ financial insolvency from bad clients or projects
✅ intellectual property disputes and copyright issues
✅ failure to innovate while competitors disrupt
✅ insurance gaps that leave you exposed
✅ project mismanagement that leads to legal action
✅ unpaid and overdue ATO accounts
The risks are hiding in plain sight
Most creative business owners focus on the obvious risks: will clients pay, will we get enough work, can I cover wages? But the real business killers are the ones you don’t see coming until it’s too late.
A flood that damages computers. A successful project that grows beyond your capacity to deliver. A loyal client whose industry gets disrupted. These aren’t dramatic failures, they’re slow-motion disasters that smart business owners can prevent.
This ebook shows you how to spot these risks early and build defenses before you need them
This information is urgent, practical and tested
We are sharing the new business strategy we use with creative business owners who need more of the 'right' work.
Urgent
This isn’t about perfect business practices — it’s about survival. The risks covered in this book have ended real creative businesses run by talented people who simply didn’t see them coming.
Practical
Every risk comes with specific warning signs and actionable prevention strategies. Real scenarios, actual case studies, and step-by-step protection plans you can implement immediately.
Tested
Written by designers who’ve survived every industry crisis over 30+ years. These aren’t theoretical risks, they’re the actual threats that have destroyed businesses we’ve known and worked with.
Who is this ebook for?
What’s the risk: Risk management for creatives is perfect for:
✅ any creative business owner who wants to survive long-term
✅ studios experiencing rapid growth
✅ start-ups who want to start with their eyes open
✅ business owners who’ve never faced a real crisis
✅ creative leaders responsible for other people’s livelihoods
✅ studios without proper insurance or legal protection
✅ designers who think ‘it won’t happen to me’
✅ business owners planning for sustainable growth
✅ anyone who can’t afford to start over