Balance practical tasks with creativity to run a successful graphic design office.
The best graphic design businesses are a bit schizophrenic, relying as much on left-brain thinking as they do on producing top-quality advertising collateral, website designs, packaging, signage and other artistic creations. Find a harmonious balance between business and artistic pursuits and encourage employees and be honest with clients, and you'll run your graphic design office successfully for years to come.
Instructions
1. Consult the business plan you wrote when you launched (or when the owner launched) the graphic design business to evaluate whether or not you're meeting the goals, mission statement and objectives you set when you opened your office. Make adjustments or set new guidelines if your enterprise has set a new course.
2. Obtain or renew licenses or permits required by community or state agencies so your office is in compliance with these legalities. Attend to legal and accounting processes on a timely basis, relying on an administrative office staff to maintain spreadsheets, profit and loss statements and other business reports. Delegate these tasks to experienced individuals.
3. Commit your graphic design office to serving the greater good. Donate, within reason, your staff's talents to nonprofits and charities to produce pro bono work samples as a way of promoting new business and gaining recognition. Update trade media with your accomplishments so your office stays in the news.
4. Keep abreast of the state and health of your graphic design studio's hardware and software, making recommendations for upgrades only when cash flow is healthy enough to bear the cost of replacing PCs, Macs, printers, scanners and office equipment.
5. Keep your software library current so your office is able to handle client projects that come to you in native file formats like InDesign or Quark or in digital files originating in Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Photoshop and other programs that electronically render or manipulate graphics and images.
6. Make it office policy to attend workshops run by Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and other top graphics design software companies. Send staffers to these training sessions to enhance their skills.
7. Maintain a healthy bottom line by keeping a list of stable of freelancers on speed dial, staffing up with designers and illustrators only when specific jobs come in so your office budget doesn't have to pay salaries or benefits to independent contractors.
8. Keep your graphic design business's portfolio of work updated and on display at your office at all times. Load your website with completed works and fill portfolios with recent samples so potential clients have a variety of reasons to choose your office for their projects.
9. Price your services wisely. Stay competitive while remaining cognizant of economic downturns and cuts in advertising and marketing budgets, which regularly affect facets of the advertising industry. Keep tabs on competitors and their rate structures so your graphic design office can make wise decisions about rate quotes.
10. Engage designers and illustrators when client meetings are held at your office so clients have an opportunity to meet with the artists responsible for conceiving their projects and campaigns. Boost office morale in other ways so your graphic designers stay loyal and so everyone looks forward to coming to work.
