6 Tips for Setting Up a Design Studio
From our founder’s desk — this post was written ✍🏼 through the lens of our founder Sajid Anam
I founded The Create Labs, my digital product studio, out of these two questions that might resonate with you too:
- Want to test creative ideas free from the constraints of big corporations?
- Looking for a fresh start?
Well if you are still reading this then the questions definitely speak to you at some level. I understand that building a studio from scratch is the ultimate design challenge for anyone.
But always remember: the secret of getting ahead is getting started first!
I hope my experiences & tips will give you a fair checklist of what it takes to get a new studio off the ground.
1. Co-founders
“Finding a co-founder is like finding a partner to help paddle your canoe”
The fact is if you cannot or do not want do it all alone, then there’s nothing wrong in joining forces. A co-founder will push your limits, question the loopholes when needed and offer support. This goes vice versa. These discussions & compatibility can actually form the backbone of any studio/company.
At The Create Labs, we’ve two: myself and Antje Pfahl. I handle the business part and the digital design team, she’s the community builder, runs marketing communications and gives the outside view on projects.
2. Services
Defining your services is another crucial point in starting up.
- Choose the ones which are your master craft.
- As you will be the person taking the final call, add only those services that you’ve a fair idea about to handle.
The key is in finding your niche, be great at what you do and work with collaborators who are great at what they do.
3. People
Nothing matters more than people.
A. Team
How well a team works & bonds together through good and bad times is a big factor in building a successful studio. When it comes to hiring you either get senior people on board to take care themselves of their specific areas or get helping hands that can do the work with you to review, polish and ship out.
For The Create Labs, we focused on two things: skill set & young talent. We wanted to give the young design talent in India a chance to work with international clients and learn on the go. Their enthusiasm was important to work hand in hand with us.
B. Mentors & Advisors
There’s no substitute for the experiential knowledge. That’s where the role of advisors & mentors comes in. Your hard work & talent is important. It can lead you to success, but only when given a right direction, which I believe these people can offer you. They bring you the raw truth based on realistic data, their long experience in the business & logical reasoning. We’re glad to have found such advisors by our side throughout our journey.
4. Clients
Never start without any client. My rule of thumb:You should always have 1–2 clients before you start. This could be someone you’ve freelanced before for or a collaboration with another project. Use your network well for acquiring your first clients.
When it comes to choosing which project to take up or which client to work with, I always note a few things:
- Your weblink of thoughts should match that of the client
- Both should understand each others thought process
- Select projects that you can believe in or company owners that you can believe in
Being fully bought into a client’s vision is important to let you put your best foot forward.
And learn to say no to projects where your gut feeling and knowledge tells you not to take it up — even when you could earn quick money to start off or run the business.
From my learning over the past two years, never take something up that goes against the above and your feeling tells you clearly that it won’t work well.
5. Marketing
Digital marketing is a great measurable and goal-orientated way for you to tell potential clients you’re in business and to find you. It should show your point of view and be bold & clean stating what you can offer. But you should always focus on what business owners would need.
Once you’ve a set of clients, it’s more important to be consistent & put the word out about what you create and build. While word of mouth can be the best kind of marketing, the importance of your online presence and digtial marketing can’t be ignored.
- Create accounts on platforms like Dribbble, Behance.
- Keep your website updated & define your brand positioning
- Have a social media presence and be active on social platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
6. Vision
The real challenge isn’t just acquiring clients, it’s to maintain a flow of creatively satisfying & financially lucrative work.
You need to set a vision for yourself & the studio. Reflect if it matches with the individual visions of your partners and employees as well. Define long and short term goals and work consistently with discipline towards them. Articulating a timeline for the studio’s vision should be one of your priorities.
And here’s a bit of The Create Labs office world for you:
Thoughts, Questions?
I hope my experience and thoughts will help you.
Questions on the topic? Then ask me on Twitter or let me know in the comments below! I’m happy to hear about the experiences & tips that you have :)
Keep creating & keep starting up,
Sajid Anam
#Founder #TeamCreate
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