Look at set of core activities found in every business, develop a system to analyse these activities and demonstrate which of them creates value. That’s a design audit.

We spend a lot of time talking about value add pricing but how much thought goes into getting more from our client $ within the studio.

There’s nothing worse than feeling your not in control of your business. Estimating, time tracking, managing clients and invoicing just mount up.

An ugly thought? No. It’s just caring about your client. They appreciate advice from someone that has their best interest at heart.

Clients are willing to make referrals. Using a value chain approach you can seek out potential clients within your clients’ business. This is a smart referral approach

The What clients want survey will research if COVID changed client/designer relationships.

A deeper understanding of the client/designer relationship will be come from asking designers what they think clients want.

Showing clients how to measure a return on design using a service blueprint that measures cots and revenue gains

Shifting design from tactical to strategic requires a change in thinking from producing outputs to producing outcomes

Analysing your clients and the type of work they want is a critical success factor. There are 5 steps in measuring design for client benefit,

Is your business fit for purpose? A fit for purpose business is in the right market at the right time. It has the right pricing structure, the right people in place and systems to make sure your business delivers today and in the future.

We know clients who use design well, those who integrate design throughout their business are more financially successful (think Apple). It’s proven: design helps streamline processes, explain procedures and build a brand culture.

Design strategy has become a common service offered, or term used, by many designers. Just Google it and you will get about 1,150,000,000 results. When you dig into this you find many interpretations of design strategy.