Our Design Agency Had Its Best Year Ever [Update]
This is a follow up story for Draft. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published about 2 years ago, check it out here.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
We had our second-best revenue year in 2023 and are looking to remain profitable in 2024. Our most recent book, Store Design, has done well. We've also launched a live workshop on the practice of value-based design, and are in the process of relaunching it as a self-paced course.
In addition, we find that most of our clients transition into ongoing retainers with us, so we’re breaking that off as a standalone offering and opening it to the general public. This allows people access to us without having to wait years(!) for an open slot. And we’re also in the midst of signing a new client for ongoing design work, which will allow us the freedom to work nomadically in the fall.
Overall, the business has two major arms: consulting, and education. We find that they are symbotic: you can’t teach people if you don’t have hands-on knowledge, and you can’t work in a consultative capacity if you aren’t building expertise with your educational work. Launching both the workshop and ongoing retainers is in alignment with this principle. They help fulfill a lot of the interest that came from Store Design.
We reject the idea that a business needs to “grow.” Really it needs to be profitable. Ideas like headcount or client volume aren’t terribly relevant to us. I want to practice this work every day, rather than be the public face of a company or (god help us) a sales person. The growth imperative occupies a narrative space that doesn’t exist in structural alignment with our practice.
“Growth,” to us, then, implies growth of profit. One is able to increase their margins as they increase their expertise, as well as the economic value that they’ve proven themselves capable of generating. Our case studies show that we’re a safe bet, and every time we post another one we reinforce that narrative with evidence that our process works well.
I think there’s a broad narrative that 2024 is a bad time for design, but we find that our form of design is highly in demand. Unlike many designers, we have a clear sense of the process & outputs of our work. We also focus on business needs in a way that many other designers have struggled to do. We believe that design is in demand if you make it worthy of being so.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
