How to Start Your Own UX Agency: A Digital Entrepreneur’s Guide

With consumer technologies becoming increasingly sophisticated, business owners of today are basically expected to keep their customer service processes and customer portals as streamlined and satisfying to use as possible.

But intuitive interface design is a specialised skill, and it’s not one that every small business will be able to maintain internally. That’s why UX (user experience) agencies are becoming more sought after by businesses of all industries and scales.

If you are a UX designer or perhaps even a web designer who’s looking to develop UX skills and boost their professional output, now is the perfect time to start setting up your own client base, building up a personal brand as a freelancer, or even creating your own digital design agency.

And how do you go about doing this? Well, that’s precisely the question we’ll be answering today.

Today, we’ll be outlining how best to build your own UX agency from the ground up. So stick with us, digital entrepreneurs, as we share our secrets for building a thriving UX and design enterprise.

1. Start with a strong logistical foundation first

First things first, you want to make sure that you’re building your business on a solid foundation. This means registering your ABN and company name for taxation purposes, setting up your Google My Business account to ensure web visibility, and (most importantly) securing suitable business insurance coverage.

WebAlive – Google My Business Profile

For professional services like UX that can greatly impact your client’s products and reputation, you’ll definitely want to take out indemnity insurance cover, as this can help safeguard your enterprise in the event that you or a member of your staff are found at fault for a breach of duty to your client or even a breach of privacy.

Other types of insurance cover you may consider taking out include general liability or cyber liability insurance. Be sure to consult with an insurance provider to see if you may be able to bundle your insurance coverage for your small business.

Of course, another foundational requirement for any digital enterprise is setting up a business website and accompanying social media profiles – including a LinkedIn. Once again, this helps boost your company’s visibility online and can be a great way for you to build up your network. Though more on this later!

2. Find your specialties and master them

Next, it’s time to find your niche in the wider discipline of UX and UI design. From eCommerce UX to UX for mobile apps and even interface design for consumer technological products, there is a wide variety of specialisations in this field.

There are also different skill sets relating to UX. For instance, you could offer your skills as a UX researcher, writer, strategist, or even a UX consultant who offers expert insights on a dynamic range of subjects relating to user experience and interface design. Understanding where your strengths lie can help you outline the scope of your business and your own goals for this venture.

Knowing what your specialties are and making a commitment to honing those skills can also be a great way to keep your business development goals on track, ensuring that all your growth moves will benefit your business in tangible ways and boost the quality of your service for future clients.

And finally, if you know where your strengths lie, you can market your business and price your services effectively. Identify the customer pain points that your services can directly rectify and start getting the word out there that you’re the solution they’ve been looking for!

When you have to quote for your services, factor in the market rates for the work provided to make sure you’re being fairly compensated for both your labour and expertise. You can find market rates for services by conducting competitor analyses or even just by engaging with resources like our blog on web portal development costs.

3. Showcase your work using your own company website

Of course, you can’t really begin marketing for your new UX business until you’ve got a legitimate website for prospective clients to refer to. It should go without saying that the website for your UX agency should be considered a reflection of your own work standards. In other words, ensure your website boasts a welcoming and easily navigable interface for your prospective clients to explore.

And no business website is complete without at least a portfolio or gallery page that showcases their work. If you don’t have any professional case studies to your business name yet, then look for some opportunities to volunteer your skills. Or ask for permission from previous clients you’ve freelanced for to see if you could showcase the work you completed for them individually.

But there are more ways to look like a pro than just providing case studies. That’s why another key consideration to make when establishing your business website is decking it out with plenty of resources for your prospective client base.

In digital industries, it’s vital that you take measures to present yourself as an authority in your industry. This means investing in your website SEO, but it also means creating and populating a blog for your domain.

A blog with articles relevant to UX (like our blog on website usability basics, for instance) can help ensure that prospective clients click through to your website a lot earlier on in their customer journey – namely in their research phase. If clients can trust your information so much that they look to your domain to have all their UX questions answered, then they’ll be more inclined to trust your services.

4. Build up your team using industry talent

You’ve got a killer brand, a great website, and now maybe even a few clients or accounts under your belt. So what’s next? Well, expanding your team, of course! The best step you can make at this stage of your business growth is to invest in strong industry talent and build up a team for your agency.

For your first few recruits, we strongly recommend finding UX professionals who complement your own skill sets. So, if you’ve got extensive experience with UX research in one particular industry, look for a strategist or writer whose background is in another related niche or sector.

That way, you can expand on the variety of projects you take on – and perhaps even posit your dynamic, multifaceted or multidisciplinary approach as another unique selling point of your UX agency. Once you’ve onboarded one new team member, continue building up your agency personnel over a timeline that feels sustainable and aligned with your business budget.

Alongside finding the right professionals to join you in your agency endeavours, digital entrepreneurs should also make sure that they’re developing a workplace culture that values self-development and skill sharing.

Digital industries are constantly in a state of flux, so the best quality that any of your agency personnel can have is a desire to keep learning, engaging with UX industry trends, and just generally bettering themselves and improving their professional output.

5. Grow your business network and seek synergistic partnerships

And where should you find your industry talent when it comes time to expand your team? Well, the same place you can find more leads for your business: at industry events! Be they digital or physical, attending industry events and making sure that your agency maintains a presence in community spaces is a great way to not only connect with like-minded UX professionals but also to find future clients.

You can grow your business by looking for synergistic opportunities in both industry and even general community events. For instance, if your UX agency is based out of a coworking space, getting involved in building events like breakfasts or skills-building seminars can help you network with other small business owners who could actually benefit greatly from your UX capabilities.

This is also a great time to design your customer acquisition and retention strategies over the long term. Do you have digital marketing efforts in place to direct prospective clients to your website or socials? Do you want people to sign up to your mailing list?

And what incentives or value are you going to provide once they do? What lasting value will you provide to your long-term clients if they choose to continue doing business with you? Answering all these questions now can help you maximise lead generation and account management for your business over the long run.

6. Getting to work on your UX agency development plans

There is a lot to consider; that much is for certain. But with the right development strategy, high work standards, and a good team in place, you should be able to build up a decent client base and provide them with consistently strong services.

Just remember to keep your skills sharp, continue furthering your output as a UX designer, and stay ahead of the ever-evolving digital curve. So long as you stay agile, eager, and curious, there’s no reason why your UX agency can’t scale up from a small business to a digital empire.