How to open a studio without start-up capital
Hello colleagues!
I present to you a kind of "cheat sheet" for future studio leaders.
Many have a desire to open their own studio, but there are thoughts that stop you. These are “no investors,” “no customers,” “I don't know how I will advertise,” and many others. Some of them we will discuss in this article.
You can open your studio under any conditions and baseline data, including without having start-up capital. The main thing is the presence of a strong desire and willingness to spend all your time and energy on development. True, the problems in this case may be a little more, but on the other hand, and valuable experience runs in excess.
If there is no money, but you want to be happy ... (c)
Most often, the opening of the studio begins with the search for a like-minded person (co-founder) and the creation of the first site by joint efforts. Usually novice studios consist of a designer (he is an art director) and a sales manager. The main thing at the first stage is to create a decent quality studio website - it will be with its help that all subsequent interaction with potential clients (which, by the way, should be the same) will occur. Usually the first site is done on its own, with the help of acquaintances and friends, or for a very small amount.
The choice of a partner is a separate topic; this item is of great strategic importance. Now I will say only the most important thing: distribute the areas of responsibility, enter into an agreement in which the rights, obligations and amounts of remuneration (shares) are stated.
')
So, the site is ready, the designer is waiting for orders, and it is time for the crown exit of the sales manager, designed to ensure the flow of customers. And where can he get them without a budget for advertising? Not familiar to persuade, in fact?
The main thing is to soberly realize that for a studio without a “name” there is only one way - the Path of Active Search, on which, like in any war for a place in the market, all means are good, but some are better.
Look for customers everywhere.
Pay attention to PR studio. Publish information about each completed project on specialized resources - this not only increases the results of search results, but also forms the necessary “information field”, the company's image, increases the awareness of the audience. The slogan “A good product does not need advertising” was morally obsolete in the last century - without advertising, no one will ever find your product on the modern saturated market.
On average, it takes 2-4 months to deploy such a campaign in all directions. The results may not come immediately - this is a feature of human perception, first the information must be accumulated in sufficient quantity - and only after that it is used. After the first responses began, in no case should one slow down the pace - with today's information oversaturation, everything that briefly fell out of sight is forgotten almost instantly.
In parallel with the promotion, the sales manager should be actively searching, including cold calls. This does not mean that you need to ring up the organization for the directory "Yellow Pages", reading out the text from the cheat sheet, having picked up the phone. Determine which companies you would like to work with, study their existing sites, think about what can be improved, prepare individual business proposals and only then call, and after that - send letters.
An individual approach is appreciated by everyone without exception, and it’s naive to be afraid that your ideas will be stolen and implemented on your own. If, prior to your proposal, staff specialists are too lazy to even think about improvements, they probably won't have enough enthusiasm to implement it at the right level.
To the great surprise of many novice studios, the main difficulty is not finding customers, but what happens after the successful implementation of this task is the competent work on the project.
In order not to spoil your own results, follow some tips:
- Purchase a direct number. Virtual IP telephony or mobile - depending on financial capabilities. This will give solidity to your company in the eyes of potential customers (at least a direct number is associated with the office).
- do not rush to rent the room. At first, your main task is to survive in constant losses. Salaries of employees will "eat up" almost all the profits, and the extra expenses are completely useless. A good office doesn’t have enough weight, and to bring a client to a room on the last floor of a warehouse means to lose it automatically. To successfully organize the work of employees, an office is not needed - for this, modern communication and project management systems are sufficient.
- register a legal entity. Not a single solid company will work even according to “gray” schemes, not to mention the “black” pool. IP registration takes a week in total, and further work on the simplified tax system does not require fundamental knowledge in accounting.
- if after all you decided to rent an office - take care of the licensed software. The visit of the brave employees of the “K” department has not pleased anyone yet, but there are very many disappointed users of pirated versions left without working cars and with fines. If you don’t have enough money even for a single Photoshop license, look for alternatives among free software.
- carefully evaluate each transaction, and if something is alarming - do not rush to start work, even if the customer is pushing. Require prepayment - sometimes it is the most reliable indicator of overall adequacy and the guarantor of the successful completion of the project.
And most importantly - do not forget that to achieve success in the long term in the b2b sector, you can only work under the “win-to-win” scheme.
In the following articles I can cover the following topics:
1 - Business is a direct reflection of the head. What is the leader, such a business. To make a successful business you need to work hard on yourself and get rid of mistakes.
2 - What prevents a person from starting a business? Fears and wrong beliefs.
PS It just so happened that I was not particularly interested in writing about web design, so if anyone has any questions about managing people, business, or self-development, I’ll be happy to answer and help as much as I can!
I present to you a kind of "cheat sheet" for future studio leaders.
Many have a desire to open their own studio, but there are thoughts that stop you. These are “no investors,” “no customers,” “I don't know how I will advertise,” and many others. Some of them we will discuss in this article.
You can open your studio under any conditions and baseline data, including without having start-up capital. The main thing is the presence of a strong desire and willingness to spend all your time and energy on development. True, the problems in this case may be a little more, but on the other hand, and valuable experience runs in excess.
If there is no money, but you want to be happy ... (c)
Most often, the opening of the studio begins with the search for a like-minded person (co-founder) and the creation of the first site by joint efforts. Usually novice studios consist of a designer (he is an art director) and a sales manager. The main thing at the first stage is to create a decent quality studio website - it will be with its help that all subsequent interaction with potential clients (which, by the way, should be the same) will occur. Usually the first site is done on its own, with the help of acquaintances and friends, or for a very small amount.
The choice of a partner is a separate topic; this item is of great strategic importance. Now I will say only the most important thing: distribute the areas of responsibility, enter into an agreement in which the rights, obligations and amounts of remuneration (shares) are stated.
')
Start
So, the site is ready, the designer is waiting for orders, and it is time for the crown exit of the sales manager, designed to ensure the flow of customers. And where can he get them without a budget for advertising? Not familiar to persuade, in fact?
The main thing is to soberly realize that for a studio without a “name” there is only one way - the Path of Active Search, on which, like in any war for a place in the market, all means are good, but some are better.
Look for customers everywhere.
- Freelance portals. There sometimes appear very interesting proposals for novice ambitious teams, and in addition, it makes sense to notify all their old customers about the opening of the new studio and its proposals. If in the past your cooperation was successful and ended in mutual satisfaction, there is a very high chance that in the status of a company you will be re-approached with even more enthusiasm.
- Social networks are an actively developing promotion tool that needs to be learned to use. A huge number of potential customers or profitable partners, flexible opportunities for advertising or active communication with the audience. The main thing is not to freeze any of the directions - the search for new people and the support of communication with the existing pool.
- Specialized resources. They are of several types:
- Designer (communities, portals, forums). This is where you have to "unleash" the work of your designer. Take time to design your portfolio, try to present the work of the community interestingly, be sure to advertise each new project, participate in discussions (and at the same time learn to respond to criticism correctly - that is, remain consistently calm and polite. Do not waste your energy for nothing by engaging in virtual skirmishes.
A popular, “fashionable” designer will be addressed more often than a person “without a name,” even if he performs quality work.
- Industry portals - dedicated to construction, medicine, business, etc.
Choose a niche for which you have made a project or for which you would like to make and place on the portal a detailed practical article on how this will help this business. For example, on the portal about food delivery to your home and office, tell us what is decisive for users when choosing a site: the availability of high-quality, delicious, truthful photos of dishes, prices, ease of navigation, optimization of the online ordering process, linking billing systems - for example payment using a plastic card, electronic money, etc. Good ideas are always in value, and their authors are doubly.
PR campaign
Pay attention to PR studio. Publish information about each completed project on specialized resources - this not only increases the results of search results, but also forms the necessary “information field”, the company's image, increases the awareness of the audience. The slogan “A good product does not need advertising” was morally obsolete in the last century - without advertising, no one will ever find your product on the modern saturated market.
On average, it takes 2-4 months to deploy such a campaign in all directions. The results may not come immediately - this is a feature of human perception, first the information must be accumulated in sufficient quantity - and only after that it is used. After the first responses began, in no case should one slow down the pace - with today's information oversaturation, everything that briefly fell out of sight is forgotten almost instantly.
The secret to success in active sales
In parallel with the promotion, the sales manager should be actively searching, including cold calls. This does not mean that you need to ring up the organization for the directory "Yellow Pages", reading out the text from the cheat sheet, having picked up the phone. Determine which companies you would like to work with, study their existing sites, think about what can be improved, prepare individual business proposals and only then call, and after that - send letters.
An individual approach is appreciated by everyone without exception, and it’s naive to be afraid that your ideas will be stolen and implemented on your own. If, prior to your proposal, staff specialists are too lazy to even think about improvements, they probably won't have enough enthusiasm to implement it at the right level.
Hold height
To the great surprise of many novice studios, the main difficulty is not finding customers, but what happens after the successful implementation of this task is the competent work on the project.
In order not to spoil your own results, follow some tips:
- Purchase a direct number. Virtual IP telephony or mobile - depending on financial capabilities. This will give solidity to your company in the eyes of potential customers (at least a direct number is associated with the office).
- do not rush to rent the room. At first, your main task is to survive in constant losses. Salaries of employees will "eat up" almost all the profits, and the extra expenses are completely useless. A good office doesn’t have enough weight, and to bring a client to a room on the last floor of a warehouse means to lose it automatically. To successfully organize the work of employees, an office is not needed - for this, modern communication and project management systems are sufficient.
- register a legal entity. Not a single solid company will work even according to “gray” schemes, not to mention the “black” pool. IP registration takes a week in total, and further work on the simplified tax system does not require fundamental knowledge in accounting.
- if after all you decided to rent an office - take care of the licensed software. The visit of the brave employees of the “K” department has not pleased anyone yet, but there are very many disappointed users of pirated versions left without working cars and with fines. If you don’t have enough money even for a single Photoshop license, look for alternatives among free software.
- carefully evaluate each transaction, and if something is alarming - do not rush to start work, even if the customer is pushing. Require prepayment - sometimes it is the most reliable indicator of overall adequacy and the guarantor of the successful completion of the project.
And most importantly - do not forget that to achieve success in the long term in the b2b sector, you can only work under the “win-to-win” scheme.
In the following articles I can cover the following topics:
1 - Business is a direct reflection of the head. What is the leader, such a business. To make a successful business you need to work hard on yourself and get rid of mistakes.
2 - What prevents a person from starting a business? Fears and wrong beliefs.
PS It just so happened that I was not particularly interested in writing about web design, so if anyone has any questions about managing people, business, or self-development, I’ll be happy to answer and help as much as I can!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/90376/
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