Subtraction.com: What I Learned When I Started a Design Studio

   "answer the question “Do you like working with these people?” with
    a “yes.” If you’re going to undertake the hard work of building
    a company, the answer to that question should always be a
    resounding “yes.” Life is too short for it to be otherwise"

   "unless I was fully bought into a client’s vision, my work would
    always be subpar"

   "The funny thing about design services is that it’s relatively
    easy to get started, but very tricky to make work. Lots of
    companies need design help in some form, so if you win one or two
    clients — which is actually fairly easy to do — suddenly you
    have a business with real revenue. The really challenging part is
    whether you can turn a handful of jobs into a financially
    lucrative client roster that consistently brings you creatively
    satisfying work. That’s a lot harder"

   "The only solution is to upend this equation, and create the
    circumstances under which clients instead feel fortunate that a
    studio is willing to work with them. It’s a critical difference,
    because it informs every event within the relationship between
    the two parties"

   "Good work is a core part of what makes a successful studio, to be
    sure, but even more important is marketing yourself —
    relentlessly"

   "creating insatiable excitement around the very idea of the studio"

   "turning down bad clients and bad projects — the ones that were
    outside of our expertise, outside of our budget, outside of the
    kind of work that would make us happy — was the only way to avoid
    the trap of working long and hard on miserable projects"
 
 - Subtraction.com: What I Learned When I Started a Design Studio
   http://r7.sharedcopy.com/5r1s4u4e