Includes index.

Organization -- A Solid Foundation -- Two Personal Essentials -- Legal Structure -- Ownership Sharing -- The Need for Business Planning -- Developing the Business Plan -- Structure and Facilities -- The Benefits of Structure -- The Chain-of-Command Business Model -- The Coaching Business Model -- The Associate Business Model -- Facilities Requirements and Budgeting -- Lease Negotiation -- Buying Your Own Space -- Outside Support Services -- Accounting Services -- Bookkeeping Services -- Banking Services -- Insurance Services -- Legal Services -- Arbitration and Mediation Services -- Consulting Services -- Personnel -- Organizing -- How Organized Are You? -- The Case for Clearly Defined Policies -- What Employees Want to Know About -- An Organization Chart -- Employee Handbooks -- Publishing Employee Handbooks -- Job Descriptions -- Noncompete Agreements -- A Note to You -- Hiring -- Staffing Norms -- How About a Virtual Staff? -- Working with Outside Help -- Using Interns -- Finding Qualified Applicants -- A Great Book is Not Enough -- Interviewing Applicants -- Evaluating Creativity -- Salaries and Benefits -- Informing Applicants -- Motivating -- How We Are a Little Different -- Intangible Motivators -- Tangible Motivators -- Evaluating Employees -- Giving Raises -- Creative Direction -- Understanding the Need -- Defining the Ground Rules -- Adopting a Two-Step Process -- The Time for Nondirection -- Stimulating Creativity -- Critiquing Constructively -- The Preliminary Test -- The Creative Review -- Dismissing -- Downsizing Considerations -- Dealing with Problem Employees -- Trying to Change Bad Habits -- How to Say Goodbye -- Marketing -- Positioning -- Marketplace Trends -- Is it Better to Specialize? -- What About Broader Positioning than "Graphic Design"? -- When is a Design Firm Something Else? -- Mission Statements -- Positioning for the Future -- Promoting -- The Many Benefits -- Design Firm Fundamentals -- Advertising -- Web Promotion -- Direct Mail -- Reputation Building -- Publicity -- Networking -- Volunteering and Pro Bono Work -- Creative Competitions -- Selling -- Is the Web Changing Things? -- How Much is Enough? -- Hiring Salespeople -- What to Expect From a Salesperson -- Qualifying Clients -- Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk -- Pitching Revenue-Crucial Projects -- Pitching High-End Projects -- Pitching Moderate-Visibility Projects -- Operations -- Pricing Your Services -- Hourly Fees -- Price by Value? -- Markups -- Commissions -- Noncash Compensation -- Working on Retainer -- Provide Volume Discounts? -- Give a Break to Not-for-Profits? -- Raising Prices without Raising a Flap -- Determining Client Budgets -- Working with Clients -- Give 'Em What They Need or What They Want? -- Coping with Client Incompetence -- Conflicts of Interest -- How Many Concepts? -- Give Up Computer Files? -- Danger Signs -- Surveying Client Happiness -- Outgrowing and Resigning -- Grow the Business? -- How Big? -- Size Control -- What's the Right Business Mix? -- The Three Business Stages -- Managing Growth -- New Business from Old Clients -- Adjusting Work Flow -- Electronic Help -- Financial Issues -- Funding Operations -- Figuring Profitability -- Improving Billable Efficiency -- Balance Sheets and Income Statements -- Benchmarking Trends -- Avoiding Risks -- Personal Issues -- The Perils of Perfectionism -- The Entrepreneurial Disease -- Avoiding Burnout -- Valuing the Business -- Cashing Out -- Twnety-Five Management Standards -- Marketing Standards -- Operating Standards -- Financial Standards -- Six Management Case Studies -- Self-destructive Management -- Dealing with the "Gorilla Client" -- Fast-Growth Danger Signals -- Not Making Tough Decisions -- Relying on Referrals -- Failing to Institutionalize the Company -- A Designer's Short Course in Marketing -- A Marketing Orientation -- What It Is and Isn't -- Marketing Focus Versus Customer Focus -- Marketing Structures -- The Four Ps of Marketing -- Strategy and the Marketing Mix -- Marketing Plans -- Marketing Plan Formats -- Marketing Plan Style -- Samples and Forms -- Formal Business/Financial Plan -- Estimating Worksheet -- Letter of Agreement -- Detailed Proposal -- Employee Handbook -- Agent Agreement -- Work-for-Hire Form -- Emergency Planning Form.

Every industry is unique, but some operate in ways that are outside standard business practices and experiences. Graphic design is one of those businesses. It requires its own distinct management style and operations agenda in order to run efficiently, build a stable client base, and maximize profitability. As business sophistication becomes increasingly critical for survival in the field, graphic design firms will need to fuel the business sides of their creative endeavors and build a solid foundation for the future.

The Creative Business Guide to Running a Graphic Design Business is the first comprehensive manual for firms of all sizes, providing specialized tips tailored to the specific goals and needs of graphic design companies. Divided into four sections that treat the cornerstone concerns of every successful business -- organization, marketing, personnel, and operations -- the book details how each of these areas functions in the design world, and what firm principals and managers can do to optimize their efficacy. Chapters cover structuring the firm, developing a business plan, cultivating relationships with outside support services, hiring, determining salaries and benefits, positioning the firm in the marketplace, selling to clients, pricing and budgeting services and client projects, financing and managing growth, and much more. The appendices include sample business forms and documents to help put the information into practice.

Drawing upon surveys of hundreds of design organizations across the country, this book is an invaluable tool for those just starting out in the design business as well as seasoned veterans of the field. It provides standard procedures firms of all sizes can use to strengthen their business presence and build healthy practices for the future.