At the time of writing this post for you all, I’ve been doing development for designers specifically for about two years. And when I’m chatting with a designer about potentially teaming up, I get a lot of questions. The most common question I get is, “How do I know when it’s time to hire a developer?”
This is a concern that comes up a lot in business, no matter what you’re doing or who you’re hiring. It can be hard to know the right time to start something. Like when to use a new piece of software or when it’s time to invest in a coach.
While none of these questions have a “right” answer, I’ll do my best to help you decide if it’s time to outsource the development of your web design projects.
When it comes to a new client project, the onboarding process is the most complicated and time-consuming part of it all. There’s the initial part of deciding whether the client is a good fit, waiting for a proposal to be accepted, getting the contract signed, invoiced paid and all of the setup that comes after that.
You’ve put your heart and soul into your business. You’ve pulled all-nighters, spent extra time getting that thing “just right”, and sacrificed countless movie marathons with friends because you had a deadline to meet.
It’s no longer enough to sell a pretty website. If you want clients to pay more than a few hundred dollars, you need to sell the results your designs get. However, we all know that this is easier said than done!
There comes a time in business where you want to take on fewer projects, but make the same amount of money. Or you may want to increase your revenue altogether! One of the quickest solutions for both of those is to increase your prices and charge more for your design projects!
While having “too many” clients may sound like a good problem to have, once you are in that situation – it’s less than ideal. You may end up feeling stressed to the max, always playing catch up and working crazy hours. Plus, you’re more likely to disappoint your current clients.
There’s nothing worse than getting pumped for a payday and logging into your bank account to see that an invoice has yet to be paid. It’s a common struggle for designers to get their invoices paid on time, or even paid at all. Whether it’s a down payment on a project or the final fees for a completed one, the struggle is REAL.
Raise your hand if you are an introverted business owner like me! The longer I have been in this entrepreneurial space, the more introverts I come across. One of the ways I have been working to beat those introverted tendencies is through coffee chats. This practice is perfect for any business owner – introverted or extroverted.