4 mistakes I made as an entrepreneur – and what I learned from them

I founded my design agency in 2010. As is the case in business, I've also learned a lot as an entrepreneur over the years – especially from the mistakes I've made. This is a brutally honest conversation about experiences and the most important lessons learned from 12 years of entrepreneurship.

Mistake #1: Technology and design separated

My biggest mistake goes back to my early years. Back then, the technical aspects of web design were outsourced to web agencies. This meant that the web agency had to implement my designs exactly as I, as the creative director, specified. Unfortunately, a lot of confusion got lost in the middle. My mistake was believing that technology and design would work perfectly if they were handled by two different parties. Unfortunately, the practical experience was different.

The lesson learned:

Offering technology and design from a single source and bringing the entire website development 100% in-house. And we now have such a high quality standard in web design that was previously impossible with external web agencies. There's truly a world of difference between them.

Mistake #2: No smart, digital tools

For a long time, I underestimated smart digital tools and didn't automate processes enough internally. I thought, "I don't need that." We now use several digital tools internally – for project management, appointment booking, lead response, proposal preparation, invoicing, etc.

The lesson learned:

Use smart, digital tools wherever possible! The time savings are enormous; we feel a real relief in our daily lives. Everything is more pleasant, less stressful, and easier.

Mistake #3: Too easy to reach personally

For many years, it was a huge problem that I was personally too accessible, or rather, that I made myself too accessible (it was my own fault). This robbed me of valuable time, focus, and efficiency – not to mention the health consequences.

The lesson learned:

HCG corporate designs now has a seven-person team, which relieves me of most of the administrative burden. My design agency is always available during regular office hours, and there's always someone available to speak with. And as Creative Director, I can focus even more effectively on delivering creative services to clients.

Mistake #4: Doing everything yourself

Until 2020, I always did everything 100% on my own. A 40-hour workweek was wonderfully quiet; 60-hour weeks were normal, sometimes even 80 hours. I also worked weekends for about a third of the year – for ten years. I was afraid to delegate even the smallest detail because my business is my baby , and the quality simply has to be top-notch – no ifs, ands, or buts.

In 2021, I built a small but excellent team – not only in administration, but also in the production of activities that only require the pure execution of my specifications as Creative Director and require little to no creativity.

Specifically, I considered: Which tasks take up a lot of my time but don't require any of my expertise? I incorporated these tasks into standard processes and found reliable people. Now I have a highly coordinated team behind me.

The great thing for customers: they get the usual high quality at the same price, but in a shorter time.

The lesson learned:

It definitely pays off to outsource certain things. You save yourself a lot of stress and, above all, a lot of time. With the extra time, you can actively take on more client orders and earn more money.

This is also the reason why we introduced our all-round, worry-free service for our website clients. We take over website management, saving our clients a lot of stress and even more time. They can then use the time they save to earn more money from their clients.

In addition, the quality is completely different because, as Wix partners with years of experience, we naturally get the best out for our customers, something they would never be able to achieve on their own.