Brett @ Designjoy Profile picture
May 14, 2023 12 tweets 6 min read Read on X
My one-person design business has done $611,996 this year already.

It costs me $275 per month to run it (plus Stripe fees).

Here's a breakdown of the tools I use:
Design: @figma ($15/m)

Probably obvious, but I spend most of my day here.

I use it to design nearly everything from branding to full-scale product design. Image
Development: @webflow ($33/m)

The greatest no-code website builder on the planet.

I not only use it for the Designjoy.co site, but it plays a huge part in my service offering as well. Image
Stock assets: Shutterstock ($99/m)

Fantastic resource for vector assets and stock photos.

I use this literally daily to speed up my workflow. Image
Design: @Adobe CC ($29/m)

Used primarily for vector & photo editing, this suite picks up in the rare cases Figma falls short. Image
Client design queue: @trello (Free)

This is where clients send design requests and manage their queue (1,000+ requests and counting).

This is also where all client communication happens.

Simple, but effective. Image
Internal request management: @airtable (Free)

I use this to centralize all current requests from clients.

It's helpful to have them all in one place vs. spread across a billion different Trello boards.

Again, simple, but very effective. Image
Design handoff: @loom (Free)

Sometimes it's just easier to hit record and start talking vs. typing out an entire book.

This is where Loom comes in clutch.

Couldn't live without it. Saves so much time. Image
Payments: @stripe (2.9% transaction fee)

Not much to say here. 🙂 Image
Course platform: @circleapp ($99/m)

This is where I host my ProductizeYourself.co course with nearly 2,000 students. Image
Community: @discord (Free)

Members of my course also get access to a Discord server meant to connect them, share ideas, gain insight, and grow together. Image
That's all!

Goes to show you don't need to spend big bucks to make big bucks.

Hope you enjoyed the thread. 🙂

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More from @BrettFromDJ

Sep 12, 2024
Fonts make or break your brand in 2024.

My top 10 favorites in every category:
Sans Serif -
Guton Image
Retro Serif -
Awesome Serif Image
Read 11 tweets
Jul 11, 2024
A big reason Designjoy makes millions 💰:

You can ⏸️ pause subscriptions.

Here's how that works and why it's such a big deal:
Most companies do not have a constant flow of design needs at all times.

Design requests pop up sporadically, so subscribing to a $5,000/m service may not make sense.

If you go 2 weeks without a request, that's $2,500 for nothing, right?
Pausing your subscription changes everything.

Imagine you're subscribed to Designjoy.

You pay $5,000 for 31 days worth of work.

But let's say 2 weeks in, your design queue drys up.

Instead of forfeiting lost time, you simply pause.
Read 7 tweets
Apr 29, 2024
Running a $1,500,000/year design agency by yourself is no easy task. I couldn't do it without the right tools.

No more gatekeeping.

Here are the tools that allow me to do this.
@figma / @webflow / @stripe

These are obvious, but without them, nothing else matters.

I design essentially everything in Figma, from logos to mobile apps.

I build client websites (and my own) in Webflow.

Stripe handles the subscription payments.
@trello

Every design request filters through a Trello board.

Each subscription client has their own.

It's the simplest system you can imagine, but it works. Image
Read 12 tweets
Sep 19, 2023
Running a $100k/m one-man design subscription services seems impossible to most. 🤔

Here's how I actually make it work:
"Unlimited" agencies get a bad wrap, and it's largely our fault.

You can't expect 100 designs at the same time and expect them all at once.

The "one request at a time" rule prevents this, making it impossible to abuse/exploit the system.
I focus on the things I'm good and fast at.

Most requests can be completed in 30 mins or less. Some of them 5 minutes.

Otherwise, I don't offer it.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 14, 2023
Designjoy has had 727 clients as a design subscription agency. 🤯

That’s millions in revenue.

Here’s how I’d get clients if I were to start all over:
Product Hunt.

I say with hesitancy because for most of you, this won’t work out unless you have an:

- audience
- kick-ass landing page
- target an untapped niche

But it’s so easy to do, it would likely be my first stop. You have nothing to lose.
Job Boards.

Subscription agencies are ideal for companies looking to hire full time help.

They’re most likely to stick around long-term, and it’s easy to sell the benefits of a Netflix-style agency over hiring full time.

No better place to look than those already hiring.
Read 8 tweets
Jul 5, 2023
Running a $100,000/m design agency alone has taught me some valuable lessons.

Here's 11 things I've learned over the years:
1. Make your offer irresistible.

I launched my design subscription service at just $449/m.

It was the steal of a lifetime.

Getting clients at that rate required zero effort given my skill level.

It reduced the risk for clients to try something new, and I learned a lot.
2. Increase prices with demand.

I didn't stay at $449/m long.

But my client list quickly filled up.

And as it did, I steadily increased my rates to $5,000/m. Quite the jump.

Increasing rates little by little allowed me to measure the impact on demand (which didn't exist).
Read 12 tweets

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