Running a web design agency can be one of the most beautiful jobs in the world. You are surrounded by creative people who are constantly coming up with ways to make the web a better place and to change the world for the better. It is also a competitive field and you never get bored.
Unfortunately, this lack of boredom is often caused by an almost unreal avalanche of challenges that you need to deal with as an owner of a web design agency. Knowing about them beforehand should give you some time to prepare and deal with them more efficiently once they come knocking at your door.
Web Builders and Platforms
Perhaps the biggest challenge for people who run web design agencies are various web builders and platforms where anyone can get a half-decent website without knowing the first thing about coding or design.
These services are built upon templates that can be bought and personalized enough for the majority of people to believe these are custom-made websites. Due to their prefabricated nature, these designs are far cheaper than anything you can realistically charge for your services and it can be quite difficult convincing your Average Joe and Jane that your services are necessary.
The good news is that there is no web builder or platform out there that can come close to the look and the feel of a custom-designed and developed website that a web design agency can produce. Even better news is that there are still more than enough individuals and companies that understand this.
In fact, as people get more and more web-literate, the number of such individuals and companies will only grow.
Working with People
This may sound like serious misanthropy, but it is not. Bear with me.
When you run a web design agency, you work for a client. You work for a number of clients and you have some sort of a relationship with all of them. This is very different from running a store and selling a product.
You are interlocked in these relationships for a certain amount of time and the more clients you have, the chances are better that you will run into characters that you do not need in your life. Characters that no one needs in their life.
These are the people who will seem to have been put on this planet with the singular purpose of making your existence miserable. They will complain, they will pivot, they will demand, they will turn tyrannical and sometimes outright insane.
And the worst thing is that you cannot avoid all of them. Sooner or later, you will have to get in a business relationship with some of them and you will have to deliver.
Brush up on your interpersonal skills, learn how to deal with difficult clients and train your Zen muscles.
Heavy Organizational Requirements
Working on a challenging design with a number of people is one of the most beautiful things in the world of web design. Bouncing ideas off one another, 2 a.m. moments of pure clarity, situations when there is so much creativity in the room that the language cannot express it – these all become part of a beautiful reality.
As your web design agency grows and jobs become bigger, such beautiful situations start coming with the added baggage of organizational requirements and responsibilities that cannot be ignored or even neglected. In order to get results from all this beautiful collaboration, you need to ensure that everyone is pulling their weight and in the same direction. Skipping a beat here and there can often lead to serious complications.
Luckily, there are smart practices and tools that help with this. You will want to hone your organizational skills, perhaps attend a project management course or two. You will also employ a web design project management tool that will help you stay on top of things.
Limited Client Base
One of the worst things that can happen to a business owner is running out of room for expansion. With a web design agency, there are two main reasons why your client base is somewhat more limited than it would be with other kinds of business.
For one, once you design a website for someone and turn them into a happy client, that’s it. They were a happy client. Until they (perhaps) come back after 5 years in need of updating their website, that’s the last you will see of them.
In addition to this, due to the very intricate work that has to be done, most clients choose web design agencies in their area, people they can sit down with face-to-face.
If you do not live in a large metro area, this may cause you to start running out of clients much earlier than you would wish, meaning that you will be spending more on marketing and attracting new clientele.
The good news is that new communication tools make it easier for web design agencies to work with clients thousands of miles away. When you combine this with some smart digital marketing, you should be alright.
Closing Word
It is not easy running a web design agency. Luckily, every challenge that is thrown at you can be shielded against if approached from the right direction and with the right mindset.
Keep that in mind.
