33. Designer Q&A Quickie: Managing Production

Production management can be quite the organisational beast for designers...liaising with printers, arranging print quotes for clients, dealing with payment, sending off projects to print (to name a few).    Here are our top tips for remaining in control of projects that require production:  Avoid quoting on production until after the design concept has been resolved AND keep it separate from the main design cost. Communicate extensively with the printer  Every printer is different, so even if you have sent similar projects to print  before, ask your supplier for their preferred specifications and requirements Ensure that you are getting paid for your valuable production management time (it can be time-consuming!)  Decide if you are going to get the supplier to invoice the client directly or invoice the client for production costs yourself (Pro Tip: if you receive wholesale prices from your supplier, you can add a percentage markup to the quote) Make sure you get full payment prior to production going ahead.   Having systems ready to go will collapse time for you and ensure you are asking all the right questions so that there are no crazy surprises that may cost you and your client time and money!   As part of the Design and Prosper Academy—our 12 week group learning experience, one of our special bonuses is our PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT KIT where you’ll receive: - A production checklist - An email template for requesting quotes - An email template for placing orders    Join the Design & Prosper Academy!   We are thrilled to be offering a 12 week group learning experience for graphic, brand and web designers in business.    In The Academy you'll have the blueprint for creating an in-demand brand design studio without the business fatigue, client problems and money worries.    For all the details and to sign up, head to: https://www.designandprosper.co/theacademy Doors close 7pm AEST May 13 2021 🤗 If you miss out on our founder's round, be sure to follow us on socials to find out when we launch round 2 later this year! Follow us on Instagram @designandprosper__

Om Podcasten

Hey! We’re Kris and Donna, and we love having honest, open conversations about running a graphic design business. We’ve been graphic designers and educators for the past 2 decades and have both run multiple-six figure graphic design businesses. We have Experienced. It. All—the highs and the lows of success. In this space, we will share all things Graphic Design business. The do’s, the don’ts, tips, secret sauces, and a whole lot more. Bottom line—we are on a mission to help Graphic Designers thrive in business. Our aim with this podcast is to provide valuable insights and strategies so you can take them and apply them to build your own successful graphic design business. If you have a graphic design business problem that you'd like us to unpack in a future episode, email us at team@designandprosper.co. We'd love to hear from you.