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Any advice for a struggling young entrepreneur?

by soliddesign
18 replies
Ok, so I'm a graphic designer, and aspiring business owner, who's started my own studio with a developer who I partnered with. I'm 26. This is my first attempt at a business.

I started it because I hate taking orders to degrade my work on the basis of old ideas that don't hold up. I've watched my boss charge $100 an hour for the work I did start to finish and I want a piece of the pie, and I don't want to spend 20 years in the trenches to get it. I made up my mind I want out of the rat race before I'm 30. I make 43k, and if I stay on this course, in 10 years I probably won't be making more than 65k tops. This is not where I want to be! I'm pretty good at what I do, and fairly precocious in terms of my knowledge on marketing, branding, design, and business. So I partnered with a like-minded very sharp programmer and we set-off to make a company.

I decided early on to take it slow to start, since I'm moonlighting, in addition to spending time with my family (I have a fiancee and a young son). This is not to say I've been taking it easy by any means. I've been working my ass off for an entire year now. I work all day and all night, only taking off a night or two a week to spend some time with my family.

We did two websites, which were jobs we scored through connections, and we pumped all of the money back into the business. We bought the LLC, our site is done, and now is the time to start marketing. I've been reading a lot of books on the subject. We're trying to market ourselves as premium design and branding studio that makes high-end quality affordable to smaller businesses/startups. We are lean so our prices are low-midrange.

The problem is all of the damn local competition out there!! And the worst part is that most of it is **** quality, but I've found that it doesn't matter as much as I thought. We are more modern and higher quality than 85% of the competition in my area. A lot of the websites they do look like they jumped out of 1998. I thought this would be enough of a differentiator, but I'm finding it much more difficult that I anticipated to break into the local market. Especially since I am still moonlighting to support my family.

I know many of you might see me as a starry-eyed kid who thinks I'm going to conquer the world. But that's not true. I have a very level-head and realistic goals. I just want a successful and sustainable regional business. My ultimate goal is to quit my 9-5 and to make more money than I could ever dream of making as a worker drone.

I realize web design is a competitive field. I accept that, because I also know there's a lot of work out there to be had. I also know that we do it better than the other players in our area. I work at a local agency during the day, so I have an insider's view on how things play-out here. These guys are surviving on their history, connections, and referrals, not the quality or integrity of their work, which is dated and dry.

Our plan (my partner and I) was to both save up about 5 grand for a rainy-day fund from our first 5-10 clients to be able to quit our job. We can't get clients!! To be fair, we're just getting into local networking now, but we've been at the online stuff for a while (blogging, social media, social bookmarking, css galleries, forums, craigslist, job boards, elance, etc)

Can any of you seasoned entrepreneurs offer this newbie any advice? I know there's no magic pill for success, but I've been pacing myself, being very thorough and deliberately trying not to jump in too fast. At the same time, I've reached the point of sink or swim and I need help.

I want to compete, I want to thrive. I know I have the talent and knowledge as far as my craft goes, but I need to market and I need clients.

Help me Warriors!

Best,

Victor
#advice #entrepreneur #struggling #young
  • Profile picture of the author gmscreative
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    • Profile picture of the author soliddesign
      Thanks for the advice, the "3 year" thing is really comforting. It creates a means to an end of sorts which is nice. Some of the things you mentioned, we are starting to get into; the blog, hosting, and we're going to be creating a buzz piece to give away to collect emails. We're actually working on our first simultaneous email/snail mail targeted campaign. I've read a lot of success stories about this tactic. I hope it works well for both of us. I will definitely hit you up on twitter.

      Good luck and thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Neil B
    Hi Victor

    Ahhh your story sounds so familar, I've had to struggle with the whole 'quality' issue myself.

    One of the biggest problems is 'design' is subjective, what you and I like would be totally different to our clients, I've even done work without adding my designed by link to because I feel the site looks awful BUT it's what the client wanted.

    I've been in the business from the early days back in the mid 90's built up and sold 2 media/web design business and these days things are very different, so much competition, the economic stituation etc

    So the solution for me was to cut out pretty much all of the design process, focus on using high quality wordpress templates....and believe me the clients are more than happy with that.

    I know thats probably not what you wanted to hear but the cold hard truth about being in business for yourself is you need to be doing business or you dont eat...and I've learnt that the hard way

    Neil
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  • Profile picture of the author yesucandoit
    No offense if your making 43k a year you ain't struggling unless your trying to live like Donald Trump.

    Patience a plan and Timing are important in anything.

    Just add a little courage and when time is right act upon it.

    You will know.
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    • Profile picture of the author soliddesign
      Thanks for the replies guys, all great advice. It really makes me think to hear different outlooks on things. I want to eventually be someone who offers premium services to mid-large size companies who are willing to pay for actual tailored design.

      At the same time I recognize what you all are basically saying, is that you do what you have to in order to survive.

      Oh and 43k is not a lot when you're the sole breadwinner in a family of 3 and you've got student loan debt and such.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillDL
    What are your prices like? People (including myself) hate "contact us for a quote". Most will just move on to another designer that publishes their rates. They don't want to fell embarrassed if the project is way outside their budget, or end up getting a hard sale and callbacks if they are price shopping.
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  • Profile picture of the author Voasi
    Here's a piece of advice I gave a few friends of mine who started to do the same thing down here in Los Angeles...

    SPECIALIZE.

    Be the best at something very specific. And when I say specific, I mean INDUSTRY specific. Be the BEST real estate web designers. Be the best Church web designers. Be the best mortgage designers. Be the best car dealership designers.

    This is especially important when you're first starting out, because you don't have a lot of money to work with, so marketing/advertising (and them money associated with doing them) become extremely important. You want to make every dollar count when you're marketing. Much easier to market to a specific demographic then to just buy some ad space in your local newspaper that says, "We do Web Design... And We're New... Work with US!"

    Plus, it keeps you focused on a demographic you can make better and create custom solutions that separate you from your demographic-specific competitors. For instance...

    If you're going to be the best car dealership designers on the planet, then after doing your homework, you know you have about 30 actual competitors. Then you can see what they're doing, make it better. Then get in-bed with the demographic and make designs/coding that are even better then what's out there. BAM!

    OR...

    You could just be "designers" and "coders" and "we'll make it happen for you"... which is what you're competitors are doing/saying... all 100,000 of them.

    Food for thought.
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    • Profile picture of the author soliddesign
      Thanks for the advice Voasi, We actually are working on a simultaneous email/snail mail marketing campaign right now, targeting specifically renewable energy providers. We have one site under our belt in this industry, so we decided to put together a case study from it and bundle it into a nice little targeted package for other renewable energy companies. I've read that a lot of people have had success with this method so hopefully it works for us. The nice part is, it's cheap! If you get one website, it pays for itself. Renewable energy is potentially a great niche too, because it's currently booming with federal subsidies, plus it's a noble cause anyone can feel good about getting behind. If it does play out, we're thinking about attending some renewable energy conferences, and digging even deeper into this niche.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Bright
    Just a quick note, I am not a designer but saw your thread, have you started to build an email list, do you send regular helpful info to previous clients that makes them think in terms of you, e..g little article on why your brand image does matter etc... Have you done Youtube videos showcasing your work or walking people through the ins and outs of good branding and imaging.

    Seperate yourself from the competiton by delivering more value. When I started my business I was told that you have to consistently ask yourself how can I give $100 of value and only charge $10.

    Hope this helps and keep going my friend
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  • Profile picture of the author grin
    Well that sounds just about IDENTICAL to when I was 26 and started doing business as a designer. Simple fact is that designers are an interesting mix in business. On one hand you have a style of thinking in intangible terms and influence in visual design. On the other hand, no one else does that LOL. I had to constantly face the fact that ANYONE who makes money is always a salesman. Then there is everyone else, who collects a check given to them. So as much as I wanted to sit around a desk and draw all day long, I had to go out and sell 80% of the time - then manage those accounts. Thing is that designers can see the workload it takes to create and few others understand it. So from one point of view you are looking at burning a candle at both ends - which does not have to be true, but it often does turn out like that.

    I think any designer can do it all solo or small term; but eventually you are going to have to hire out the design work. Taking on a business as a graphic designer puts you in the same position as an art director by default. So while it is absolutely wonderful to see your own handy work show up all over, its far better to just design the concept, manage the output and concentrate on business and sales. It will all still be your work, as you are the one that has to translate the customers needs, you are the one who approves the final product and you are the one putting your neck out in the world in order to make money. Also, you have to consider if you start making money and create a stable business, you have to start extending that fortune out to the artists who are struggling to get experience. I mention all that, because as you are building a business, sales can take a serious amount of time.

    Even in the simplest terms you have to always do:

    Find new business
    First Meeting to understand each other
    Prepare proposals and compositions
    Write up the contract
    Meet to finalize contract
    Begin the work and so on.

    Then do that at least once a week, and your funnel will begin to fill up with clients and more importantly WORKLOAD.

    So, two hours in the morning getting new business wrangled up. Two hours meeting with people during the day and two hours at night organizing your thoughts and getting paperwork ready like contracts and proposals. That is not necessarily the exact way to do it, but you get the idea that it can get out of hand or take up time easily. And I have not even mentioned going to clubs and function events or doing the bar thing where you get tons of clients just from hanging out at parties and get togethers during the week.

    I do have to add this bit of experience that only designers will get. While you are working, everyone thinks you are drinking sodas and daydreaming. The fact is that your brain uses more energy than anything else. It's exhausting to get dragged across multiple ideas and the workload to implement them and THEN on top of that do SALES? Totally possible to do, but often under-appreciated. So don't devalue your work and get in a position quick that is balanced with how much time you put in and how much money you are taking in.
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    • Profile picture of the author Neil B
      Originally Posted by grin View Post

      Well that sounds just about IDENTICAL to when I was 26 and started doing business as a designer. Simple fact is that designers are an interesting mix in business. On one hand you have a style of thinking in intangible terms and influence in visual design. On the other hand, no one else does that LOL. I had to constantly face the fact that ANYONE who makes money is always a salesman. Then there is everyone else, who collects a check given to them. So as much as I wanted to sit around a desk and draw all day long, I had to go out and sell 80% of the time - then manage those accounts. Thing is that designers can see the workload it takes to create and few others understand it. So from one point of view you are looking at burning a candle at both ends - which does not have to be true, but it often does turn out like that.

      I think any designer can do it all solo or small term; but eventually you are going to have to hire out the design work. Taking on a business as a graphic designer puts you in the same position as an art director by default. So while it is absolutely wonderful to see your own handy work show up all over, its far better to just design the concept, manage the output and concentrate on business and sales. It will all still be your work, as you are the one that has to translate the customers needs, you are the one who approves the final product and you are the one putting your neck out in the world in order to make money. Also, you have to consider if you start making money and create a stable business, you have to start extending that fortune out to the artists who are struggling to get experience. I mention all that, because as you are building a business, sales can take a serious amount of time.

      Even in the simplest terms you have to always do:

      Find new business
      First Meeting to understand each other
      Prepare proposals and compositions
      Write up the contract
      Meet to finalize contract
      Begin the work and so on.

      Then do that at least once a week, and your funnel will begin to fill up with clients and more importantly WORKLOAD.

      So, two hours in the morning getting new business wrangled up. Two hours meeting with people during the day and two hours at night organizing your thoughts and getting paperwork ready like contracts and proposals. That is not necessarily the exact way to do it, but you get the idea that it can get out of hand or take up time easily. And I have not even mentioned going to clubs and function events or doing the bar thing where you get tons of clients just from hanging out at parties and get togethers during the week.

      I do have to add this bit of experience that only designers will get. While you are working, everyone thinks you are drinking sodas and daydreaming. The fact is that your brain uses more energy than anything else. It's exhausting to get dragged across multiple ideas and the workload to implement them and THEN on top of that do SALES? Totally possible to do, but often under-appreciated. So don't devalue your work and get in a position quick that is balanced with how much time you put in and how much money you are taking in.

      GREAT post Grin...ALL VERY TRUE!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author grin
    Also had a major thought about competition and designers or even any professional services. You are not a product that is pre-packed and ready to ship just like the 100,000 others. People are not even going to do business with you because your work looks a certain way. They are always going to work with you because they want to work with YOU.

    When I was primarily a photographer I would get it from all angles about competition. I would meet people and when they heard I was a photographer would get this uncomfortable look on their face. Then "admit" they were friends with my competition just to save themselves from any faux paux. I would just tell them "I have no competition" and neither does the other guy. Photographers and artists are far too unique and competitors sell the same product - I am not the SAME as the other guy - so therefore I really admire that artist and their skill. Now, Walmart and Target are competitors - they both have Sony products to sell. You have a web site service and the other guy has a web site service - but these are not products and will only be implemented in how YOU do it, so again its not the same and its not competition. Those are colleagues - and the more of those you have the more the market is available to purchase from you. A good example of this is the Alpaca market which has a growing but barely visible market, so as many people as they have its harder to sell. When you have TONS of "other guys" its much easier to walk in and say "I do web" and they automatically get what you mean (to an extent). It's not about the product, its about the relationships you build AND these days its so damn easy to rise to the top. People get into doing IT based business and they often have their wheels slow down from the spin rate as when they first started. All you have to do is be there when that curved break-point hits and pick up the pieces; and then you will find that out of all the 1000's of other guys you are actually in a group about 10% of the whole. That right there ought to keep your mood as you go out and get objections, very few understand this and they are often trying to do very simple tasks that they find difficult as hell to understand themselves.
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    • Profile picture of the author IsGabeW
      Hey SolidDesign...Admittingly I read your post but not much of the others...but my advice would be to not think so locally. If your product is really that good, you are probably better than many other designers out there. Therefore think bigger. There are people all over the world who need solid English speaking designers. Have you tried Elance.com? You wont get rich from Elance, but you will gain international exposure. Really pushing that you are American (assuming) can really close some deals quite quick. Then from these clients, you can get more and more international work.

      Also, as you are on Warrior Forum, you are probably ahead of many other designers in regards to marketing. So my advice would be to come up with an idea which uses your current skills, but in a different way. For example, I came across this site the other day, Landing Pages: Create, Publish & A/B Test Without I.T. | Unbounce. You would probably use your design experience to come up with an idea like this, but better.

      Yes its hard, but the possibilities are endless if you think of new and creative ways to use your current design and marketing skills.

      Just think 'out of the box' and try many different things...one of them will work...and remain positive!

      -GabeW
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    • Profile picture of the author soliddesign
      Wow grin,

      I don't even know where to begin. Your reply was incredibly insightful and uplifting to me. You make a good point about selling, I hadn't considered precisely how much marketing/selling time is really required to sustain a business.

      I'm not opposed to contract/hiring when the time is right. To me it seems like a far off fantasy at this point, but it would be great nonetheless.

      I love the idea of scheduling-out specific marketing/sales tasks to keep work in the pipeline. I'm going to take that tidbit of advice and develop a weekly regimen to make sure it gets the attention it deserves/needs.

      As for the competition, I love your outlook and it certainly puts the mind at ease to consider the idea that you have no competition. Although it seems a tad bit idealistic, when all that matters is the bottom line. I made up my mind I didn't want to become obsessed with the competition, but who was I kidding?
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  • Profile picture of the author paintbrush4u
    I like this thread... and a lot of good advice... to taken with a grain of salt....but good nevertheless....
    My advice....:Stop Struggling...PERIOD
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  • Profile picture of the author soliddesign
    Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone for all of your input, I copied the entire post into my evernote, and am pulling it out into actionable steps.

    Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author wrcato2
    Watch the "Apprentice" Read the Don's books and hire a copy writer. that should do
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    • Profile picture of the author soliddesign
      Originally Posted by wrcato2 View Post

      Watch the "Apprentice" Read the Don's books and hire a copy writer. that should do
      Just curious, why did you suggest the copywriter?
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