What do you do when business goes quiet, orders slow down and everyone else online still looks suspiciously busy?

In this episode, I’m joined by Scottish designer and maker Nikki McWilliams, whose wonderfully niche world includes biscuit cushions, stationery and a loyal community that has grown with her business over the past 15 years.

In this episode, we chat about:

• Why quiet spells feel so difficult to talk about
• The pressure to always look busy and successful online
• How Nikki built several income streams across products and content
• Why faster growth is not always better growth
• The reality of working with large retailers and long payment terms
• Using pre-orders to reduce the risk of launching new products
• Why email marketing still matters
• How social media has changed for small businesses
• The post-Covid slowdown many creative businesses are feeling

About Nikki McWilliams

Nikki is a Scottish designer and maker known for her playful biscuit-inspired homeware and her stationery brand, Nikki Supply Store. Her work is inspired by nostalgia, everyday objects and the things she genuinely loves, which has helped her build a brilliantly distinctive business and community over the past 15 years.

Connect with Nikki
https://nikkimcwilliams.com/
Nikki’s Supply Store: http://www.nikkissupplystore.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/nikkimcwilliams/
IG: http://instagram.com/nikkissupplystore

I’d love to hear what you think of this episode. If you’ve listened and any part of Nikki’s story resonated with you, send me a message on Instagram at @‌designerinyourpocket_juls or @‌thehonestdesignerdiaries.

I really hope you enjoy the chat.

Juls

The Honest Designer Diaries is still a brand new podcast, it would really help if you could follow, subscribe or leave a 5* rating and review wherever you’re listening. If you’re watching on YouTube, liking the video and leaving a comment helps more designers find these conversations too.

And if you know another designer, creative pal, student, graduate or freelancer who might enjoy this chat, please send it their way.

And if you’re looking for somewhere to ask the questions that are harder to post publicly, get support with a difficult client or talk things through with other creatives who understand the day-to-day of working in this industry, come and join us inside The Creative Room.

Aseil Amgheib started out in interior architecture, moved into production design, then found her way into branding almost by accident during lockdown. A few cold emails, one very determined 100-day design challenge and a lot of figuring things out as she went eventually led to her building Design Wolf, her London-based branding and web design studio.

We chat about changing direction when the career you worked towards no longer feels right, building a creative business without a clear roadmap, and the confidence wobble that can still show up even when you have a studio, a team and successful client work behind you.

We also get into creative routines, setting better boundaries with clients, learning that most design emergencies can wait until Monday, and what Aseil wants the next stage of Design Wolf to look like.

Find Aseil on Instagram at @‌designwolfldn.

If you enjoyed the episode, subscribe to The Honest Designer Diaries, leave a rating or comment and share it with another designer who might need to hear this conversation.

You can also message me on Instagram at @‌designerinyourpocket_juls or @‌thehonestdesignerdiaries.

And if you’re looking for somewhere to ask the questions that are harder to post publicly, get support with a difficult client or talk things through with other creatives who understand the day-to-day of working in this industry, come and join us inside The Creative Room.

Ross Grubb didn’t plan on becoming a freelance graphic designer. After four design jobs and being put at risk of redundancy four times, three of which ended with him losing his job, freelance started to feel less like the risky option.

Ross is also one of the co-hosts of the Scottish Creative Network, a monthly Glasgow networking event created to help designers, photographers, marketers and other creatives meet without the usual awkward business networking routine.

Find Ross

Instagram: Grubb Creative
LinkedIn: Ross Grubb

Find Scottish Creative Network on Instagram and LinkedIn for details of upcoming Glasgow events.

If you enjoyed the episode, subscribe to The Honest Designer Diaries, leave a rating or comment and share it with another designer who might need to hear this conversation.

You can also message me on Instagram at @‌designerinyourpocket_juls or @‌thehonestdesignerdiaries.

And if you’re looking for somewhere to ask the questions that are harder to post publicly, get support with a difficult client or talk things through with other creatives who understand the day-to-day of working in this industry, come and join us inside The Creative Room.