Starting A New Design Business

pufferfish fistbump

Junior Member
Hey Everyone,

I'm new here....

Me and a couple of other artists are just about to launch a Design company. I'd appreciate anyone who's interested to go and like the page,

https://www.facebook.com/pufferfishfistbumpdesign


also any tips and tricks on the business side of things would be great. Also any ways to look for freelance jobs or projects woud help


Chris
Pufferfish Fistbump Design LTD
@pffbdesign
 
lol a newbie wanting us to like his new startup facebook page.... it doesn't work that way, you have to EARN that on a DESIGN forum
 
1) change your name (personal opinion), you cant ring a reputable company and pronounce that, or even answer the phone with that name :)

on a serious note 2) get a proper website, try to have at least 5 pages, with relevant content, make it look like it wasnt made up in a couple of hours. Its your shop front!
3) Go on every possible online directory, Yell, Thomson local, business magnet etc. I am putting together a small guide where i will list various directories etc. If anyone is interested, drop me an email and i will send you one direct as soon as its ready.
4) Go on forums which relate to your industry, such as this one. Try and only post on forums that are relevant to your industry, even if you get a link back to your site, it wont do you much good being on an AV forum if youre a designer.
5) Print a set of business cards, and perhaps fliers (I could help with that i guess... :p). drop off some flyers to all the local businesses. (when i say all, id focus on business parks and industrial estates rather than high street shops. A card shop isnt likely to buy your services)
6) Bluntly... pick up the phone or sent a few emails. If you dont do the legwork yourself you wont get the customers. Depending on how good you are, if you ring 100 businesses, i can guarantee you will get some business from that. it might take you a whole day to make a hundred calls but it will pay off when the money starts coming in.

Hope this helps.
Damian
 
chrismitchell said:
Sounds like some sort of sexual position to me :p

If there was a like button on this forum for individual posts, I would have hit it.

I agree with Opal. The name you've chosen makes you sound like a group of teenagers high on red bull that just decided to come up with some kind of SUPER AWESOME name for their SUPER AWESOME new business. What does it even mean, puffer fishes fist bumping? I'm imagining some kind of pixar style fish with large fists. I don't think that would inspire clients to hire you as a graphic designer.

Don't ever use a social media site for your primary web presence, please. I'm begging you. The content on your page is.. well, the photos are interesting. The logo looks very out dated and the image containing the text "PFFB" surrounded by fish on a grey background looks like a drawing that a child from first school might bring home.

Don't let me put you off, if this is something you really want to do then by all means, go ahead and try your hardest to succeed with it! What I will tell you though is that unless your parents have lots of wealthy business contacts, you are going to have to put a lot more effort into this.

Tips and tricks? You're going into business, you really, really need to learn about how it works. What preparation have you done for this business venture? Have you studied at college/uni, have you scoured the internet for every possible informative article on related subjects, kept up to date with popular, high quality blogs - anything?

Business is about creating opportunities for yourself and then making the best use of them when they appear. This is no easy task and not a subject I would like to cover in a forum post.

On your FB page, you say you're ready to take on commissions for ad-campaigns. Sounds good.. are you and your company tax registered then? Have you considered the finance side of business, do you have an accountant?
 
Taken on board and appreciated,

Name is staying, guy who drew that **** is fired already and the website is nearly ready to publish, the website one of you looked at is just not our

even a bit


cheers for the opinions and ill post up when the sites done
 
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