Do I need a designer? (article)

For the sake of continuity, I would advise reading "So who needs design?" before reading this post but it isn't a critical factor. Pick 'n' mix to your heart's content, I say.

The answer to this question depends on your design needs and that, in turn depends on the kind of business you are running. If you are providing a small, one-man window cleaning service, you are unlikely to have the kind of budget to spend on design services. However, the good news is that you won't need to. Few, if any of your competitors will be splashing out on a swanky, cutting-edge Corporate Identity. You will, however, need to acquire some design skills yourself in order to produce leaflets, flyers and press ads that stand out from the crowd.

As stated in the previous post, you need to decide whether your marketing edge is quality or economy. It doesn't matter which as both have equal market pulling power. However, you need to be able to offer one or the other otherwise it's a little like fishing without bait.

Do you go the extra yard to satisfy your customers?
Do you provide customer services that your competitors don't?
Do you provide an after sales service (ie; additional service that you are not billing your customers for)?
Do you have additional skills that give your work an edge over the competition?

If your answer to any or all of the above is yes, then your marketing edge is quality and you must charge a rate that reflects this. You cannot be the best and the cheapest and remain in business for very long. Don't try to undercut your competitors who are probably not putting in the time that you are. Customers will come to you because you're the best choice and won't mind paying a little extra for the benefit of the advantages you offer above your competitors.

However, any promotional literature you provide must reflect this in design as well as content and your rate needs to accommodate the additional expense that your promotional literature represents. It's no good listing all the the benefits that your superb service provides on a black-and-white, photocopied flyer that looks amateurish and cheap. You may well get enquiries from it but they'll put the phone down as soon as you quote your prices. They'll be looking for bargains and you can't deliver on that.

It's a common mistake with new businesses that provide a quality service which is not reflected in their promotional material to fall into the illusion that the reason customers aren't beating a path to their door is because their charges are too high. They drop their charges while trying to continue to provide the same high quality service. The result is working long hours for little return and they either go under or their health suffers. These things have a knock-on effect.

Instead of dropping your charges to compete with the economy providers who don't put in the extra time and effort, look at your promotional literature. Are you actually targeting the wrong market? Give your promotional literature a design makeover so that it reflects the quality of the service you offer. Don't worry if it makes you look expensive; you are expensive, and for good reason. People who look for quality services will be put off by cheap-looking flyers and people who look for economy and savings will be put off by your prices.

This brings us back to the question: Do I need a designer?
Probably not if you're running a small business and competing with other small businesses. But you do need some design skills applied to your advertising. If you don't have an eye for design, maybe you know someone who does. If this isn't an option, try one of the High Street Print Shops who can often offer some design services and will print out far more professional looking material than you are likely to be able to produce yourself. It will, of course, be more expensive than producing your own with basic word processing and DTP software and this is one of the reasons your charges need to be higher to accommodate this.

However, this is still a cheaper option than employing a graphic designer. How can they work cheaper than freelance graphic designers? It comes back to the marketing edge issue. Print shops offer economy, graphic designers offer quality. A graphic designer will discuss your needs at length either face-to-face, by telephone, by email or all three. The designer won't begin to work on the brief until he or she has a thorough understanding of your needs. If designing a logo, this will be designed from scratch and based on the overall message you need to convey. The designer will produce an agreed number of roughs which can range from pencil sketches to partly rendered designs to give you an idea of the concept. You then make decisions based on these, perhaps combining elements of one with those of another and the finished artwork is worked up from your final decisions. The designer then gets to work on the finished artwork and the final bill reflects the amount of work put into the project.

A print shop, on the other hand, will offer a brochure of stock template layouts and design elements. Even something as individual as logo design is often assembled from stock elements and rarely is a pencil brought into play. It's a little like the difference between hiring a website designer and customising a template on one of the many free website hosts who make their money from selling advertising on members' sites.

If you're a small business, a totally unique and tailored Corporate Identity is probably not a high priority so this may be an acceptable compromise. The objective here is to provide promotional literature that will target the customers who are prepared to pay for the services you offer so it needs to look professional.

However, one word of warning here: why do the big companies go to the expense of hiring designers instead of using a print shop?

Stock layouts are all very well but, when you are competing in the larger field, you need a totally unique, individually tailored Corporate Identity to reflect this. The question you need to ask yourself is: Is this always going to be a small business? Is yours the kind business that will simply provide you with an income until you retire or is it something that you plan to grow into a large company?

If you are planning to expand and become one of the Big Players, you need to think very carefully about the kind of Corporate Identity you establish now. It's never a good idea to start changing your logo and Corporate Identity after the current one has already been established. This would have to be done very gradually over a period of years if not decades. Establishing a small business identity now may actually fix you into that league. If you are planning to expand in the future then the answer to the title of this post is yes. You definitely need a designer.

It is expensive but, at this stage in your business, it will be a one-off expenditure and should be given the same level of priority as acquiring a premises.... if not actually more so. You can move to bigger premises as your business grows but you're going to be stuck with the Corporate Identity you establish now for many decades to come. Settling for the wrong ID now can actually prevent you from moving up in the market.

Good Corporate Design that sets you apart from the rest is an investment you can't afford to put off. You should set aside a budget of at least two to three thousand pounds (in the UK. Rates and costs tend to differ in the US) just to get a small business started. It might sound like a lot and possibly your business could get away with spending a less. But you'll need well designed corporate literature, stationary, signage and maybe vehicle livery. You may even find that 2-3 grand doesn't stretch far enough.

Scary? Heck! You're starting your own business and planning to compete with the Big Guys! It's supposed to be scary! Scary is good. Adrenaline brings out the best in you. If design is pretty low on your list of priorities now, do yourself a big favour, shunt it up to somewhere near the top. An effective Corporate Identity now will be your passport to the Big Boys' Club later on.