Why I Am a Terrible Businessman

I am an enthusiast and I like people who share my enthusiasms. I like people around me who work hard, respect their fellow employees, and are willing to learn new things. I believe that being an advocate for your ideas and the quality of your work is the basis of a great client relationship. I expect people to take responsibility for meeting their deadlines, owning up to mistakes, and asking for help before it’s a crisis. When they don’t do these things, I think I can fix them.

The ideal work environment should be as comfortable as your home, but with better equipment and better snacks. An inspiring workplace promotes creative work. All work and no play make dull people. A flat organizational chart should encourage people to work together. Giving people unstructured amenities and a reliance on personal professional conduct is an opportunity for abuse. Give someone an inch and they think they are a ruler.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the phrase, “I am sorry”—if it is sincere. Treating the people who work at AURAS with generosity and compassion is a basic principle. I would rather give employees another chance even if it is their third or fourth. Giving and taking public criticism for work is a necessary skill for everyone to practice. Asking others for feedback should be part of the regular design process. It’s easy to see I am a “softie.”

Growing a client is more important than landing a job. I would rather have ten ongoing clients than twenty ongoing projects. Collaborating with clients means finding solutions that enhance their goals, so striving to agree on the scope of the project is the most important part of starting a job, and believing in their goals is a necessity. It is obviously bad to turn down lucrative projects for groups whose ideology you don’t respect, or good business to “fire” a client for being constantly dismissive of your ideas.

Working with clients should be a stimulating, amusing experience that fosters mutual trust. It’s up to AURAS to find design solutions that satisfy both the client and the designer. I naively expected that great work and enthusiastic references were enough for a lifetime of work.

A clear set of deliverables and their fees makes a successful contract. Avoiding small charges and the accumulation of changes to the scope is the responsibility of AURAS. No surprises in a bill, ever. In the case of a blown estimate, being upfront about the reasons for changes in fees should be an immediate and reciprocal conversation but accepting the necessity of negotiating loss is part of a successful studio.

I prefer to overbid and provide a simple fee schedule rather than create a complicated line-item bill, even if it seems uncompetitive. Clients who do not believe in a relationship where good work and rapport is worth the money won’t be a client for long anyway, but it still eats at me every time we lose a job for reasons unknown or unelaborated and I was too much of a wuss to pursue why.

I like a small studio. I used to say I only wanted enough people to field a softball team, but then ten people seemed like too many, but I don’t believe in constant overtime. I budgeted AURAS so that its hourly overhead was profitable when our hours were only 75% full. This both insured we could always handle new work and was also an indicator when a new hire was needed. That worked well when the work was always expanding, but when the economy turned, as it did several times over the years, letting people go was my Kryptonite.

Maybe that isn’t the way to run a design studio, but I’ve managed. If being happy to come into work each day to a place you’re proud of and people you enjoy isn’t good business, then I’m willing to live with that.