Home – New › Forums › Get productive › How to get more out of my business… any advice?
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September 8, 2013 at 11:34 pm #984831Up::0
Hey all,
I have been running my graphic design / printing broking business for almost 10 years now, and while it’s chugging along nicely, and it pays the bills (just)… I really feel like I need to take it to a new level.
I have plenty of work, great loyal clients, I charge a decent hourly rate and I’m quite efficient, but I feel that after running something quite successful for so long, I should be getting a greater reward for my effort. With my experience and skill-set, I could easily make double what I do working for a large agency.
Over the last 18 months, I have dabbled with hiring casual employees to ease my load, but I’d rather keep it solo and simple for now if possible.
I was hoping some of you may have been in the same position and/or be able to offer some advice on what I could do next.
Thanks, in advance.
September 9, 2013 at 12:30 am #1149829Up::0Hey Steve,
Do you do any web based or mobile design?
Could be a new market to expand yourself into, and business is booming!September 9, 2013 at 1:09 am #1149830Up::0Hi Steve,
Providing hourly rate services creates an earning ceiling (your dollar rate) x (available work hours). Its when you provide additional outsourced services like printing, mailing, hosting and leverage employees’ time that you can break that.
Another avenue is to work on building the business as a sellable asset. Do you have an exit strategy for your business?
Steve
September 9, 2013 at 2:02 am #1149831Up::0I would suggest that you get an adviser or mentor or coach to help you. You can then brainstorm and be productive together about your business.
September 9, 2013 at 2:52 am #1149832Up::0Thanks you for your replies.
rdenton, post: 172031 wrote:Do you do any web based or mobile design?
Could be a new market to expand yourself into, and business is booming!I offered web design as a service for a few years until recently, but I found it took up way too much of my resources and dragged me away from what I do best – even when I had employees/contractors taking care of things. I don’t want to go down that path again.
Divert To Mobile, post: 172036 wrote:Hi Steve,Providing hourly rate services creates an earning ceiling (your dollar rate) x (available work hours). Its when you provide additional outsourced services like printing, mailing, hosting and leverage employees’ time that you can break that.
Another avenue is to work on building the business as a sellable asset. Do you have an exit strategy for your business?
Steve
Very true – I generate more income from printing than design and billable hours can be very scarce once you deduct the time you spend doing other things (such as posting on online forums ). I’ve thought of changing from an hourly rate to a subscription-based model, but I can’t see a way of making that work.
I haven’t put much thought into selling the business. I plugged some numbers into an online calculator once and got a surprisingly large value – but don’t know how realistic that would be.
sydneybusiness, post: 172040 wrote:I would suggest that you get an adviser or mentor or coach to help you. You can then brainstorm and be productive together about your business.I think this is where I’m going to end up – when I have some more $ in the bank.
September 9, 2013 at 3:07 am #1149833Up::0Hey Steve
Canvas new valuable clients that may need some revamps done
Seriously though, i hear you on this.. we are in a similar boat at present and also need to push through into ‘different’ processes in order to capture a larger slice of the market..
We have been reviewing pricing. Slight increase in RRP will return remarkable profits without really impeaching on business.. although still needs to be signed off.
Its interesting to be honest, so much can be done although unsure where to start.. and funny thing is, when we do start one idea it creates an entire set of new obstacles that we have to head back to FS for more input like “how do we afford new stock”.. LOL
Be well mate
Jason
Jason Ramage | Lucas Arthur Pty Ltd | E: hello@lucasarthur.net.au P: 61 3 8324 0344 M: 61 412 244 888September 16, 2013 at 7:19 am #1149834Up::0Steve, there’s a number of issues/topics that you raise in your post.
Understanding the risks that come with assumptions can I offer the following:I have been running my graphic design / printing broking business for almost 10 years now, and while it’s chugging along nicely, and it pays the bills (just)… I really feel like I need to take it to a new level.
The fat badger:
Have you set a target? Without a target it will become easy for you to become distracted by non-value adding tasks. How will you know when you get there?I have plenty of work, great loyal clients, I charge a decent hourly rate and I’m quite efficient, but I feel that after running something quite successful for so long, I should be getting a greater reward for my effort. With my experience and skill-set, I could easily make double what I do working for a large agency.
The Fat Badger: You have plenty of work but not making the money you expected and believe you deserve. Take a look at the work you are accepting. If a job isn’t going to help you reach your target/goal then it’s ok to say NO. Are you spending time on jobs that offer low returns when you could instead be working on higher value projects. You are reluctant for some reason to bring in more staff so focus on the jobs that bring in the higher dollars. Your time may be better spent prospecting for new higher value business rather than working on less profitable business simply because you feel obligated or feel more comfortable with the cashflow it provides.
Over the last 18 months, I have dabbled with hiring casual employees to ease my load, but I’d rather keep it solo and simple for now if possible.
The Fat Badger: Dabbling is a dangerous past-time. Either committ or stay out of the water. Why not develop a plan and then appoint someone on a fixed-term contract of 12 months. You can improive your planning and business acquisition if you know you have the staff/resources available. Are you hesitant to take on new clients because you have resource concerns?
cheers,
The Fat Badger
http://www.thefatbadgersguidetosales.comSeptember 27, 2013 at 5:03 am #1149835Up::0Instead of working on an hourly rate, could you offer packages – for instance, logo design + 500 business cards at $$ amount?
September 29, 2013 at 12:30 am #1149836Up::0bluepenguin, post: 172020 wrote:Hey all,I have been running my graphic design / printing broking business for almost 10 years now, and while it’s chugging along nicely, and it pays the bills (just)… I really feel like I need to take it to a new level.
I have plenty of work, great loyal clients, I charge a decent hourly rate and I’m quite efficient, but I feel that after running something quite successful for so long, I should be getting a greater reward for my effort. With my experience and skill-set, I could easily make double what I do working for a large agency.
Over the last 18 months, I have dabbled with hiring casual employees to ease my load, but I’d rather keep it solo and simple for now if possible.
I was hoping some of you may have been in the same position and/or be able to offer some advice on what I could do next.
Thanks, in advance.
Hi SteveDo you have a reluctance to increase your prices?
I know you aren’t keen on employees, but that is one way of increasing your revenues.
Maybe you have a book that needs writing? 10 years in the industry is a lot of experience…
September 29, 2013 at 11:43 pm #1149837Up::0Thanks for all your responses.
I wish it were as easy as finding a text book solution. I hope it doesn’t come across as me complaining though, as my business is in a very healthy state, I have not shortage of work and all of the bills get paid. I guess if it were that easy to go to the next level, everyone would already be there.
To answer some of your questions:
My rates are fairly high for the market I’m in and I’ve just increased them. I generally offer set prices based on my hourly rate for most items.
Regarding employees: I always though it would be a key to really increasing my profits, but with the increased overheads, the extra work it adds for me, and due to the fact that nobody will ever have the same drive as the person that owns the business, I’ve decided it’s not the answer I was looking for – and I actually prefer the simplicity and flexibility that comes with working alone. Maybe one day when I can afford a really good, experienced designer I might try again.
I think I’ll try and track down a business coach who really understands this kind of business.
October 3, 2013 at 11:02 pm #1149838Up::0Steve,
I read this post a couple of days ago and have been bouncing ideas around in my head ever since. I have seen the quality of your work, and know there is a valid reason you charge a premium. But the other Steve is right, an hourly rate will always put a ceiling on your earning potential.
There are two things I think are worth looking at:
1. The two ways to make more money, is to get more clients, or to get a larger share of your client’s spend. You will have seen this from your print brokerage and how it compliments with your design. What else can you offer to gain a bigger share of each clients wallet?
2. Not everyone requires the level of skill you have attained. The reason I say this is, I understand you tried employees and this didn’t sit well with you – that’s because you have high standards for your clients. Many a great business has been built from having different businesses setup to target different markets. There is nothing to stop you from making BluePenguin a top shelf, premium design agency (run wholy and solely by you) and then having a separate company ‘BudgetGraphics’ or something, where you can use sub-contractors, casuals, freelancers etc. to cater to a different audience. This allows you to grow your overall business and reach a wider client based – but most importantly, you don’t need to adjust your quality or expectations.
I could go on, and am happy to chat offline, but I hope this gives you some food for thought
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