May 23, 2022
Thinking of starting your own business as a web designer? Being your own boss gives you greater freedom and flexibility in both your professional and private life. An even greater benefit is the ability to choose the clients and projects you will work on. You could go solo or gather a team of colleagues and start up your own web design agency, the world is your oyster.
According to DDIY, there are already 57 million professionals working as full-time freelancers in the US. With more and more people considering the freelance route, finding remote talent to fill vacant roles for your web design agency has never been easier.
Starting a web design agency may seem daunting at first, however, we’ll break down how to nail a foolproof web design business plan including how to offer your services to clients along with pricing your service packages.
A digital agency business model is structured around a team of colleagues that collaborate on projects in person or online via real-time cloud services such as Sitechange. The advantage of an agency is the ability to better serve your client’s needs thanks to a dedicated team with greater specialized skills in their field.
Not to mention the ability to scale and take on bigger, more lucrative projects. From the client’s perspective, collaborating with a dedicated graphic designer, copywriter, and web designer will be far more efficient and effective than just one jack-of-all-trades freelancer.
Team members can either be hired employees or freelancers working on a per-project basis. This allows you to easily assemble a team of talented, experienced workers at a fraction of the cost. The unique selling point to clients is access to a talented, experienced pool of industry experts to work on comprehensive, personalized solutions to any project.
Custom pricing options that suit the prospective client’s needs can be just as important as personalized services. Some clients might prefer a one-and-done pricing structure while others a more long-term approach. Here are some pricing structures to consider.
The flat-fee retainer model involves a client paying a flat fee for work performed on a weekly or monthly basis. This helps create a more accurate forecast of revenue and reduces uncertainty regarding work security, which are major benefits for a startup agency.
This payment structure works well with creating a new website that requires continual maintenance and avoids constant invoices for small tasks. Offering a flat-fee retainer model is a good way to foster a long-term collaboration with a new client.
A productized service involves pricing a project as a one-and-done job where you charge a lump sum for the service rendered. This approach can work well for clients that have stricter budget constraints and want a clear estimate of the total money spent.
This method is ideal for projects with a clear completed product such as a website remodel, logo redesign, etc. Be sure to layout the project deliverables in the contract since there is no room to add on additional service midway through without renegotiating the contract altogether.
With the hybrid retainer model, you’ll operate with a mix of the flat-fee retainer and the productized service model. In practice, this might means you set a fee for the initial project and also for the retention of your services after the initial project is completed. This retainer fee might be an hourly or a per-milestone rate.
This is a good option for SaaS (software-as-a-service) online agencies that want to take on large projects on a recurring basis that may need to scale up over time such as large web design projects with a pre-determined package of services along with a bundle of various service solutions.
If you’re looking to start your web design agency, you might find yourself overwhelmed with administration. Sitechange can help you to stay on top of your tasks, keep your projects running smoothly, and keep your clients up-to-date on changes and updates as you take on more and more projects.
If you’re interested in trying out our website change request software for free, sign up for a free trial today.
