Profiting from change in the design industry

We are getting bombarded with feedback from designers who are trying to cope with all the change that’s happening. Every design agency owner is experiencing it; a great client suddenly goes quiet, or a proposal you’ve invested days preparing is lost and then a long-term client cuts their budget without warning.

A project is delayed and then the pipeline dries up. It’s easy to feel like your business is at the mercy of your clients.

The reality is that there are many things you simply can’t control.

You can’t control when a client decides they need a new brand, website or campaign or their budget. Nor can you control the economy, competitor pricing or the arrival of AI.

The answer is to stay focused on the things you can control, and don’t get discouraged or distracted by the things you can’t control.

Take control

While others panic, and dwell on the changes as they drop prices or reduce services, you should take control with the aim to increase profits and prepare your business for when opportunities arise.

The most profitable agencies don’t succeed just because they have better clients. They succeed because they have better systems for making commercial decisions. They’ve analysed what projects cost before they price them and they understand which clients create profit and which simply create work.
These agencies have mastered the pricing conversations and know where to add value and where to protect their margins.

Most importantly, they have tools that help them make consistent decisions instead of relying on instinct.

Getting your toolkit together

Rather than trying to predict the market, a toolkit helps you take control of the things that matter most.

Your toolkit should include practical tools to help you build a more profitable agency.

Reduce financial risk by understanding how your costing changes as your business grows.
Use an digital, dynamic costing and pricing calculator you can quickly update as your situation changes.
Develop a set of conversation scripts for those difficult pricing discussions.
Build a roadmap to move your agency beyond a traditional production business.
Identify the clients who build a profitable business—not just a busy one.
Develop a way to price your expertise while still responding to the client’s brief.
Research the psychology behind purchasing decisions and why clients don’t buy on price alone.
Build a template that breaks your proposals into its component parts to manage costs, contingencies, profit and value-adds.
Benchmark your business against practical industry standards to identify opportunities for improvement.

This set of tools will give you control over the things you can change. If you want to grab Toolkit like this take a look at out Costing, Pricing, Profit Toolkit.

Treat the tools as a set of levers you adjust to suit the client, the project and your agency.

Control = better business

You may not be able to control the economy, your competitors or your clients.
But you can control how you cost, how you price and how you build a business that is profitable, resilient and ready for whatever comes next.

As always, happy to discuss further, just email Greg

Greg Branson

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About Greg

Most business consultants come from a finance background. That’s where I differ. My background is firmly in the creative space. I have degrees in photography and education and my extra-curricula love is a dark room, analogue photography and vintage cameras – a money pit if ever there was.

That’s why my interest in the business of design. Carol and I loved running a design studio but were adamant it was a commercial business and our energies should be well-rewarded. I started research into working smarter not harder early in my career.

Since then I’ve sat with hundreds of Australian creative business owners and discussed what’s working and what’s not. I understand the practicalities of a studio, and have empathy for the challenges but I know good profit margins are attainable.

Always happy to chat, I can be contacted here.