Starting My Web Design and Branding Business

A little about me – I have an MBA and I was using my degree in a regular 9-5 job doing work for state government. When I got pregnant with my first little one I knew that I wanted to be home with her, but I wanted to continue working as well as it gave me satisfaction apart from being a mama.

Enter starting my own Branding and Web Design Business. I started by doing jobs for family, friends and acquaintances and they all praised my work and insisted I try doing it professionally. I always hemm-ed and hah-ed at their suggestions not thinking my work was good enough to charge as much as the big-name design agencies.
So the idea sat in a corner of my mind until this year when I finally said “f-it!” I built a site for MY business and started doing market research, asking questions in social media groups and mentors, and taking courses to improve my skills. Boom! Just like that I am a branding and web designer with my own business, booking clients weekly, and building my dream.

What is holding you back from starting your own business?

In my case it was fear – I was intimidated by established designers and agencies and felt they were so far ahead that I could never get there. I was also overwhelmed I had no clue where to even begin. But, you can! And I did! You just have to start…

1) Decide who your audience is and what purpose you are fulfilling for them.

Who do you want to sell your product, services, coaching, etc. to? What problem are you going to help them with? You need to find the value in your business so you can sell that value to someone else. Be clear in choosing your target audience and creating the ideal persona. This will make everything so much easier – you’ll know who you need to market to, how you should design your brand for them, how to set your prices, basically everything can be answered if you know exactly who your audience is.

2) Leave behind the “I don’t know how to” mindset.

Do you think the experts in your field knew what they were doing in the beginning? Here’s a hint: nobody does! We all get training and guidance through experience and connections with others on the same path. So, reach out to that company, person, brand you admire and want to emulate – you’ll be surprised how willing they may be to give you tips on succeeding. There is room for all of us, so get busy!

3) Just Start.

You may not know where to start so I’ll give you a suggestion, think of your ideal client. What kind of name would be attractive to them? Boom! You have your company name. Open up a Facebook business page, or Instagram business page, or blog and start putting up something. Likely your content will not have any rhyme or reason at the beginning but, you’ll be surprised how quickly your ideas will start to flesh out when you see them on the screen. Just start doing something.

Think about these 3 tips – implement them and you will see that the cloud of ideas in your mind will soon begin to take shape into ideas you can act upon and go forward with. Don’t be afraid (I know it’s easier said than done) for it won’t be failure if you don’t succeed right away – you’ll just have found another way to improve your goals.

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