A guide to the financial side of design
This is a practical guide for designers — what you need to know about finance to manage a successful creative business.
Business management isn't part of the design curriculum and as a result many designers lack confidence around numbers, figures and finance.
This ebook aims to change all of that. It's a practical guide to the finances of a design studio written by designers for designers.
Finance in a studio de-mystified
Design studios don’t go bust because they can’t deliver good design. They go bust because they don’t manage their finances to remain viable, and that’s sad because understanding the numbers isn’t hard. It’s just not part of most designers’ education.
Problem is, designers do need to understand finance, at least enough to understand and brief their accountant. This ebook will help unravel the numbers behind a studio.
Showing not telling
Finance in a design studio is practical. Step by step we de-mystify reports creative business owners need to understand – like a Profit and Loss statement.
P+L’s are gold. They’re valuable to assess the profitability of short term (a single project), mid-term (a month) and annual (a year) spans. And better than that, assemble a sequence of reports and they’re brilliant to identify trends.
The good news is, they’re not hard to read – this book explains how.
There's more than one way to run a business
In a many industry sectors, business owners hire and work alongside financial experts. That doesn’t usually happen in many creative businesses which means our financial expert is most likely a subcontractor, someone outside our business.
That makes it imperative creative business owners need to know how to brief, and debrief with confidence and clarity. This ebook is written to help you do that.
I struggled to comprehend the finances in my studio before I found this book. It now sits permanently on my desk. It’s must go-to reference guide, especially useful when I speak to my accountant.
Suzanne, Design studio owner, Sydney, New South Wales
“I went from feeling in control presenting designers to feeling like an idiot sitting infront of my accountant. This book stopped that, I gained enough confidence to ask questions and demand respect.”
Design studio owner, Canberra.”
Talking money with clients
Most designer’s world revolves around clients needs and wants, so their ability to pay promptly and completely is imperative to the success of a creative business.
That means designers must have clarity and confidence talking money with clients. A solid understanding of the numbers in your estimate makes that easier.
Understanding figures
Finance for designers content includes:
- how to understand a profit and loss statement
- how to calculate hourly rates
- understanding different cost structures
- understanding different revenue streams
- discussion about the four most common problems in a studio: cash flow, debtors, profitability and capital finance.
- how to develop short and long-term financial measures.