Start a web design agency without designers

You can start a web design agency without designing or coding anything. You build the brand and win the clients. Our studio designs and builds every site in 7 days at 20% less than our list price, so you can open your agency without hiring anyone.

How an agency without designers works

An agency has two jobs: selling and delivering. Most people who start one are good at the first and end up spending their days on the second. Here the two are separate from the first day.

What you do

• Choose who you sell to and give your agency a name and a brand.
• Find clients, talk to them and close the sale at the price you decide.
• Buy each site from your panel: pick a design or start from scratch, arrange the pages and add the extras.
• Stay close to your client, and offer the monthly services that keep the site working.

What the studio does

• Asks you what we need, one question at a time, on your project page.
• Writes the texts, designs the mockup and makes the changes, with one round of changes per stage.
• Sends you a link to the design with no name of ours, to show your client.
• Builds the site, checks speed, phones, links and forms, and puts it online with hosting included.

Your costs stay tied to your sales. You pay for a site when you buy a site, and there is no fee to join the program.

If you would rather start with a website for your agency on your own domain, all our templates and the whole platform under your brand, there is a plan for $250 a month, with a 6-month minimum. Sites are still paid one by one, at the agency price.

What you need to start

1. A type of client. Pick one industry and, if you can, one city. An agency for dentists or for schools is easier to explain and easier to recommend than an agency for everyone. Read our example: how to start an agency for schools.
2. A name. Check that it is free before you fall in love with it. We explain how in how to name your business and how to check if a name is free.
3. A brand. A logo, two or three colors and a way of speaking. You can do it in a few days with our lessons, which appear below.
4. A domain and a professional email. Clients look at the address you write from. See how to choose a domain and how to set up your email.
5. A page of your own. It can be simple: what you do, who it is for, examples of the work and how to contact you.
6. A way to invoice and a simple contract. Registering a business, taxes and contracts change from one country to another, so ask an accountant or a lawyer where you live.

How to choose an industry

Choose an industry you already understand, or one where you know people. Then check three things: the businesses spend money to get customers, a new customer is worth a lot to them, and their websites leave room for improvement. Clinics, dentists, law firms, schools, gyms, salons, restaurants, contractors and real estate agents all depend on being chosen, and the website is part of that comparison.

What to call your marketing agency

A good name is easy to say on the phone, easy to spell after hearing it once, and available as a domain. These are four ways to get there:

• Name your client. A word from the industry you serve, plus a plain word such as Studio or Web. The client understands what you do before you explain it.
• Name your place. A street, a neighborhood or a landmark that people in your city recognize. It works well when you sell locally.
• Use your surname. It suits consultants and people whose personal reputation is what sells. Consider whether you want to sell the business one day.
• Invent a short word. It is easier to find a free domain, and it asks for more marketing to become known.

Which names attract clients? In practice, the ones that say something concrete and sound like a real business. Avoid long strings such as "Digital Marketing Solutions Group", names that copy a competitor, and words that limit you later if you plan to sell more than websites. Before you decide, search for the name, try the domain and look it up in the trademark registry of your country.

How to create your own brand

You do not need a large budget for a first version. Work in this order, and change it once you have clients and know more about them:

1. Write one sentence that says who you help and with what.
2. Choose your colors, your logo and your way of speaking.
3. Put it all in a brand guide of one page, so that everything you send looks like it came from the same company.
4. Put your name on what you send: your quotes, your invoices and your emails. We never write to your client, and the link to the design has no name of ours.

What you sell, and what you keep

You sell the same three packages as our list, at the price you decide. Your margin is the difference between that price and what you pay us. Selling at our list price, it looks like this:

Your price is yours to set: one list for all your clients, and a different site price for any client you want. If you sell a Basic site for $4,000, your margin is $1,600. One-time extras and monthly services cost you their list price, and you can charge what you decide for them too: online booking costs you $300, and monthly services go from $99 to $249 a month. These figures are the arithmetic of the program, and what you earn depends on the sales you close and the price your market accepts.

Your client pays you, with your own invoice or your own payment link, and you pay us for each site you buy. The project starts as soon as you buy it.

How to get your first clients

The agency program does not include leads, so finding clients is your job from the first day. This order usually works best:

1. Start with the people who already know you. Former colleagues, former clients, suppliers and the businesses you buy from. Tell them what you do now and who it is for.
2. Make a list of 50 businesses in your industry and city. Open each website on your phone and write down one thing that costs them customers. We explain this step by step in how to sell websites to local businesses, with what to say on the phone, on WhatsApp and by email.
3. Open with something useful. A short review of their website, at no cost, usually gets more answers than a list of your services.
4. Show real work. Our designs open on any phone, so your client can see the level before they spend anything.
5. Follow up. Your panel keeps your sites, your clients and your agenda in one place.
6. Ask for a referral after each delivery. Owners in the same industry talk to one another, and that is the reason to choose one.

How you deliver without a team

Each site you buy becomes a project. You answer the questions, send the material and approve the texts and the mockup on your project page, and the site goes online in 7 days. When the design is ready, we send you a link with no name of ours to show your client. The clock pauses while we are waiting for you. You follow every project and its stage from your panel.

Your own agency or selling for commission?

We offer both, and they suit different people:

If you have no clients and no contacts yet, selling for commission is the shorter way in. Your own agency makes sense when you have contacts in an industry, or when you want a brand that belongs to you. If you already run an agency, read about white label web design.

Risks and limits

• Selling is on you. The studio delivers the site, and nobody brings you clients in this program.
• You answer to your client. If something goes wrong, your name is the one on the contract.
• You depend on one studio for delivery. Read what we include, and open our sites on your phone, before you make promises to anyone.
• Some projects will not fit. If a client needs custom development beyond these packages, tell us about it and we will estimate the work.

How to start with us

1. Apply. Choose "I want to start an agency" on the partner page. It takes three short steps, and you can sign in right away with your email.
2. Get approved. We approve accounts in under 24 hours. Meanwhile you can watch the videos and fill in your billing details.
3. Prepare your brand. Your name, your logo and your colors, on everything you send to your clients.
4. Buy your first site. Start with someone who already knows you, choose a design and buy it from your panel.

Questions about starting a web design agency