Top 3 Cost-Cutting Strategies for Web Designers
Published on July 2, 2009 / Finance
As a freelance web designer, a consistent stream of incoming work is not always present. Saving money for times of drought and keeping studio expenses to a minimum becomes increasingly imperative.
Given the state of the economy, it is important to recognize the declining value of the United States dollar. Without getting deep into this topic, note the 97% drop in dollar value over the past century. With numerous causes for inflation transpiring, including bailouts, government “stimulus”, and foreign spending, one can only expect a greater loss of purchasing power in the near future. So what specific steps can a web designer take to plan for continuous currency devaluation? The three strategies below can help cut costs in the long-term without sacrificing the level of work and service delivered to clients.
Strategy 1 / Stock up on office supplies with long-term usability.
Suppliers are now reducing the number of products offered, resulting in higher demand for the fewer products remaining, which drives up prices. A prepared web designer can strategically buy in bulk storable supplies that will cost more later and can be used for years to come. This includes paper and shipping goods, light bulbs, batteries, and additional office supplies. I do not recommend heavily stocking up on printer ink with a short-term expiration date because of the discoloration that may occur from printing with expired ink.
Strategy 2 / Reduce web hosting costs and profit from reselling.
Using a provider like Media Temple allows hosting for up to 100 client websites on a single Grid-Service account. A web designer can add passive income and value to his or her service by offering a Media Temple hosting plan to clients and charging less than a traditional host would. Try the code “retailmenot” for a 20% discount on Media Temple hosting.
Strategy 3 / Switch to open-source software and free web apps.
Not every free application is worth using and it’s sensible to purchase software that enables high-end work output and quality service to clients. However, there are often free apps available for specific freelance tasks that perform well and provide eye-candy. For example, instead of paying for invoicing software, Curdbee offers a free and clean web-based solution. Or rather than purchasing an FTP or font management app, use Cyberduck and the free version of FontExplorer X respectively as alternatives.
Together these strategies can help reduce long-term expenses, increase passive income, and transfer savings onto clients. What other cost-cutting strategies can you formulate?
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