How to Know if You’re Ready to Hire a Designer
You’d think that as a professional designer, I’d be advocating for every business to have a custom logo and website, right?
Wrong! Actually, not every business needs one—at least, it should not be the very first thing you think about.
Before diving in, let’s briefly consider why someone should hire a professional designer.
It saves you time
It helps you stand out from the crowd
It provides you with proper files and proper brand guidelines
It adds a level of professionalism, which builds trust with your customers
It sets you up for the long run, instead of a short term design solution that might need to be remade
It saves you money — That’s right! If you invest in quality custom design in the beginning, you’ll avoid future issues with your branding that could be even more costly.
“That all sounds great! Why wouldn’t I want that as soon as I have a new business idea?!”
For many business owners, your logo is the crux of your identity, a very important piece of your brand that personifies everything you stand for. Simultaneously, often your website is a key tool for communicating with your customers. These are truly imperative to the launch and growth of most businesses.
However, there are a handful of other factors that should be nailed down before you’re ready to leap into branding or website design.
“So how do I know if I’m ready or not?”
Before investing in custom design, you need to know your business inside and out.
The values of your company are so much more important than your design preferences.
You’re not ready for design just because you have a vision of what you want your logo to look like, you know what colors you like, or you have seen other designs you like.
You are ready for design if you have tapped into the soul of your company. If you know why you do what you do, you’re definitely on the right path.
In order for your branding or web design to be effective, you need to know who your business is, and how you want to be perceived by your customers. Key questions to be able to answer are:
What are your core values and mission?
What are your goals as a business?
Who is your ideal customer?
What do you want your ideal customer to think of you?
I always recommend that business owners think more about how they want their brand to feel, not look, and consider why they want it to feel that way.
“What if I’m not ready yet, but I want to launch my business?”
While having professional design for your business can be immensely helpful when launching, sometimes it doesn’t make sense to have just yet. Sometimes you just want to dip your toe in the water and see how your business does before investing. Sometimes you need to get a taste of how your business runs before you can hone in on its personality. Sometimes you simply don’t have the funds. And, sometimes figuring out who your business is can be incredibly difficult. And that’s okay!
Stay tuned for these Resources:
The next month’s blog post reviews several things you can do yourself to keep your visual brand consistent while preparing for the big step of hiring a designer.
If you’re itching to dive into who your business is but feel like you need a helping hand, I’ll soon be rolling out Brand Strategy sessions that are perfect for figuring out your unique personality before investing in design. Get in touch if you’re curious to learn more.
“I AM ready!”
Excited to explore how branding or web design can help amplify your business’s unique voice? Let’s connect!
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