I will show you the exact steps you need to take to start and grow your graphic design business. No fluff, no theory – just practical steps that work in the real world. Because here’s the truth: starting a graphic design business isn’t just about being good at design. It’s about understanding how to build something that delivers value to clients, while actually making money. Not just a side hustle or a freelance gig, but a proper business that delivers real value and brings in sustainable revenue.
And if you’re wondering why you should listen to me, well I’m connor from Move at Pace. I help agency owners scale and exit their businesses. Before Move at Pace, I built a multi-million-pound agency from scratch in this very room, before successfully exiting a couple of years ago. So everything I’m about to tell you is my real-world experience starting a graphic design studio and digital agency and growing it to multi-figure months. If that sounds good, stick around as I’ll be sharing some great tips.
STEP 1: Find Your First Graphic Design Clients
Most people start by trying to name their studio and create the perfect brand or website. But here’s the truth – without clients, you don’t have a business. You have a hobby.
Think about it: what’s more valuable – a perfectly crafted logo for your studio, or your first paying client? This is why we’re starting with client acquisition. Once you have people willing to pay for your services, you’ll have the momentum (and income) to build everything else.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you here is to work hard to find your first client. Reach out to your network, speak to friends and family and make sure they know you’re open for business. Use your first client as a case study, showcase your work proudly on LinkedIn and other social channels and the second will quickly follow.
STEP 2: Set Your Pricing Structure
Here’s a question every graphic designer needs to answer: are you charging what you’re worth, or what you think the market will pay you? There’s a big difference.
You have several options to price your services:
- Hourly rates (which is simplest to start with)
- Project-based pricing
- Value-based pricing
- Monthly retainers
If I were starting out right now, I’d begin with hourly pricing. It’s straightforward and gives you room to adjust as you understand your workflow. But this should only be used at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey. As your experience and expertise grow, shift towards value-based pricing that reflects the commercial impact of your work.
Or if you consider the efficiencies in your workflow or systems, project-based pricing rewards you for putting the investment back into your business.
However, the gold medal position of any studio is to have a foundation of monthly retained clients covering all of their costs and more. This provides stability and a platform from which to grow.
STEP 3: Name Your Business
You’re probably wondering why we haven’t named the business yet. At the beginning of your design studio journey, this matters far less than you think. Whether you use your own name or create a brand name, what matters is that it’s:
- Easy to spell
- Easy to remember
- Available as a domain name
- Something you won’t hate in 6 months
The real question isn’t “what’s the perfect name?” but rather “what name will let me start serving clients today?”
Now I am a huge believer in building a brand, but there is absolutely no need to jump into a brand name or creative process now, only to change it in a months time. Some of my creative agency clients put their brand to another designer instead of mulling it over for weeks on end themselves. Their objectivity is key when the time is right to build your brand. Which is exactly the same things we’d suggest to our own branding clients.
STEP 4: Create a Portfolio Site
As designers, we can be our own worst enemies here. How many hours have you spent tweaking your own website while paying clients wait? My rule for business development and marketing is that paying work always comes first. Do you need a website, yes. Does it need to be a perfectly curated portfolio? No.
Here’s what your website actually needs:
- Clear examples of your work
- Simple explanation of your services
- Easy way to contact you
That’s it. Build what I call a “minimum viable portfolio” – something that shows your capabilities without becoming a never-ending project.
And I say that, but your website should be updated regularly. If I take my designer hat off for a second and put on my business development/SEO hat. We need to be able to showcase our work, to demonstrate our experience in the markets that we’re targeting, and we need to ensure that Google has fresh keyword-driven content to give ourselves the best opportunity of being found by future clients.
STEP 5: Make a Business Plan
You need a plan, but not a 50-page document that sits in a drawer and is out of date the minute its written. Instead, answer these key questions:
- What specific services will you offer?
- Who’s your ideal client?
- What are your rates?
- What’s your revenue target?
- How many clients do you need to hit that target?
- How will you find these clients?
- How will you keep them coming back?
Here’s the truth, this isn’t about writing a perfect plan, because there’s no such thing – it’s about having clarity on where you’re going and how you’ll get there.
Your business plan is something you should reference, refine and update regularly, say every 6 months because it dates as quickly as you write it.
STEP 6: Deliver High-Quality Work On Time
Want to know the secret to building a sustainable and profitable design studio? It’s not about being the best designer – it’s about being the most reliable one. When you consistently deliver quality work on schedule, you become invaluable to your clients.
Think about it: would you rather be known as the “creative genius who’s always late” or the “solid designer who always delivers”? I know which one builds a better business.
Customer service is the key to driving the growth of your studio. Being prompt on emails, getting quotes back before the end of the day they were sent and making sure you never miss a deadline is key. But it’s not just key for you as the studio owner. As you grow, these should be part of the systems and processes that each of your team members understands and follows.
The best agencies do the basics incredibly well, most of the time.
STEP 7: Manage Your Money Properly
There are 2 things I coach creative business owners on time and time again. The first is asking for the sale (which is very important) and the second is setting up the systems to get you paid. Because a sale isn’t a sale until the money is in your bank.
So here’s what you need to ensure you get paid for the work you do.
– Your clients need to know and have accepted their payment terms when they start working with you.
– You need a system to set up accounts and promptly process invoices. I can’t stress enough that you use Xero or Quickbooks to create professional invoices and to track your payments. It’ll save you a massive headache daily by using a professional accounting package, and I promise they’re not overly hard to learn.
– Following up on overdue accounts. The longer an invoice is overdue, the less chance it will be paid.
– And you need to manage your cash flow. Just because an invoice has been paid, doesn’t mean you can rush out and buy a Lambo. Put 20-30% away into an account that will pay your tax bill at the end of the financial year and you also need to ensure you pay your other bills on time.
Yes, you’re a designer, but you’re now a business owner. Treat your invoicing with the same attention you give to your designs.
If you want to learn more about managing your money, I have a full article here that covers all of this in detail. The link will be in the comments.
STEP 8: Build Your Referral Network
Here’s a fact: your best future clients will come from your current clients. But here’s another fact: most designers never actively ask for referrals. They just hope they happen. And to quote my mum. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
I can track 4 of my biggest clients back to one single client who was more than happy to refer our business. This didn’t happen by chance, you have to take action.
I don’t mind how you do this, but you need to create a natural but systematic way to:
- Ask satisfied clients for referrals
- Make it easy for them to recommend you
- Follow up on potential leads
- Reward those who send business your way
The line or phrase that I used and still use today is “If you’re happy with my services, please tell someone else.” In fact, if you’ve gotten any benefit from this video, please like it, share it with someone else who might benefit from it and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel.
Remember, building a successful graphic design business isn’t just about being good at design. It’s about being good at business. Focus on these eight steps, execute them well, and you’ll be ahead of 99% of designers trying to build their own businesses.
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