Studios relying on referrals to grow can slowly lose control of their business. Much better to have a strategic plan for growth, targeted industry sectors and a new business process.

Positioning a creative business to attract (the right) new business is our most-requested activity. It’s an area we enjoy because it’s not complicated, but to be successful you must be forensic with the detail. That’s what makes it interesting…

Any conversation about pricing eventually turns to talking about retainers — an agreement where a client purchases an agreed amount of a designer’s time each month. This article questions whether retainers only valid for transactional work?

Any conversation about pricing eventually turns to talking about retainers — an agreement where a client purchases an agreed amount of a designer’s time each month. This article questions whether retainers only valid for transactional work?

Imposter syndrome is common in the creative industry. It is often linked to perfectionism, and that’s perceived as a female trait. So, do onl female creatives who get imposter syndrome?

It’s a candidate’s market at the moment. Many studios/agencies are finding it difficult to find mid-senior designers but we know there’s a ready supply of graduates. Is hiring a junior a viable option? Consider this…

We all know it’s easier to get more work from existing clients than find new clients. Here are three great examples of creatives doing just that…

Recently I was a guest on a Streamtime Webinar talking about DIY business healthchecks.
We discussed the reports you can pull from project management software to check valuable profits aren’t leaking.
This is the stuff I wish I had have said…

So, this is our life now – working remotely and meeting virtually. So much seems to have changed but in reality most designers still have the same services to offer the same clients.

It is unprecedented times and it’s easy to feel overawed by the scale of this pandemic. But the same way you eat an elephant – bite-by-bite, is the same way that design studio owners can survive.

Everything a designer does has impact – our work has financial, social, environmental and value-based impacts on society. It’s up to individuals whether than impact is positive, or negative.

It is part of a designer’s role to give clients a framework in which to give their feedback. A framework helps moves the feedback from the subjective ‘I don’t like orange’ to a more appropriate, and useful objective responses.