How I grew my design business to six figures in under 2 years
I never really thought about opening my own business.
I mean, I’d dreamed about it, but being tied to a desk working for someone else, I never allowed myself to actually go for it. Instead, I resigned myself to the hamster wheel and spent my weeks dreaming of Friday and my weekends dreading Monday (we’ve all been there).
This is probably a good time to clarify: it wasn’t all bad. My years spent working the daily grind alongside senior designers laid the foundations for my business acumen and helped me understand, refine and create the processes I’ve created now I’m running my own show. During these early years, my partner and I began the process of applying for a loan to purchase our first home together.
Then, Covid happened.
Like many unlucky people, I found myself on the receiving end of the dreaded ‘R’ word: redundancy.
Cue the panic.
We hit the ‘Pause’ button on our home loan while I hunted for a new job. Eventually, I landed a 6 month maternity contract with an incredible Creative Marketing Agency in my hometown, Brisbane. The best bit: it was a part time, work from home position, and long enough that we could get our home loan sorted. The scary bit: my financial safety net was on very limited time.
I had six months before I’d be out of work again.
So, I decided to make a go of it on my own. I needed the extra cash, and given I was working part time hours, I’d finally have the time to channel real energy into building the thriving business I’d only ever dreamed of.
As they say: pressure creates diamonds.
Step One: Build an Audience
Knowing one of the first things I’d need was a presence in the industry, I set to work building an audience via my chosen social media channels: Instagram and Facebook. As a longtime fan of Kristy Campbell (of Pink Pony Creative), taking part in her 100 day design challenge seemed like a great place to start.
I committed to posting something every day for 100 days, in the hope that I’d walk away having built a habit of consistently showing up online and therefore giving the good old algorithm enough love that my page would organically grow and attract my ideal clients.
Over the 100 days, I refined my brand style, developed my brand voice and created content which aligned with my newly formed content pillars. I used carousels, static posts and reels to educate my audience, showcase my work and give behind the scenes insights into my journey. Soon enough, my engagement started to increase, my inbox started to receive inquiries and my calendar began to fill with new clients. I set up monthly Facebook and Instagram ads to boost my exposure and develop my skills in paid advertising.
But what I didn’t expect was the way the challenge helped to evolve my confidence, creativity and business skills. I invested in myself fully, enrolling in courses to help refine my design skills and to learn brand strategy. It wasn’t easy, but I know committing fully was the key to catapulting my little side hustle into the dynamic design studio I have today.
Step Two: Know your worth
As my client base began to grow, I began to make a habit of reevaluating my prices. To me, raising my prices meant a couple of important things:
I was able to feel more appropriately compensated for my time, resources and skills,
My capacity to select clients who shared my values and principles improved, and
I became more attractive to higher paying clients, who were searching for a more boutique agency feeling
And, of course, it gave me greater confidence as my revenue increased, knowing I was well on my way to reaching my goals.
Step Three: Outsource
The downside of running a service based business is your clients are paying for your skillset. This means the transition from working for your business to working on it can be really difficult. However, as my calendar filled with new clients, I found myself needing to outsource some of my administrative and smaller design tasks in order to manage my new (and very much welcomed) workload. What this gave me was the freedom I needed to carve out that ever-important time for working on my own marketing to continue my rate of growth.
However, what it also meant was a natural progression into a leadership position within my own business. I began mentoring the people I hired, and I learned how to effectively delegate tasks so they were done to my standard (rather than winding up redoing them and double handling!).
Step Four: Expand
This shift coincided with my realisation that clients often wanted more than just branding and design work. Clients wanted a ‘one stop’ design agency, but often they didn’t really know it. So I began searching for freelancers to bring on board so I could expand my menu to offer copywriting, product photography, website development as well as graphic design.
The maternity leave contract ended right about this time, our home was ready to move into soon after, and I’ve never once looked back. In two years, I’ve gone from uncertain, unconfident and unclear on my vision to directing a rapidly growing, living and breathing design business.
I am so grateful I get to wake up each day, do what I love, and do it my way.
Key Takeaways:
To summarise, here’s my key pieces of advice to those of you wanting to chase your dreams and turn your side hustle into a full time gig:
Consistency. This is the big one! Yes, it’s hard to get started. But just like any good investment, your time and effort is SO worth it. Prioritise showing up over everything else, even if it costs you work time in the beginning. Once you’re in the habit, it becomes so much quicker to create and confidently release content. If it was easy, everyone would do it!
Don’t be afraid of paid advertising. Invest a little in yourself and set up some Facebook and Instagram ads. These help you get seen, and your consistent posting is only going to boost the return your monetary investment will bring.
Connect with your community. Remember, when it comes to selling anything, people buy people first. Get confident showing your face. Share a bit about yourself and your life so your audience knows there’s a real person behind the biz.
Educate. People who want to DIY it will love you for it, and people who want to outsource will appreciate the peek behind the curtain. Not only does educational content help to build your organic audience, but it helps to showcase your skills. And more often than not, it results in people appreciating your talents on a deeper level, and therefore choosing to trust you with their dollars.
Market yourself on multiple platforms. I have a presence on Facebook, Instagram, Behance, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Putting content on multiple platforms and in multiple modes helps to get your brand in front of new eyes everyday. New eyes means greater engagement, and of course, greater potential for sales!
And finally, SEO. I’m still new to the dreaded Search Engine Optimisation world. And while I avoided it for as long as I could (because, man! It’s daunting!), I know it’s something my business needs to become more discoverable. I’m investing in my friendship with Google, and I know it will pay off in the long term!