Whether you're experienced or just starting out, How to Run a Successful Design Business: The New Professional Practice covers everything owners and managers of design firms need to know.

The design sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, and now covers a wide range of specialist disciplines from branding and communications to product, commercial interiors and digital. Yet design firms often lack long-term vision, strategies and plans, and research from the Design Council shows that far too many suffer from poor profitability. Shan Preddy believes that the more a design firm knows about business, the more successful it will be, both creatively and financially. That's why she has gathered over 80 design-sector experts from different fields - advisors, practitioners, clients and representatives from design organisations - to provide you with information, suggestions, guidelines and thought-provoking opinions. Whether you're experienced or just starting out, How to Run a Successful Design Business: The New Professional Practice covers everything owners and managers of design firms need to know.

Unlike other dry business books, this refreshing, straightforward guide from Logo Design Love author and international designer David Airey answers the questions all designers have when first starting out on their own. In fact, the book was inspired by the many questions David receives every day from the more than 600,000 designers who visit his three blogs (Logo Design Love, Identity Designed, and DavidAirey.com) each month. How do I find new clients? How much should I charge for my design work? When should I say no to a client? How do I handle difficult clients? What should I be sure to include in my contracts? David’s readers–a passionate and vocal group–regularly ask him these questions and many more on how to launch and run their own design careers. With this book, David finally answers their pressing questions with anecdotes, case studies, and sound advice garnered from his own experience as well as those of such well-known designers as Ivan Chermayeff, Jerry Kuyper, Maggie Macnab, Eric Karjaluoto, and Von Glitschka. Designers just starting out on their own will find this book invaluable in succeeding in today’s hyper-networked, global economy.

The Business of Design debunks the myth that business sense and creative talent are mutually exclusive, showing design professionals that they can pursue their passion and turn a profit. For nearly thirty years, consultant Keith Granet has helped designers create successful businesses, from branding to billing and everything in between. Unlike other business books, The Business of Design is written and illustrated to speak to a visually thinking audience. The book covers all aspects of running a successful design business, including human resources, client management, product development, marketing, and licensing. This timely update on the tenth anniversary of the first edition includes new content on social media, working from home, and understanding and working with different generations, essential tools in today's ultracompetitive marketplace.

Book & CD-ROM. An active real estate market has turned interior design into a boom industry in recent years. Interior designers owning their own firms have a median income of $75,000. Tens of thousands of homes are for sale in the United States today, and many need the help of an interior designer to be sold. Interior designers create the spaces where we work, play, and live every day. Whether it is a private residence, corporate office, retail store, or a zany restaurant, interior designers use their creativity, as well as their knowledge of colour principles, architecture, and design, to make it work and look amazing. As a result, they are well compensated for the work. This guide provides readers with an understanding of the basic concepts of starting their own interior design business. This book is a comprehensive and detailed study of the business side of interior design. You will learn everything from the initial start-up decisions to working with clients. If you are investigating opportunities in this type of business, you should begin by reading this book. You can build a highly successful business using your talent and understanding of colour and architectural features, while providing a much needed service to home owners. If you enjoy working with people and have that creative knack, this may be the perfect business for you. Keep in mind that this business looks easy but, as with any business, looks can be deceiving. This complete manual will arm you with everything you need, including sample business forms; contracts; worksheets and checklists for planning, opening, and running day-to-day operations; setting up your office; and dozens of other valuable, timesaving tools of the trade that no business should be without. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through every detail that will bring success. You will learn how to draw up a winning business plan (the companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan you can use in Microsoft Word® and about choosing a name; getting Started; the who, what, when, why, and how of interior design; equipment; selling your other services to your present customers; home staging and interior redesign; how to build a portfolio; how to get your first clients; how to attract and bid on new jobs; contracts and billing procedures; advertising; insurance; legal matters; basic cost control systems; market research; getting new clients; tax laws; zoning laws; pricing; leads; sales and marketing techniques; and pricing formulas. You will learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, how to hire and keep a qualified professional staff if necessary, how to meet IRS requirements, how to manage and train employees, how to generate high profile public relations and publicity, and how to implement low cost internal marketing ideas. You will learn how to build your business by using low and no cost ways to satisfy customers, as well as increase sales and have customers refer others to you. You will learn the basics of accounting and bookkeeping procedures, auditing, successful budgeting, and profit planning development, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines. This manual delivers innovative ways to streamline your business. Learn new ways to make your operation run smoother and increase performance. Successful entrepreneurs will appreciate this valuable resource and reference it in their daily activities as a source of ready-to-use forms, Web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can easily be applied to their operations. The companion CD-ROM contains all the forms found in the book, as well as a sample business plan you can adapt for your own use.

According to a 2007 survey by Netcraft, there are more than 108 million Web sites worldwide. Every Web site needs to be designed. "The Pricing & Ethical Guidelines Handbook" published by the Graphic Arts Guild reports that the average cost of designinga Web site for a small corporation can range from $7,750 to $15,000. It is incredibly easy to see the enormous profit potential. Web design businesses can be run part- or full-time and can easily be started in your own home. As such, they are one of the fastest growing segments of the Internet economy. This new book will teach you all you need to know about getting your own Web site design business started in the minimum amount of time. Here is the manual you need to cash in on this highly profitable segment of the industry. This new book is a comprehensive and detailed study of the business side of Web site design. This superb manual should be studied by anyone investigating the opportunities of opening a Web design business and will arm you with everything you need, including sample business forms, contracts, worksheets and checklists for planning, opening, and running day-to-day operations, plans and layouts, and dozens of other valuable, time-saving tools that no entrepreneur should be without. While providing detailed instructions and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, drawing up a winning business plan (the Companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan that can be used in MS Word), buying (and selling) a Web design store, pricing formulas, sales planning, tracking competitors, bookkeeping, media planning, pricing, copy writing, hiring and firing employees, motivating workers,managing and training employees, accounting procedures, successful budgeting, and profit planning development. By reading this book, you will become knowledgeable about basic cost control systems, retail math and pricing issues, Web site plans and diagrams, software and equipment layout and planning, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, IRS reporting requirements, customer service, direct sales, monthly profit and loss statements, tax preparation, public relations, general management skills, low and no cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, and low cost internal marketing ideas, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines. The manual delivers literally hundreds of innovative ways to streamline your business. Learn new ways to make your operation run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. Business owners will appreciate this valuable resource and reference it in their daily activities as a source for ready-to-use forms, Web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can be easily applied. The Companion CD-ROM contains all the forms in the book, as well as a sample business plan you can adapt for your own use.

Part narrative, part business book; Architect + Entrepreneur is filled with contemporary, relevant, fresh tips and advice, from a seasoned professional architect building a new business. The guide advocates novel strategies and tools that merge entrepreneurship with the practice of architecture and interior design. The Problem:Embarking on a new business venture is intimidating; you have questions. But many of the resources available to help entrepreneur architects and interior designers start their design business lack timeliness and relevance. Most are geared toward building colossal firms like SOM and Gensler using outdated methods and old business models. If you're an individual or small team contemplating starting a design business, this is your field guide; crafted to inspire action. The Solution:Using the lean startup methodology to create a minimum viable product, the handbook encourages successive small wins that support a broader vision enabling one to, "think big, start small, and learn fast." It's a unique take on design practice viewed through the lens of entrepreneurship and is designed to answer the questions all new business owners face, from the rote to the existential. Questions about: - Startup costs - Business models (old and new) - Marriage of business and design - Mindset - Branding & naming (exercises and ideas) - Internet marketing strategies - Passive income ideas - Setting your fee - Taxes - Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) - Securing the work - Client relations - Software - Billing rates - Contracts Building a business isn't a singular act; it's a series of small steps. Using the outline found in Architect + Entrepreneur you can start today. The chapters are organized to guide you from idea to action. Rather than write a business plan you'll be challenged to craft a brand and you'll sell it using new technologies. Follow the guide sequentially and you'll have both the tools and a profitable small business.