How Much Money Do Graphic Design Businesses Make? (2024)

Pat Walls

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Updated: June 23rd, 2024

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TL;DR:

Based on our data, graphic design businesses can make between $2,500-$1,750,000 per month.
The average revenue for a successful graphic design business is $177K per month.
The highest grossing graphic design business in our records makes over $21,000,000 per year.
Graphic design business owners salaries can vary wildly depending on industry, niche, and size of the business

So you're thinking about starting a graphic design business?

And now you're wondering how much graphic design business owners actually make...

Well, let’s dive in!

Here are example of real graphic design businesses and how much money they make - as reported by the founders themselves:

1. Design Pickle ($21M/year)

While running a consulting business, Russ Perry needed a way for his clients to get design work done while he was traveling to other offices.

Therefore, he created the framework for Design Pickle so his clients could request new designs. The requests would be fulfilled by a remote team and initially delivered to him, after which he would review and send them to his clients in the evening.

Realizing the success of this process and the high level of client satisfaction, he recognized the potential in an on-demand design service.

Motivated by the need to support his family and having studied the SaaS (Software as a Service) business model through various books and podcasts, he transformed the system into a subscription-based service. This allowed clients to make unlimited design requests for a fixed monthly fee.

How much money it makes: $21M/year

2. Sttark ($12M/year)

Frontier Label, a digital label printing company, was founded by Dan Frist, who came from a family with a small business background. After his father passed away, Frist saw an opportunity in the emerging technology of digital label printing and purchased an HP Indigo WS 2000 printer. Initially struggling to attract customers, Frist took a risk and increased his Google Ads spend, leading to a significant increase in quote requests and the success of Frontier Label, which now brings in $12M annually.

How much money it makes: $12M/year

3. Company Folders, Inc ($3.3M/year)

Vladimir Gendelman, the founder of Company Folders, came up with the idea for his business after realizing the lack of variety in presentation folders in the American market. With only two customers showing interest in finding unique "company folders" online, Vladimir saw the opportunity to fill this gap and create a national online business. He started with minimal resources, maxing out his credit cards to launch the company, and focused on offering high-quality products, driving traffic to the website, and providing a personalized design and ordering experience. Despite facing challenges during the pandemic, Company Folders has remained profitable and continues to adapt and grow.

How much money it makes: $3.3M/year

4. Huemor ($3M/year)

Example: Jeff, the co-founder of Huemor, started his journey as a graphic design student who freelanced to gain experience and earn money. After feeling unfulfilled in a corporate job, Jeff joined forces with a friend to build an internal agency for a media placement company. When the work environment turned toxic, they made a bold move to start their own agency, Huemor, and haven't looked back since. They've helped over 200 companies transform their digital presence and earned over 100 international awards, while maintaining a simple, customer-focused approach.

How much money it makes: $3M/year

5. Limeup ($2.16M/year)

How much money it makes: $2.16M/year

6. Quantum Digital Assets ($1.92M/year)

Peter Kozodoy, the co-founder and CEO of Stradeso, came up with the idea for the business after realizing the challenges faced by marketers in getting agency-level creative work at affordable prices. Inspired by the Uber model, Kozodoy created Stradeso, a subscription service that connects customers directly to creatives with excess capacity, eliminating the need for hiring agencies or freelancers. The platform aims to provide fast and inexpensive creative content, while maintaining high quality.

How much money it makes: $1.92M/year

7. Sievers Creative ($1.2M/year)

Roger Sievers, founder of Sievers Creative, started the business as a side hustle to pay off his student loans. He saw a gap in the market for serving small-sized businesses that were underserved by larger agencies. After years of building skills and developing relationships, Sievers Creative has experienced impressive growth, with a team of 8 and a 40-50% year-over-year revenue increase.

How much money it makes: $1.2M/year

8. Snappa ($1M/year)

Christopher Gimmer, the co-founder of Snappa, came up with the idea for the business after struggling to create graphics for his blog posts. As he searched for a simple and powerful graphic design tool, he realized there was a need for one geared towards marketers and entrepreneurs. He leveraged his viral blog post about free stock photos to market Snappa and collected feedback from potential users before building the prototype.

How much money it makes: $1M/year

9. Delesign ($972K/year)

Delesign was founded by Kenny Schumacher to address the need for affordable and high-quality design services that businesses of all sizes could utilize. Through a rigorous vetting and training process, Delesign provides clients with dedicated senior-level designers who can complete graphic design, animation, web and app, UI/UX, and illustration projects with fast turnaround times. The company has seen rapid growth, reaching nearly $100k MRR in just four years, and relies on referrals, organic traffic, and targeted content marketing to attract and retain customers.

How much money it makes: $972K/year

10. Kairos Digital ($780K/year)

Kairos Digital, a marketing agency specializing in clear messaging for businesses, was founded by two brothers who saw a need for their services. With over $230,000 in sales in 2020 and a focus on ongoing retainer marketing work, the agency is poised for continued growth. Through their own sales funnel and digital advertising strategies, they attract and retain customers while prioritizing quality and strong ROI.

How much money it makes: $780K/year