Craft vs strategic matrix
As your creative business grows from a small team to a more structured agency, your approach to costing and pricing must evolve too. What worked at three people won't sustain you at ten.
The shift from craft-level to strategist-level operations brings new financial complexities. Your intuitive pricing gives way to structured cost models. Simple hourly rates become tiered pricing strategies. And suddenly, you need systems to track profitability rather than just hoping there's cash left in the bank.
Understanding these transitions helps you plan for sustainable growth rather than stumbling through each stage. Here's how the financial complexity changes as you scale.
Many design studios hit a growth ceiling around because their financial systems can’t support the complexity.
Without proper costing structures, profitable projects become loss-makers.
Teams work harder but margins shrink. Understanding these transitions before you need them prevents costly mistakes and ensures sustainable growth.
Start with one area causing you the most pain right now. Work through that transition systematically before moving to the next challenge.
How to use this matrix
This information is structured as a progression map.
The left column shows where most small studios start (craft level), while the right column reveals where you need to be for sustainable growth (strategist level).
The middle column is your roadmap – the specific actions required to bridge that gap. Don’t try to tackle everything at once. Pick one area where you’re feeling the most pressure and work through that transition first.
Use this as a diagnostic tool: identify where you are now, understand where you need to be, then focus on the growth initiatives that will get you there systematically.
The roles relate to the design role ecosystem discussed in the WHERE section. They’re not job descriptions, they’re indicators of the design maturity of a designer.
Craft level
Growth initiative
Strategist level
- Founders often base pricing on gut feel, peer benchmarks, or hourly rate.
- Overheads are low and usually known personally (rent, software, salaries).
- There’s less pressure to accurately cost staff time because everyone is multitasking.
Moving from
guesstimates
to structured costing
- Cost structures become layered: salaries, super, rent and internal non-billable roles (e.g. agency manager) have to be factored in.
- Ability to calculate accurate cost rates per employee to ensure project profitability.
- Internal time (meetings, admin, training) needs to be factored into cost rates.
- Everyone in the design agency may have a similar rate, even if skill levels differ.
- Pricing is often flat—based on effort or time, not on experience or value
Moving from
fixed hourly rates
to tiered pricing and roles
in a pricing policy
- Different team members have different cost and value profiles (junior vs senior designer vs strategist).
- You have tiered billing rates and role-based costing.
- You introduce blended rates.
- Retainers are used with tight scoping and clear staff allocation.
- Projects are typically task-based: design logos, build websites, deliver assets.
- Pricing is focused on inputs (time, deliverables).
Moving from
delivery-focused to
impact-focused pricing
- Clients expect strategy, advice, and partnership.
- Pricing needs to reflect outcomes (impact) and business value, not just time.
- Impact-based pricing models become important—but harder to sell and justify without a clear process.
- Quotes are often created on the fly, and clients negotiate directly with the owner.
- Pricing may vary wildly depending on the mood, urgency, or personal relationship.
Moving from
reactive quoting to
proactive pricing strategy
- Consistency matters: account managers or producers need to quote accurately.
- You have pricing templates and internal pricing policies.
- Discounts, inclusions, and scope creep are tracked.
- Founders may take lower wages or absorb financial hits to “get the work.
- Profit is often a byproduct, not a planned outcome
Moving from
founder-absorbed margin to
true profit modeling
- Profit is built into the model, not hoped for.
- Pricing funds realistic salaries, business development, marketing, and owner bonuses.
- Financial modelling (cost rate + margin + profit + utilisation targets) is developed as policy.
- Agency likely offers everything for everyone, with a single rate.
- It’s harder to specialise or differentiate services
Moving from
generalist pricing to
service-line pricing
- You develop specialist offerings (e.g. brand strategy, packaging, UX).
- Each service line has its own pricing logic, cost model, and pitch strategy.
- You price for IP, consulting, or licensing separately
- Project performance may be reviewed occasionally, or not at all.
- Profit is judged by whether there’s cash left in the bank
Moving from
informal to
accountable profitability tracking
- You have systems to track project margin, team utilisation, and client profitability.
- Costing mistakes are analysed and systems adapted to avoid it happening again.
Where to from here
Moving from craft to strategist level requires structured financial systems. Use this framework to identify your current stage and systematically implement the growth initiatives needed.
