• Lucy Mann shared some top tips around how to build relationships with existing contacts and get them to recommend you to further expand your network. You can listen to Lucy talking about marginal gains here. 
• A member shared that they’ve found that people really love to recommend their business – if you’re feeling like you need an injection of fresh prospects into your pipeline, who could do this for you? Make a list of all your advocates and plan how you will interact with them through the coming year to help them help you.
• Adrian Day explored the confidence mindset and how important it is to think beyond the deliverables and focus instead on the outcomes and the value you’re creating when it comes to conversations on fees. And this was suggested by Esther Carder in the webinar launch of the Report too, one to catch up on if you missed us live.
• Shifting conversations from costs to value was echoed by a few people on the call – with some great suggestions on how to practically boost your confidence, and your fees, like if a new opportunity comes your way, add 40% to your rate card and see what happens. If it feels a bit ‘cheeky’ maybe that’s the right amount. 
• One member shared that getting a new senior starter in who had experience from elsewhere enabled them to almost double their rates based on the value of the work they knew they were delivering. This started a discussion on how valuable an external perspective on your business can be (and how well suited many of the DBA Experts are for this).
• Sim Thirunesan reminded us to keep an eye on break even-figures, but also to be aware of that safety net of cash in the bank to keep everyone paid.
• This was echoed by Chris Lang who highlighted the importance of a cashflow forecast too and keeping an eye on any sticky points coming up. 
• When it comes to payment terms – lots of different options to consider but Chris suggested this is somewhere to negotiate with clients. If they suggest lowering fees you could suggest longer payment terms instead. Chris also suggested agencies should make sure staged payments are linked to a timeline, not to specific deliverables – if deliverables are delayed, or they need to be approved by the client, this could slow down your payment.
• General sentiment on the call mirrored the results in the survey with regards to business confidence with new business, clients slowing down their decision making and recruitment of talent being the top challenges facing the sector now and in the future. 
• The DBA’s Twenty/Twenty mentoring programme is currently open for applications. If you’d like to find out more about how having a design industry pioneer by your side in 2024 to give you the confidence in your own decision making, you can find out more here. 

There was much, much more covered in the hour – you really had to be there. Do make sure you join us in our next DBA Members’ Forum on Monday 4 December at 4pm GMT, look out for an email from me in a few weeks with more details. If you would like to attend, get in touch here. 

Why did you decide to participate in Twenty/Twenty?

JK: “I was at a stage in my business where I wanted to grow it, but I needed to grow myself first. Having just come from working as a designer in an agency, to running my own with a small team, I had no previous leadership experience so wanted to build on this so I could lead and mentor my own team, and push the business forward with conviction and confidence. I believed that Twenty/Twenty was what I needed. The programme was also recommended to me by several professional connections.”

How would you sum up your mentoring match?

JK: “My mentor was Studio Phoenix’s co-founder, Jonny Westcar and he was a very good match. We connected on both a professional and personal level. He had been through similar experiences in the past so was able to relate easily to my challenges. We met in person for most of the sessions, either in London (near him) or Edinburgh (near me), and he mentioned that he also got a lot of benefits from the sessions too.”

And what about the mentoring experience?

JK: “Everything I listed at the start that I wanted to achieve and gain clarity on, has been answered. Also the matching process itself has exceeded my expectations. Working with Jonny, specifically, has been a real pleasure and I look forward to every session. I don’t think you could have picked a better match for my needs and personality.”

How have you benefited?

JK: “I have benefitted from it hugely, because I set out to achieve certain things and gain clarity, understanding and confidence in my path and vision, and it has also been beneficial for someone to relate to my specific rollercoaster and therefore use as a sounding board.

My business has benefitted because I have benefitted, and a lot of the clarity in leadership and vision has passed to my team in a positive way.

As a business owner with vision, goals and struggles, the value of being able to learn from, and bounce ideas off someone who has already walked a similar path can only be beneficial.”

Any advice for future mentees?

JK: “Investing in yourself is one of the most effective things you can do. Be organised and have a clear agenda with incremental goals, then open yourself up to the honesty, guidance, support and industry specific knowledge of the mentors. I will definitely be taking part in Twenty/Twenty mentoring again at some stage.”

The DBA’s Twenty/Twenty business mentoring programme has been running since 2011 and has created a community of hundreds of DBA members who have used the process to make more informed decisions about their businesses, their people and themselves.

DBA mentors are the leading lights of design leadership. People who have faced the highs and lows of working in our industry and recognise the specific challenges faced by mentees, yet are further along in the journey and can offer that crucial perspective needed for growth. Together with them, mentees work through a 12-month process of developmental mentoring providing the supported time and space needed for true change to happen.

Our resources and training sessions are developed and led by some of Europe’s most experienced and respected mentoring experts, and the cohort approach to the programme means that you benefit from the shared experiences of your fellow mentees as you travel through the process.

Everyone on the programme – both mentors and mentees – are equipped with the specific skills and techniques needed to create successful mentoring conversations. Our guided, yet light-touch framework gives you the support you need to establish a strong relationship, and then gives you the freedom to define together how your individual experience will work. Will you meet online or in person? Will you stick to the most usual format of meeting for an hour each month, or will you meet more regularly? Will the time between sessions be bridged with active work to bring back to the next meeting, or will your sessions be more focussed on the simple experience of that protected time for reflection and trusting the growth that comes from that? It’s all up to you.

And you can tackle whatever subjects and issues you want to with your mentor. This is a completely tailored experience – you are matched with a mentor whose background, personality, situation and aspirations resonate with your own. They are simply further down the line and with more battle scars under their belt. But whatever you’re bringing to the table to work on – be that specific business conundrums, personal development goals or a need to tackle the next big leap for you or your business – the quality of our careful and rigorous matching process means you’ll have the right mentor for your journey. The longevity of our programme is down to the good mentor/mentee matches we make.

What if you don’t know what you want to work on with your mentor, but the process sounds right for you, right now? Well, that’s great too and not an unusual starting point. You’ll work with your mentor to identify your goals early on in the year, and then shape them as you go. Who knows what you and your mentor might uncover together and where you’ll be in 12 months time.

There’s no other programme like the DBA’s Twenty/Twenty mentoring out there and there’s nothing to stop anyone from benefiting from this ground-breaking process. You just have to start.

How to apply

• For details about the application process, please contact Natasha Papa, Head of Programmes at natasha@dba.org.uk. 
• Standard fee £2,999+vat
• DBA members £1,750+vat
• Mentors application form
• Mentees  application form
• Applications close 29 November 2023.

Here's what previous mentees had to say:

“Twenty/Twenty mentoring helped grow my confidence tenfold. I received robust, solid advice from my mentor and found it invaluable how he shared his experiences. He didn’t tell me ‘what to do’ but provided an open forum to discuss potential scenarios and solutions. I have now got better boundaries around valuing what we deliver with confidence, and I am stronger at negotiating and saying no.”

“My mentor has been a perfect match for me both professionally and personally.”

“Twenty/Twenty is unquestionably valuable and eye-opening. Speaking to someone with deep expertise and experience, who has been through it all, provides incredible context. The impartial, non-judgemental optics of the mentor/mentee relationship offers a unique lens on thoughts, ideas and challenges. You simply can’t have these conversations with colleagues.”

The 2023 DBA Annual Survey Report has found that agencies’ biggest concern in the immediate, near and long-term is the new business pipeline.

“I believe we have a perfect storm of change affecting businesses at this time” says Lucy Mann. ”Post-Brexit, post-Covid, increased economic and political uncertainty not to mention the whirling spectre of emerging tech means that both clients and agencies are feeling the pressure. For many agencies, previously reliable revenue is proving less so and decision making has become far more protracted with new clients.”

Lucy’s advice: “New Business” is a particularly unhelpful term at times like this. Instead let’s think about how we can win and grow the right kind of new relationships. We need to understand the pressures clients are dealing with and the problems they need to solve and demonstrate clearly how we help. We must ask more questions, do more research, be curious and interested. Sustainable new business means a focus on starting conversations rather than simply looking for projects.”

For around a quarter of agencies, balancing increased costs with pressure from clients on fees is a key concern in the short, medium and long-term.

Agencies are increasingly needing to have difficult conversations around value and rates whilst juggling a concern around reduction in client budgets overall.

“It’s always been important for agencies to champion the value they bring but perhaps it’s becoming more crucial,” says Adrian Day. “Artificial intelligence, online on-demand design services, lower barriers to entry and cross-border competition all mandate that you promote the unique value you bring.”

When it comes to navigating conversations with clients around fees, Adrian advises:

• The first rule is ‘be confident’. The impending conversation may not be as tricky as you imagine. And challenge your inner ‘imposter syndrome’. If you’re not confident in the value your company delivers, then you can’t expect your client to be.
• Secondly, focus on the benefits of what it is that you are delivering for the client.
• And finally, be ready to walk away. Fewer clients paying a higher fee may be better than many clients forking out lower sums.

Gross fee income and income per head have both increased on last year amongst the Survey’s repeat responders. However, the report highlights that in the context of inflationary rates, such increases don’t represent real growth.

Sim Thirunesan cautions that effective cash flow management will be key. “If cost base increases and revenue growth rate don’t match, there will be a squeeze on cashflow,” she says. “Incurring debt will also cost more, therefore agencies need to be aggressive in contract negotiation and cost management.”

Inflation should be factored into forecasts to ensure real growth targets are put into place.  

“Inflation can be added to the desired revenue growth when budgeting, but serious consideration must be given to the reality of price increases and thought must be given to price sensitivity versus perceived value,” says Sim. “An effective pricing strategy which regularly reviews pricing is an important discipline within the agency.”

Sim recommends that in line with forecasting revenue growth, you should review the prior year’s profit margin and determine the desired increase. “This is a key KPI to set and measure your agency’s performance,” she says. “Suppliers and your staff will also be looking for increases, so careful management is required, and a variety of strategies can be employed to ensure a successful outcome.”

The number of agencies engaging workers on a freelance basis has increased by 9% in a year. While freelancers as a percentage of workforce has almost doubled from 6.6% in 2020 to 12.5% in 2023. 

Says Aliya Vigor-Robertson, “Freelancers offer great flexibility for businesses, especially for design businesses whose client/project work comes in ebbs and flows. It also allows businesses to dip into specialisms that they may not have in-house or may not require 100% of the time, which in turn could be more cost effective.”

When using freelancers Aliya recommends agencies should:

• Ensure you have legally sound freelance agreements. An NDA may also be applicable.
• Consider how you can efficiently induct freelancers into the business/ project. 
• Make freelancers aware of any key internal policies such as GDPR. 
• Be mindful that you do not treat freelancers like employees, e.g., they shouldn’t have access to employee benefits.
• Regularly audit your freelancers to ensure they remain IR35 compliant.

“IR35 is still a very important consideration for design businesses engaging with freelancers,” says Aliya. “Businesses should consider whether the small business exemption applies to them (and continues to, if they see growth). If not, they are responsible for determining the freelancer’s IR35 status. We would recommend that businesses review any new freelancers to identify whether they fall inside or outside of IR35,” Aliya adds. “There are handy checklists available online to support (like this one), or speak to a specialist.” 

The industry standard is to offer one-month payment terms, and this has increased from 54% of respondents in 2021 to 80% in 2023. But, payment terms are not always accepted by clients – only 3.6% of agencies always get clients to accept their terms rather than having the clients’ terms imposed on them. 

Chris Lang highlights that the main thing to consider before accepting a client’s longer payment terms  “is the availability of enough cash to get through until money is received from the client.”

“If in any doubt,” he says, “consider exploring funding options as early as possible. If extra funding is needed ensure you are making sufficient profit from the work to make up for the cost of any borrowings. The earlier this is explored the easier, and likely cheaper, any borrowings will be.” 

A scenario where longer payment terms may be acceptable is when it is for a fee retainer (i.e. no external costs.) “The caveat being that there is enough working capital in the company to allow this,” says Chris. “Longer payment terms should definitely be avoided if buying in costs to be recharged to the client, for which payment is needed prior to being paid by the client.”

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The 2023 DBA Annual Survey Report is produced in collaboration with Moore Kingston Smith and with the support of our sponsors Paprika and VisionFR.