Lessons In Cake
Adelaide Bragg Masterclass: 10 Lessons in Building a Business You Love
Good design gets people’s attention.
Running a good business takes something more.
Our Masterclass with Adelaide Bragg (ABI) offered a generous look at what sits behind an established design practice: the discipline, relationships, decisions and values that support the beautiful work we see.
There was plenty to take away about process, profitability and the practicalities of running a studio. What stayed with me the most was how closely those things connect to the experience of being a designer:
How we spend our time.
Who we choose to work with.
What we take responsibility for.
Whether we enjoy the business we have worked so hard to build.
These are conversations we have regularly at The Design Coach. Hearing them through Adelaide’s experience gave everyone an opportunity to consider their own approach, and where a change might make a difference.
And then there was the cake. Tea Cake for morning tea, buttery Champagne Biscuits, and light creamy Sponge Cake for afternoon tea. All served with a huge spoonful of the ABI brand of generosity and kindness.
Here are my ten key takeaways from a day packed with inspirational sharing.
1. Look after yourself: mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually
When you care deeply about your work, it's easy to give your clients, projects and team the best of you, leaving whatever remains for yourself. But your wellbeing needs a place in the plan too.
Probably the most moving part of the Masterclass was when Adelaide shared very openly about the toll Covid Lockdowns took on her and the business, and the commitment she made to being healthier and stronger (physically, mentally and spiritually) when we came out the other end.
Running a design business draws on so much of you, from creative energy and emotional generosity to the stamina required to manage competing demands, making your own wellbeing something that needs deliberate attention.
Adelaide’s story was a reminder for us to consider the whole person behind the business and make room for the things that sustain us, especially when work is busy and looking after ourselves becomes easiest to postpone.
2. Learn to love the business. Take an interest in the figures.
A critical focus of the Masterclass was understanding and taking responsibility for the back end of the business. The money, the reports, the analysis.
Adelaide reminded us that understanding the numbers is a skill you can develop, whatever your starting point.
You might have become a designer because you love creating spaces, but understanding the figures gives you more control over the conditions in which you do that work, from the fees you charge to the projects you accept or reject.
Adelaide’s words of advice will resonate with anyone who entered this profession for the design, and subsequently found themselves responsible for running a company. Becoming curious about the financial side gives us a better understanding of what our work needs to earn, what it costs to deliver and which decisions will support the future of a healthy practice.
3. Process is everything.
One of the clearest messages from the day was the importance of having a consistent way of working, so that projects can move forward without every detail, answer and decision depending on you.
Adelaide was clear that every project is a team effort. To enable a healthy team approach (lightening Adelaide's load), they have strong systems in place, and use high level software programs so that every team member can be across every part of every project, from anywhere in the world.
As a business grows, our processes provide a foundation for sharing responsibility, supporting the team and maintaining standards, ultimately creating more freedom for us to focus on the work we do best and enjoy the business we've built.
4. Marketing doesn’t need to be loud.
Adelaide’s clients value discretion, so her marketing needs to reflect that.
Her quiet approach demonstrates the importance of understanding our audience and choosing an approach that feels appropriate to the people we want to reach.
Her book, City, Coast and Country, has been her biggest marketing undertaking in energy, money and time, but that considered investment has paid dividends by giving people a substantial, lasting introduction to her work.
In an era where social media encourages us to scream for attention, it was a timely reminder that marketing can be quiet and still have considerable impact.
5. Build a project around the budget, not the other way around.
Adelaide and Sue explained how ABI uses the budget to inform the project from the beginning, giving the designers and client a shared framework for discussing what's achievable, where to invest extra and which elements matter most.
Designing first and confronting the cost later creates the potential for disappointment and rework, whereas an early, honest conversation allows you to direct your creativity towards an outcome the client can afford to realise.
The day was a reminder that a clear budget is a practical design tool, as well as a financial one.
6. Data is critical to understanding the health of your business.
Track profit and track time, because a full diary or an impressive project portfolio tells you very little about whether the work is financially sustainable, where your resources are going or which services are performing well.
Adelaide encouraged the designers to use this information to review their fees, test their assumptions and improve future estimates, making decisions with evidence gathered from their own projects.
7. Focus on your strengths. Delegate the rest, but keep your responsibilities.
Adelaide shared that growing her team enabled her to recognise where she could contribute the most value, helping her decide what to keep doing, and where someone else’s skills could strengthen the business. Whether that meant support with bookkeeping, administration, documentation or another specialist task.
Recognising your strengths helps you understand where your attention brings the most value, while recognising other people’s strengths allows you to build the support the business needs around you.
And that doesn't mean taking your hands off the steering wheel: delegating a task still leaves you responsible for ensuring there are clear expectations, appropriate oversight and enough understanding to know whether that part of the business is working well.
8. Work with good suppliers. Treat them like family.
The suppliers who care about your projects, share their knowledge and help resolve the inevitable challenges are an enormously valuable part of a design practice, and those relationships deserve care in return.
Adelaide’s message was to treat them as people you are building something with, recognising that respect, clear communication, appreciation and consideration contribute to relationships that can strengthen over years of working together.
9. Lean into your values. Make them part of your business operations.
By far, my biggest takeaway from the day was the extent to which Adelaide exudes her values of kindness and generosity.
In the lead up to the event I visited the studio a few times, and every single time I stepped inside the door I was greeted with a smile, and an offer of a cup of tea. And I left feeling lighter and happier.
Now, this might seem like a trivial thing to someone running a busy business, but I can assure you that these values ooze out of every pore of the ABI brand. Imagine being a client on the receiving end of this amount of happiness? Or a team member?
It was no surprise then that Adelaide started the entire day with a reference to her values.
10. Eat cake. Be happy. Spread joy.
The ABI secret weapon is cake. It's woven into their business process.
So much so, that Adelaide will get up at dawn to bake a cake for her clients, or for every team member's birthday. Cake is in the DNA of the business.
The real message is that there is room in a serious business for generosity, celebration and the simple pleasure of sharing something delicious, and those moments deserve attention, alongside the deadlines, budgets and tasks that fill our days.
Building a business takes enormous effort, so make space to enjoy the people around you, acknowledge what you have achieved together and bring some happiness to the experience.
A profitable business. A generous life.
One of the most encouraging lessons from Adelaide’s masterclass was that running a profitable business and enjoying ourselves can go hand in hand.
Making money doesn’t require us to become miserly or miserable. Profit gives us the means to look after ourselves, support our team, nurture relationships and be generous. It creates room to make thoughtful choices, celebrate achievements and share the rewards of our hard work.
That gives the business disciplines we discussed a deeper purpose. Understanding our figures, respecting our time and having good processes can help us build a practice that sustains us financially, and brings joy to us and the people in our lives.
We put so much care into how we want our clients to live. We owe ourselves some of that same consideration.
Thank you to Adelaide for sharing her experience so generously, and to Tammy, Sue and the whole Adelaide Bragg team for making the day possible.
If you need help creating a practical plan for a profitable business you enjoy running, reach out to us directly via email at hello@thedesigncoach.com.au or book a Discovery Call.
Happy Designing!
Cheers,
Andrew and the TDC Team
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