What I Learned About Attracting Clients From Building & Closing a 6-Figure Design Business

Do you feel like you are chasing down every single client? Wondering if growing a business really has to be this hard? You are not alone. 

When I started my first business, a design studio, I did what many people do which is to copy the services and processes that I already knew. I had been freelancing for about a year and I had enough clients to pay the bills for about 6 months when I left my job as an Art Director for a Fortune 100 company. Leaning on what I knew got me started in my business, but it didn’t keep me going. 

I had to learn how to manage multiple projects to meet my budget, do all the work, and attract new clients. I quickly saw how much I didn’t know about growing a business and how my systems and services weren’t supporting me. When I learned about Human Design so much of my struggle made sense and I couldn’t help but wish I had known then, what I know now (don’t we all), but that wouldn’t have been in alignment with my Human Design either. Because I have a ⅗ profile, I actually have to learn by experimenting and then share that with others. When I made mistakes and learned everything I could, I remember thinking that this wasn’t just for me. And I was right. If I hadn’t had all of those experiences I wouldn’t be a coach who could not only empathize with my clients but know exactly how to get them the results they want.

Here’s what you need to know. The way to grow a successful and sustainable business is to create the business around you. 

There are many different kinds of problems that you can solve based on your experience and expertise and just as many ways to solve that problem. Building a business around you means choosing the services and how you package those services in a way that is right for you. This not only predicts how much money you make but it influences the effectiveness of your  marketing and the number of people you can serve. Let me explain.

For your business to financially support you your services have to be something YOU feel 110% sold on. If you are excited about your services, then you are also excited to market them, which makes sales so much easier.  For this to happen you have to be specific about the problem you solve, why you are the best person to do this, and the way you solve this problem has to match your capacity and your energy. 

For example, when I was doing web design I started off doing any website for anybody. That wasn’t very exciting so I niched in on entrepreneurs so I could design sites that would be more creative. I continued to struggle with my energy because I hated a long drawn-out process, so I created a 7-day site using Squarespace instead of custom-coded WordPress sites. This was better, but honestly, I wasn’t excited about web design in general. I realized that the part of the process I was excited about was the initial kick-off. The bigger vision conversations about branding and how to share their message. This realization prompted me to change my service to include branding, which I was doing separately, as part of the web design process. I enjoyed the work more and my clients got a better results. At this point, I was making great money, but working all the time and getting burned out.  Even so, I started spending a lot of time coaching clients on marketing and mindset, for free, because I loved it. Then, a client asks me to coach her. Boom, I knew this was the service for me. It felt like a dream job. It allowed me to take all of my experience and expertise and roll it into one offer that lit me up.

Here’s what I know now about growing my own business based on Human Design. 

Because I am a projector I have a limited amount of energy. While I can work really hard in short bursts, I am not built for a traditional 9-5. I also like to bring in all of my focus on one thing and finish it. It’s a gift, but it also means those long web design projects weren’t the right services for my energy. Projectors are wise guides. They see the big picture and guide the other types on how to bring their vision to life. They don’t actually do the work. In short, was born to be a coach, but it’s my experience that got me where I am today. The experience of growing a 6-figure design business led me to learn everything I could about mindset, get my certifications in Human Design, Neuro Linguistic  Programming, Life Coaching, Reiki, EFT, Hypnosis, and Business Coaching. When Projectors find something they are passionate about they go all in and master it!

This doesn’t mean that a design business was wrong for me, but I wasn’t working in alignment with my Human Design type. This is what I could have done differently. Filtered by clients better to meet my process. Perfected my systems to automate and save as much time as possible. Hired a contractor to take over the web design portion and a VA to do some of the design work. Integrated some digital products to serve clients at a lower price point, without doing more work. These changes would have allowed me to focus on building relationships with clients, creating the vision for their brand, and organizing the project, but not doing the work of executing their project. This kind of business model would keep me in my zone of genius of generating creative ideas and guiding business owners. 

Building a business around you sets you up for success not only financially but making sure you love the work you are doing so you have long-term sustainability. Human Design is my favorite tool for helping my clients do just that. You don’t have to wait or spend years trying things out to see how to make your business work for you. You can start attracting clients now and let it feel easy. Grab your free Human Design reading to find out your Human Design type and what strategy will help you create a business you love.