Graduate students of design have the career option to be a professor in higher education, or be a creative director, lead designer, or art director. As I’ve been conducting research for Project A, I came across this article titled Growing Your Design Business by Jason Blumer on http://alistapart.com/.
Blumer states that, “if you want to grow in a sustainable, satisfying way, then you need to pay attention to how you’re growing, not just how much,” and I agree completely. BLumer goes on to state that it is more imporatnt to have good clients, which means clients who are:
- They understand your value and let you remain in control of the design process as the professional.
- They are enjoyable to work with.
- They are profitable.
Blumer also states that you shouldn’t be afraid to fire clients, and that “if you are treating clients well, doing good work, and getting paid well for it, then new clients will show up expecting to pay for the privilege of working with you.” He further talks about expanding businesses and hiring employees, and that “bad clients and busywork lead to high employee turnover.”
There is some good mentioning of profit margins and growing too fast… I would encourage anyone to read this article.