Once you’ve finished learning how to create incredible websites, you might decide that you want to turn your new skill into a career. After all, it’s easier than ever to run a service-based business online today, and there are countless people out there who can benefit from a service like web design.

As exciting as the concept of starting your own business can be, it’s worth noting that there are a few challenges you’ll need to face when you’re getting started. For most people, it’s difficult to know where you should begin when it comes to making a name for yourself online and earning new clients. With that in mind, here are some top tips on starting your own web design company.

1. Decide on your Business Model

Simply deciding that you’re going to do something that you’re good at for a living isn’t really enough when you want to build a successful business. You’ll also need to make sure that you have a plan in place. For instance, are you going to specialize in offering people responsive websites that work perfectly for the mobile world? Or maybe you want to specifically design websites for a specific niche?

Some individuals interested in web design are finding ways to get ahead by adding extra services into their offering. For instance, could you combine your web design skills with an SEO and copywriting service too? Whatever you do, don’t rely on a “get rich quick” scheme to accomplish your goals. You’ll need to think carefully about how you’re going to attract and maintain clients in the long-term.

2. Design your Brand

Once you’ve decided what kind of web design company you’re going to run, it’s time to move onto the fun stuff – building a brand for your organisation. Even if you’re just a one-person company, it helps to have a brand that you can use to connect with your target audience. There are plenty of different things that go into a brand, including a logo, and a name for your business.

Choose something that’s easy to remember, and sure to help you resonate with the right kind of customer that you’re going to be trying to attract. You can also choose specific colours at this point that you might want to use in your business cards and website design later on.
If you’re not sure where to get started with building your brand, you can always try doing a little competitive research. You don’t want to copy the work that your competitors are doing, but you can rely on them for a little inspiration.

3. Build your Team

If you want to design a website design company, rather than just a freelance business, then you’re probably going to need more than only you. This means that you need to find the right team. Although it’s tempting to try and do everything yourself and keep costs low at first, the truth is that you’ll never be able to accomplish great things without a little help.

Built out a team of people who can help to add value to your business model. You might need someone who can handle the marketing side of your business, and someone else who deals with customer service and support. If your budget is pretty small, to begin with, it’s worth keeping costs low by using freelance talent.

4. Put your Portfolio and Website Online

With your team successfully up and running, you can build a website and bring your portfolio online. Remember, your future clients are going to judge you by your website, so make sure that it looks incredible. But your best work into creating a site that feels fantastic and is as easy to navigate as possible. This will help to show that you’re different from the other sub-standard companies out there.

It’s also worth building up your portfolio, as most prospects will want to see examples of your work before they start investing in you. If you don’t have a lot of examples of your abilities from previous clients yet, you can always put samples of your personal work on your website to help you get started.

5. Promote Yourself

Finally, don’t just sit there and wait for prospects to come to you. Make sure that you get out there and start promoting your new company. You can do this by running a blog that drives organic traffic to your website from the search engines. Alternatively, you could try joining web design and development forums to help get your work noticed.

The more you promote yourself, the more work you’ll get.