If you didn’t already know, I started my first company, Design by Craftsmen earlier this year. Since February, I’ve been working at DBC full-time and I have to say, there’s been some highs and there’s been some lows but overall, it’s been phenomenal!

Before I get ahead of myself, I’m pretty sure you’re wondering what exactly is Design by Craftsmen? Well in a nutshell, DBC is a web creative studio specializing in custom WordPress solutions. I examine the way a company currently does business and use the Web to make their work flow and process more innovative, intuitive and efficient, using the power of WordPress and WP Framework.

Currently, Design by Craftsmen has been working with entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses locally and several nationally, but once the website is up, the target audience will expand internationally. More on the DBC website in another post perhaps.

One of the goals I’ve been working on for DBC is improving my work flow on dealing with clients. Here’s a typical workflow outlining the process involved for creating a website:

1. Client needs website
2. DBC sends them a questionnaire document so they can get their ideas onto paper
3. Either 1) Client fills out questionnaire and sends it back or 2) We have a meeting and fill it out for them (still debating on this route)
4. Either 1) DBC evaluates the questionnaire to see if we can deliver a solution for them or 2) If not, we’ll see if we can forward them to one of our partners.
5. If we can provide the client a solution, DBC sends the client a creative brief document containing all the project details.
6. If client agrees to pursue this project with us, they’ll sign off on the creative brief + a TOS document. DBC will then invoice the client the initial deposit in order to start the work.
7. Once that’s completed, the client will gain access to DBC’s project management app to collaborate, and see the development throughout the life cycle for that particular project.
8. DBC then starts working on the first deliverables of the project.
9. This part varies depending on the type of project. But overall, we’ll be communicating back and forth showing revisions etc.
10. Once half the deliverables have been completed (this milestone will be known to the client), DBC will invoice the client before the second phase starts.
11. Step 8 through 9 will repeat but for the second phase of the project. And so forth.
12. Once DBC is completed with the final phase and the client approves of the work, DBC sends them the last invoice and the deliverables  are given to the client.
13. The project is completed.
14. Follow up

Now that’s just a rough overview of our workflow. Things will changed depending on the type of project/client/situation but it’s a solid workflow that I’ve been perfecting over the years and it has a pretty high success rate. Working like this also ties well into the agile workflow which is something I’ve been growing into.

As you can see, there are about three documents that DBC has going into each project.

1. Questionnaire
   The purpose of this document is to get all their project details onto paper so we can figure out what their looking for and evaluate if that’s something we do. If so, we’ll figure out how it’s going to work along with an estimate quote (the Creative Brief doc). If we can’t do it, we’ll send them to one of our partners if they can best fill the roll.
2. Creative Brief
   This document outlines all the deliverables for the project, project goals and itemizes our services so they know what their paying for. The creative brief is sort of the reference, goto document that DBC or the client can refer to if something’s not clear, or if things get a little blurry down the line.
3. Terms of Service
   Finally, the TOS. This document simply contains all the legal jargon to project DBC’s assets, if you know what I mean. That’s all really.

Financing

As you saw throughout the client to DBC workflow, we allow the client to make payments overtime. For the most part, it’s typically a three step: 50%, 25%, 25% payment. I’ve found that this works best for both parties.

Services

So in terms of services, here are some of the standard services we provide:

• Design to HTML conversion
• Design or HTML to WordPress
• Custom WordPress Theme development
• Custom WordPress Plugin development
• Basic small website (static)
• Large website (not the proper name, but this is what the client needs 40% of the time)
• Website redesign
• Small custom web application
• E-Commerce website

That’s roughly what we do. Other services like logo design, copywriting, hosting and site maintenance are also what DBC provides, but are already included in some packages. Part of the initial work I had to done last month was to figure out all of the base prices for these services. That process involved creating a sample project 3 times for each service, and timing myself to get a good estimate on how long it takes.

Partners

If you were reading carefully, I keep referring to DBC as  “we” and “our” throughout this post. That’s because I’ve partnered with two amazingly talented folks, Maricio Bowers, a web designer here in Atlanta and Evan Denbaum, an amazing copywriter based in California. So that makes DBC 3 strong. I’m looking to build this team to include another web designer. So if your a designer looking for work, contact me asap!

Partnering with DBC simply means that we’ll be able to list the services you provide (e.g. web design if your a web designer) through us. DBC will contract that type of work through to you when needed. And as an incentive you’ll be entitled to a nifty 20% discount on any of the services DBC provides if you’d like to use us. I think that’s a sweet deal.

Business Models

Apart from the services DBC already currently provides, I’ve been brainstorming a few ways we could create passive incomes to fill in the gaps when we aren’t doing client work. I’m still working out some technicalities, but we’ll be pushing something out in the coming months.

Working hours

I’ve decided that working hours are 9-5, Monday through Thursday, and 9-12 on Fridays. I wanted to try out the 4 day work week model, but that just isn’t realistic for my situation. So Fridays I’ll work just in the morning, and I’m off the rest of the day. Now the only thing I need to do is follow through with this! I tend to work around 56 hours a week on average. They say it takes about a month to develop a new habit, so hopefully I’ll have this work-life balance back on track pretty soon.

Overall, that’s where I’m at with DBC. Getting the DesignbyCraftsmen.com website up and online is one of my top priorities right now. But before hand, I need to fill it with some quality portfolio pieces. I’ve got around 4 or so in the works so things are trucking along.