The Cost of Development.
I’m an old timer in my industry. You could say I almost started doing graphic design before computers assisted artists with things like form, and composition. I started working on Photoshop 2, years ago, given to me by a friend. It didn’t even have layers! I learned how to create everything by hand in illustrator and photoshop over the years. I became what’s known as a master of my trade. I worked with high end clients, as well as clients on a tight budget, sometimes no budget at all. I learned most of the tricks of the marketing trade within my first 5 years of work experience. From there I was able to track campaigns and see what was successful, and what didn’t work. I was able to manage any size campaign from start to finish by the 7th year of my career as a digital artist. I started asking $20 an hour with no real world experience. Right now my competitive rate in Denver, Colorado is $120+ an hour depending on the project.
Some of you may say WOW! really $120+ an hour. That’s up there with a Dr. or Cheap Lawyer. Well, it is quite a bit of change for the average American individual, let alone a small business. Who pays that? And why? My answer is everyone pays. and Why? Because we may not see any way around our obstacle.
Over the years I have gained an invaluable set of tricks that will help any business participate in the new global economy. I’ve also learned how time consuming marketing really can be, when done right. You need a great team with good energy. People you can trust to get what you need done when you need it done. You need to be organized and be able to plan and maintain complex campaigns, with many different team players doing different tasks. You, also learn how to track your time and if you want to survive how to maximize your time and productivity.
One of, if not the most important part of any project is the people or team you put on the project. With the right creative force, and all of the team players working together you create the best tools or products for your clients. This is something any successful business owner knows. Something we also know is “you get what you pay for.” And If you pay lower rates you are going to get lower qualified individuals and products. Well that’s not entirely true anymore.
The world is a very very large place. There are opportunities opening everywhere on the planet. People learning trades at early ages, and carrying them on through generations. With the aid of the internet we can reach these talented individuals. We can reach out to almost any specialty and find an expert in any field at any price. The main drawbacks are you may not know where to look, or how to speak the language. There may be a time difference or other cultural barrier that stands in your way.
A typical development team consists of a designer, an art director, a backend developer and a marketing lead. This team if managed well can maintain quite a large workload, helping effectively market their clients. If managed improperly money is just going out the door. These working professionals start at $3600-$4000 a month. Plus you have to supply benefits holidays and overtime. With 4 people on your team you have about $16,000 a month in just employment costs. Lets just say our team is able to produce enough work to bring in $50K- $75K a month. After you pay your team you have roughly $34K- $59K a month.
Our team has been hand picked, and trained by the best marketing experts across the globe. We produce the same amount and quality of work as an average American team. The main difference is, our team is in a different country. Allowing us to pay top wages for that country, securing us the best of the best at a much lower cost.
We then hire more quality employees to help maintain a good flow of productivity. With multiple employees capable of doing the same job, you cut down on lost productivity days, by assigning tasks to employees less busy, but capable none the less. Right now our team consists of 10 overseas employees and 5 American employees, with roots deep in the marketing system allowing us to contact more quality employees as we grow.
We offer our whole team around the clock to any customer we have. Our turnaround times can be overnight. The scalability of our company is up to you and your clients needs. We offer this an much more for a fraction of the cost of the typical American design team. We have monthly rates, as well as project rates.
The next time you are bidding a project, and adding up the hours you will need to complete this project, I want you to think about this blog. Think about how you could cut your cost in man hours by using a design team as qualified and experienced as HDint.