bri-design studios blog
Inside Scoop
Feeling the Effects of the Economy in the Design Industry
As a small design/development shop, we are feeling the weight of the economy bearing down on us just as most small businesses are right now. The key to surviving as a creative services specialist, in a bad economy or good, is to always bring in new projects and new clients. This is especially important in a downtrodden economy. We love our current clients, and those who give us on-going work, and there are times where we float off of this a bit. But to survive these times, we need to continue to bring in new work as well.
Rather than being so concerned with our bottom line, we are looking at what we can do to simply keep working and turning out quality and beneficial work for our clients. In the long run, once the economy starts to turn around again, we will be a step ahead and have a great advantage over a lot of our competition.
The key to achieving this is in our willingness to adapt. We must adapt the way we do business to the economy as a whole, but also to individual clients’, their needs, and yes… their budget. Small businesses are being forced to take smaller profits, reduce their rates, work longer hours for less, and generally do whatever they can to get through the economic crises. There is really no difference with us. We are not necessarily “the big guys” and we can’t afford to keep our rates at “big guy” levels (nor do we want to at this point). Rather, by adapting to situations, lowering our rates, working out payment plans with clients, and continuing to strive for the best quality possible for a given budget (and ultimately going way above and beyond), we are making it feasible to do business and succeed in this economy. And ultimately, we will continue to push out great products for our clients and portfolio, thus giving us an advantage once the economy turns around.
I ran across a forum post by a designer that echoes these sentiments:
“One of the advantages of being a designer is there is always someone who needs design… no matter what the condition of the economy. All one has to do is adjust. In these times there are many professions that will grow and prosper because of the economic conditions. Lawyers, Counselors, Spiritual Orgainzations, Health Industry, various Financial Institutions, Higher Learning Institutions, etc. These are the markets I plan to target. In fact, I’ve already begun to do that, and as a result I have a couple of possible projects. Stepping out of the problem and moving into the solution is the answer…the only thing I need, besides my expertise, is the willingness to adapt. Applying it is a challenge, but so far, worth the effort.”
http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18723
