Cashflow problems can be the trigger for a downward spiral in your graphic design business.

And, can also have a negative impact on your health and wellbeing.

We wanted to check in and ask…are you working long hours to make ends meet?

Are you working for the bare minimum hourly rate? When all is said and done, you wrap up a project and discover you’ve earned less than $5 an hour?

Or worse, do you feel like you’re working for free?

And how’s your life balance—does it exist? 

If you answered yes to just one of the above, it’s time to interrupt this flow and make some strategic changes to your business.

If you answered yes to all of them…sound the alarm. You need to stop what you are doing! Make space and time available for ‘you’ right NOW—take a deep breath and reassess. It’s way past overdue for you to take your control back.

Cash flow problems can be traced back to these 5 key areas.

1. You are under-quoting
2. You are over-delivering
3. You are not in control of your process—your clients are calling the shots
4. You don’t understand your money
5. Your marketing strategy is not working for you, or worse still, you don’t have a marketing strategy.

By implementing some easy strategies, you can take your power back, feel in control and understand where your money is. Your cashflow will be on the right track to becoming lush and thriving—and so will you, lovely designer!

Understand your value

Know how long things take you and understand your process and deliverables. Understand where ‘your’ value is.

Timesheets, *insert groan* are essential so that you know how long you take to complete projects. You can use what other people say as a guide, however, you are uniquely you. You may be slow, you may be fast—either way, this isn’t an indication of your value.

We want to make sure that when your projects are completed, you can easily look over your hours and see where the time was spent.

This time tracking will help to inform quotes for future projects.

Which brings us to a pricing calculator or spreadsheeet. When you are quoting bespoke projects, they are less likely to fall into a set package or blanket approach. Bespoke generally does not equal cookie cutter.

So in order to quote accurately, (in that you don’t end up making a paltry $5 per hour), you need to safeguard yourself by mapping out the all the potential steps it will take to complete the project, and estimating the time for each task.

We recommend adding a percentage for value on top of the hours, to make sure you aren’t just swapping out time for dollars.

We having pricing examples and explain value-based pricing in our FREE pricing guide for brand and graphic designers. Have you got your copy yet?

Set clear boundaries

From the get-go set clear boundaries and deliverables. Have your boundary setting statements on repeat…in your quote and proposal, your contract and welcome guide. And don’t be afraid to quickly call on your boundaries when client’s blur the lines or blatantly disregard them.

Get yourself some sexy spreadsheets!

Yep, for some, this will be a dirty word. But understanding where every cent goes is super empowering.

However, understanding how your money is working for you, where and how you make it and where it goes is essential to business success.

And quite simply, spreadsheets make sense of money!

Outsource this task if spreadsheets are a time vortex for you, or if the idea of setting them up is simply doing your head in.

We take cue’s from one of our favourite books of all time ‘The E-myth’ by Michael Gerber. You don’t have to wear all the hats in your business. In fact, it’s important that you don’t.

Outsource, employ a specialist bookkeeper to set up your system and educate you. Then you take the reigns…become an authority on your money so you aren’t relying on others to inform you on this crucial area of your business.

Pro Tip: Make spreadsheets beautiful. If you have to engage in a spreadsheet, you might as well make it a visually appealing experience right? It works for us. The beauty might be just the reason your spreadsheets become fun!

What did the project cost you?

At the end of each project, assess it! Look at your metrics, which should show you your bottom line. Did you make a profit on this project?

Make sure you have a spreadsheet that tracks the time spent vs the money received for every project.

Set goals for yourself (and your team if you have one) and see if you can beat your previous benchmarks.

Also, look at the flow of the project. Was it easy? Did you enjoy it? Would you like to work with the client again? Did it light you up?

While these last points don’t make an impact on the actual dollar value of a project, all these things contribute to the overall ‘cost’ of the project. And can impact you and your wellbeing further down the line if not addressed.

Are you winging your marketing strategy?

We’ve talked a lot about business growth and client conversion strategies for brand and web designers in the past.

We recommend checking out the following episodes for more juicy nuggets:

Ep 20: 20 ways to get graphic design clients

Ep 21: 10 ways designers can make more money—now!

Ep 12: 5 easy lead magnets to reach graphic design clients

Does this apply to me? I’m a solopreneur.

Even as a solopreneur ALL of this applies.

Once systems are in place ease will follow. It’s always tricky to do something for the very first time.

We love how Brené Brown refers to first-time tasks as an FFT—Fucking First Time! A G rated version could be Freakin’ First Time!!

Regardless…it is a big arse first time and you need to be gentle with yourself.

First time tasks are big! They take a lot of energy and a lot more time.

The newness can be frustrating and you will be tempted to give up and go back to something you know. But, if what you know isn’t working for you, it really is time to change it up to something that will.

Because once tackled you will be on your way! You are no longer pioneering, you are simply doing and getting it done! And you will feel empowered!

Power on, beautiful designer!