Looking Back at 2023: A Year in Review
Anecdotally, 2023 was a weird year for a lot of people in small business. There was lots of talk early on about a recession, drops in inquiries, and shake ups in service offerings. While we had an objectively good year here at Due West Design (about 15% growth over last year), it was a little different than previous years and has made me reflect a lot on our business model and strengths. One thing I am learning over the years is that nothing stays the same and change is a constant. The better you can adapt to it, the better off you will be.
Changes and Curveballs
The first half of the year was made up primarily of returning client projects that were more in the “miscellaneous” category (vs. our core offerings of branding and web site design). This included lots of print work, social media graphics, design support for large proposals, and requests for ongoing web site maintenance for sites we built previously. I even collaborated with a long-time client to support her firm’s higher ed client documentation, presentations, and on-site large group logistics planning, which I haven’t done in many years. It was a bit more reminiscent of my freelance days and fun to have such an interesting variety of clients and projects. The down side was that it was tougher to delegate and follow our internal processes with each project being so unique and different. I am grateful that after being in business for a while (three years as Due West Design and four years before that as a full-time freelance designer) we’ve built up a substantial client base who we get to continue working with in a multitude of ways over the years. It’s kept us busy even when inquiries are down, and I love diving deeper and having long-term relationships with many of our clients.
I was saddened to see the Being Boss online community come to a close this year. I’ve met a number of brilliant people through the group and enjoyed facilitating designer meetups each month (I’m still trying to figure out how to create some kind of alternative so that I can stay in touch with folks). Several podcasts that I love also ended or took a long hiatus. Instagram was a lower priority this year and perhaps because of that (or the algorithm) growth and engagement took a hit. I also noticed lots of accounts that I follow pivoting, taking time off, and trying new things.
In terms of life stuff, we had a huge unexpected home repair over the summer following months of heavy rain and flooding into our basement. It was stressful and expensive and made it difficult to travel or even keep our usual routine during that time (while working from our home offices). Our 12 year-old Jeep died and my husband’s truck was in the shop for 7 weeks because of hail damage. A dear relative passed away. I was sick more than usual this year. It was tough in many ways, but thankfully things are getting back on track!
What’s Stayed the Same
Towards the end of the summer onwards we had a lot more new inquiries and kicked off many traditional branding and web site design projects. This is where I feel like we deliver the most value because of a smooth process that gets consistent results for our clients. It helped with pulling in the team more and being able to plan out timelines more predictably. Design VIP Days also continued to be popular, and we got the chance to update brands and web sites for some of our favorite past clients from years ago.
Good News and Positive Shifts
As a result of some of the things I mentioned above, many good things happened this year, like:
I bought a new Subaru, and it was the first time going through the car buying process while being 100% self-employed! I also purchased a new desktop computer set up that I’m excited to finish testing and use in the new year. I’m so proud of what I’ve built with this business and moments like this really help put it in perspective.
We created two new monthly web site care plans for our Squarespace and WordPress clients, which have been really popular so far.
Our basement is fixed and we’ve been inspired to start several small home updates to make the space more cheery and comfortable.
I met Emily Thompson (the founder of Being Boss), along with several other cool bosses, in person in Denver over the summer and it was so fun to talk shop with everyone (and see familiar faces from Zoom IRL)!
Our design assistant Isabel took the lead on a full client branding and web design project this fall that turned out amazing (and I can’t wait to share it soon)! She’s also been taking on more admin tasks and helping document some of our recurring processes as SOPs (standard operating procedures), helping get things organized behind the scenes.
Every year it feels like we continue to attract really great-fit clients who are doing cool things in the world. We also had several new clients whose styles really aligned with ours and were SO fun to design for. Some days I just can’t even believe this is my job.
I connected with Anna from AnnaMade, a ridiculously talented young writer and artist who helped research and pull together several new blog post articles for the Due West web site.
John learned how to code for print and created a line of Suduko puzzle books! Check out his new Amazon store here. He also created an interactive map and some other cool web site features for clients this year, which I’m proud of and thankful for.
As I get more clear on what Due West offers (and what we excel at), I listened to my gut more when it came to passing on projects that were not a good fit. The unexpected plus side to this is that I now have lots of design friends and professional partners who I can make an introduction to and who can deliver awesome work that is in their wheelhouse! It’s been a great win-win.
I made the fantastic decision to hire Erin at Lunimae Strategy & Systems Design to help us move over to HoneyBook and improve our on and off-boarding documentation and policies. She’s also helping us get our arms around the “miscellaneous” projects by creating new internal processes and setting up our Asana dashboards in a more effective way.
Overall, it has been a busy year but also a really good one. We’re learning how to adapt to what people need for their small businesses and nonprofits so that we can continue to support them in the best way possible. And I’m continuing to invest in our own training and internal systems so that things continue to run a little more smoothly behind the scenes each year. Looking forward, it’s probably time to focus a little more on marketing (this year was heavy on repeat client work, which was awesome, but it’s important to continue planting seeds for the future) and I’d really like to get to an industry conference soon (looking at you, Squarespace Circle Day!).
I’m also still a fan of Susannah Conway’s free Unravel Your Year planner, which I have printed on Lulu Xpress and work through each month. Kerstin Martin also has a fantastic free guide called The Calm Business Review, which you can also print at home or send out for professional printing. Both are excellent resources for evaluating the last year and setting goals that feel good for the year ahead. Wishing you all the best in life and business this year!
Keep up with us in 2024 through our quarterly newsletter and on Instagram!
Thanks for reading along! How did your 2023 shake out? What’s going well and what are you doing differently for the year ahead? Reach out anytime at hello@duewestdesign.com.
