You should have a designer at the core of your start-up

[MikeRiches]

As a graphic design graduate i am biased. But i firmly believe every start-up should have a designer in their core team. We are trained as problem solvers and can often think a little more creatively than someone more business minded.

Agree or disagree?

[Freelancier]

Disagree.

A start-up's biggest problem is cash flow. It's not creative ideas (you wouldn't have a successful start-up without a good creative idea in the first place)... it's the money. Most businesses fail in the first year because of insufficient money. So you either need someone who is talented at raising money or someone who is talented at finding sales.

Design can be outsourced. Cash can't be. You can outsource what isn't core to your success.

[cbscreative]

If you're referring to a hiring decision, then the point about outsourcing is correct, but I agree that creative services should be sought. The decision to skimp on design to save money will easily be a contributing factor to failure rather than an actual savings. The failure of most startups demonstrates how commonly a myth is believed. You often hear it expressed as, "I can't afford to advertise," or similar statements. That is the proverbial cart before the horse.

I'm not convinced that cash flow is the biggest problem for a startup. A successful startup requires a solid plan, and that plan needs to include marketing to build cash flow. Marketing will also require design services. I believe the lack of a solid plan and marketing are the real culprits to the high failure rates.

[Freelancier]

I'm not convinced that cash flow is the biggest problem for a startup

Then you should do the research on it. Google "reasons why startups fail" then start looking at the links and see if "didn't have a designer on the team" is ANY of the reasons.

No surprise, it's not... unless the article is written by a designer. :) The reality is that startup failure is a management failure -- not enough money, poor scale, no revenue clear model, no customers, expenses too high -- and not the failure that you're missing a designer on the team.

EDIT: Oh, and every failed startup failed when they ran out of money, not before. Before that, they're limping along looking for money.

[cbscreative]

Then you should do the research on it. Google "reasons why startups fail" then start looking at the links and see if "didn't have a designer on the team" is ANY of the reasons.

LOL, thanks for that laugh.

There's no doubt that running out of money would show as the reason for failure but that only explains a symptom and not the real cause. That's why I stated poor planning and marketing as the cause which is what you'll find when you peel back the layers. It would be silly to claim having a designer makes you successful or not having one will cause failure. Having a good designer is merely one piece of a much larger system.

[Freelancier]

But i firmly believe every start-up should have a designer in their core team. We are trained as problem solvers and can often think a little more creatively than someone more business minded.

Back to the OP: hate to break this to you, but -- as a designer -- you are not critical to the success of a business unless you're the one running the business. There are many many other factors involved in creating a successful company and absolutely none of them are "hiring a designer".

So that's a problem for your future outlook in your selected career. People who aren't "mission critical" are often the first ones out the door when the business hits a bump. And I'm telling you this as a developer who was once in your shoes, thinking that what I produced -- and the out-of-the-box thinking I did -- for the company was more than what the business guys running the company were doing. It wasn't. So as your career progresses in your field, you need to look at what it'll take to put yourself in a position of actually being mission critical within an organization.

[Fulcrum]

I'm with Freelancier on this one. I can say, without a doubt, that a designer would have been an anchor to me when I started. An extra wage would have drained my cash flow and I probably would not have survived beyond 6 months.

[Wozcreative]

In an economy where most industries are a commodity, a designer would help you with visually communicating or giving you an identity to differentiate yourself. A lot of industries pass for knowing how to "design" using MS Word, powerpoint etc. to get by.

[tallen]

Good design won't overcome inadequate financing, and many companies can be "successful" (i.e. survive) without good design. That said, I think good design can be an important factor in the rate at which you achieve success, and the level of success that you achieve. In other words, good design is a contributing factor between "merely surviving" and being "wildly successful" (IMHO). That doesn't necessarily mean that a designer is an essential key player on the core team of a start-up... (rather, I think it can help if someone on the core team understands the role of good design and has an eye for it, not that they have to be able to create it themselves).

[cbscreative]

It's always interesting to me when business owners think of design as an expense. Granted, some designers would be an expense, but like tallen pointed out, you should be making an investment that pays you back very handsomely. Design shouldn't cost you anything.

For the OP, your choice to become a designer focused on helping businesses succeed is a good one. Don't let the fact that most business owners don't value that service discourage you. There are plenty of people who do and those are the ones you can help. As tallen also pointed out, "Good design won't overcome inadequate financing." It won't overcome inadequate anything really. You want clients who are doing their business right. When they have their house in order so to speak, those tend to be the ones who don't view design as an expense and your service will be an enhancement to all the other things they are doing right.

[Brian Altenhofel]

As a graphic design graduate i am biased. But i firmly believe every start-up should have a designer in their core team. We are trained as problem solvers and can often think a little more creatively than someone more business minded.

Agree or disagree?

I strongly disagree. Except in a few very specific circumstances, a designer is non-essential. The only people that you need on a core team in a start-up are essential people who can execute without fear of failure. That doesn't mean they don't expect to fail, but rather that they also have contingency plans for all possible failures of their ideas and solutions.

I also disagree with the part about being trained as problem solvers, purely based on my experience working with several designers. First, effective and efficient problem solving is a gift or talent, not an acquired skill. You either have the knack for it, or you don't. Sure, someone can be trained to apply some critical thinking skills to attempt to solve a particular problem at hand, but most often those who are "trained" to be problem solvers are in fact trained to find the first workable solution. Typically, those solutions are short-sighted and don't take into account the big picture. Solving problems in the business world require an ability to look at the big picture, think dozens of moves ahead, forecast how a potential solution today will snowball in the future for better or worse, weigh the costs vs the benefits of different options, take into account possible issues from implementing a particular solution along with developing contingency plans for different risks, and defending each and every decision made in the problem solving process. Sure, I've seen some creative proposed solutions from designers on a project to solve a business process issue or a technical issue, and those solutions have definitely been outside the box on most occasions, but I've never seen one able to meet the above requirements. If you don't plan to fail, you can't be an effective and efficient problem solver.

Today, designers are practically a commodity. I can hire them on an as-needed basis, and the only real differences between them are flavor and what I'm willing to pay for a specific flavor. It's like my cigars - I have some favorites in the $6-$8/stick range, some right around $11 (seems to be a sweet spot), and others in the $15-$24/stick range, and with designers I can find someone who provides a certain flavor of work appropriate for one project for $50/hr or someone who provides another flavor that may be more appropriate for another project for $250/hr.

(For what it's worth, when outsourcing design work I tend to lean towards designers without formal training simply because I've found them to be more creative with their work in most cases, and they cost about the same.)

Hiring them on an as-needed basis is an investment. Unless you have enough to give them to be productive 80% or more of the time, making them a part of a core team is a financial drain. It's not that I don't value designers, it's that they don't bring much to the business table as just a designer.

[Freelancier]

In an economy where most industries are a commodity, a designer would help you with visually communicating or giving you an identity to differentiate yourself.

I don't think any of us are saying that designers aren't useful. It's just that "having a designer on the core team" is not in the top 25 reasons most business start-ups will be successful or fail.

When I first started out, I thought that my value to the company was obvious, because I could slam out awesome code in half the time as anyone else. Eventually, I figured out that successful business people don't think that way; they think about the money, the people, what the competition will be doing in two years, whether to buy another company to gain market share, etc. So now, instead of telling potential clients that I write code, I tell them I create applications that will improve their top and/or bottom lines. And that's how I became more "core" to the team: not for my code-writing ability, but for my ability to help the client improve sales (e.g., provide a web presence) or save more money (e.g., eliminate repetitive tasks that take a lot of time and manpower). Because that's what businesspeople value.

Until a designer learns how to focus on the company's numbers, s/he isn't going to be "core team members" except in certain limited instances.

[Business Attorney]

I agree with Freelancier. While I value designers contribution to a business, in my 35+ years of seeing some businesses succeed and other businesses fail, I can't recall a single time when I would say that graphic design played a significant role in the success or failure of the business.

I do think that good design can help convey the message of the business and can contribute to the success overall, but to say that having a designer on the core team is necessary at the inception is off the mark.

[cbscreative]

Having not heard back yet from the OP, we're dealing with the unanswered question about what was meant by core team member. If that meant having an independent service provider lined up to communicate the business to the public and get them noticed in the market, then the designer is an important part of the process to fulfill their role. If it meant a startup should hire a designer (full or part time), that would probably only be true in situations such as a corporation starting a small division with its own separate brand. I figured it meant the former and not the latter.

David's comment above illustrates an important principle. It would be difficult to apply data to how much influence graphic design has on the success or failure of a business but design does convey a message to the market and can clearly contribute to success. Successful businesses tend to set standards for themselves, meeting and reaching certain goals with a well thought out plan. That kind of approach is conducive to also seeking out a qualified designer as part of the strategy. Those who place little or no value on design are often guilty of missing the mark on other principles of success.

It's really the thinking behind the design than the magic of design itself. There are companies with ugly or bland design that are still successful. I think they could do better with good design, but that proves it can be done.

I was going to end my post here but then I got thinking about a case of popcorn that I have due to arrive this week. About 2-3 years ago my kids gave me a fireside popper which included some sample packs of popcorn. I would never have bought this brand had I seen it on the shelf. I thought the packaging was awful. The graphics gave me the impression this was some off the wall junk. See for yourself below:

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As it turned out I would recommend this popcorn to anyone. It's really good and I keep buying more. But I would never have tried it if the samples had not been in my popper. And they could have prevented my bad first impression with even a basic package design. Really, just removing that comic character would be enough. I don't know about you but that alone scares me enough to be reluctant about the contents. The rest of the design, although not great, at least would not turn me off. I suspect the owner of the company has some special attachment to the cartoon. If you ran this past a focus group I'm sure it would get scrapped.

[kylerumble]

I have to agree with Freelancier. If you're a new startup with a limited budget design is the last thing you should worry about. There are so many premium website templates out there that will do the same job a custom design will do, sure you're not going to have an original looking brand, but to be honest most designers don't have a clue about branding anyway.

[Freelancier]

There are so many premium website templates

That won't work so well if you're building a device for sale... in that case, you'll want an industrial designer -- they also do design! :) -- but I still contend that they won't be core to the start-up, just because once their design is complete, there's not so much for them to do... so you can still outsource that task. It's a rare designer who can put together an awesome industrial design... most industrial designs are merely functional bordering on utilitarian.

[cbscreative]

If you're a new startup with a limited budget design is the last thing you should worry about.

That assumption could get you in trouble really fast, especially with the added idea that web templates or WordPress themes are all you need to succeed. Can you do it yourself this way? Yes. You might even get "lucky." But to assume that luck will work for everyone else is presumptuous to the extreme. The free tools that make web design doable for even the least computer savvy people create a false sense of security. Sure they take care of making a web site look good but there are many other aspects of effective web design they'll never be able to perform; way too many to list without a long and probably boring post for most business owners. The idea that templates and themes are enough to create a web site makes a very inaccurate assumption that there's nothing more to them than meets the eye.

This is not my own idea, but I have to agree with those who have observed it before me. The cost of failure has been reduced to create more of it. It used to be that starting a biz required much higher risk and caused people to evaluate it more carefully. Now you can register a domain name for $12 a year or less, get hosting for a few bucks a month, easily find clip art and stock photos, download WordPress and build a site for free, and essentially set up shop cheaper than ever before. There's a lot of good in those changes but it also escalates failure because of the illusion of easy success. In this climate, design professionals are often dismissed as excessive and unneeded. That idea reminds me of a line from Star Trek II where Kirk said to Khan: "I'm laughing at your superior intellect."


most designers don't have a clue about branding anyway.

You may very well be right considering the wide variety of people who consider themselves designers, but to project that assumption on the industry as a whole is unfair and inaccurate. The design trade cannot control how easy it is for anyone with a computer and software to call themselves a designer, but that doesn't change what the role of real designers is supposed to be and would still be if it weren't for tools that make it look easier than it really is. You do have to screen designers carefully, that's for absolute certain.