How to start a design business: 9 tips for success

Start a business text on a purple background
(Image credit: Future)

It can be difficult to know how to start a design business. No matter how much experience you have, it can be hard to know when the time is right and how to take the plunge. Maybe design began as a side hustle that's slowly taken over and you're wondering whether it could become a sustainable career, or maybe you've been working as a freelancer or in-house at an agency and you want to take the plunge to launch a new venture.

You certainly wouldn't be alone. A lot of designers have ambitions to run their own businesses, whether it’s freelancers setting up with friends, or designers moving out of full-time employment to become their own boss. But how to go about it?

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Founder & director of Inkygoodness, Lisa is a published writer and arts journalist, focusing on creative business, graphic art and illustration and design education. Her words have appeared in Computer Arts magazine, Creative Bloq, Digital Arts and IdN.