We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Garshét Hatcher a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Garshét, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

A few months ago, I had a new client reach out to me about designing a logo for her athletic wear brand. From our initial contact I could tell she was inexperienced in working with graphic designers and was hesitant about the whole process. She didn’t want to pay a deposit which made me automatically think she was going to be a difficult client to work with. However, after digging a little deeper, I discovered that I was the 3rd graphic designer that she has worked with to get a logo for her brand launch. The previous graphic designers that she worked with did not deliver on her vision for the logo and she wasted money on starting the project with each. She was hesitant because her previous experiences led her to distrust people in this industry.

I assured her that the my only goal is to make sure my clients are satisfied at the end of every service. I made sure her she knew that I would provide multiple logo samples, that she had 3 free revisions to edit the logo to her liking, and that I’m here to discuss any questions she may have moving forward. My client took the leap and I’m so glad she did! When I returned with logo samples she loved them so much that she bought two of the samples I created. I rebuilt her trust in the industry and now she knows she has a reliable and talented graphic designer in her corner! I support her business on social media and she does the same for The 429 Design. Later down the road, we’ve worked together on other projects as well. I will always cherish the memory of breaking a bad stigma for her and exceeding her expectations.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Garshét, and I am the owner of The 429 Design. The 429 Design is a hub for graphic design, branding, and marketing materials; serving both businesses and every day people. We specialize in logos, flyers, business cards, and more!

The 429 Design was founded in 2019 in my college dorm. I studied Graphic Print Communications in high school and became PrintED certified in 2018. Once I graduated, I put graphic design on the back burner because I never saw it as a business or a way to help people, it was just something to do for fun. My mind shifted when my God-brother founded his concrete services business and needed a logo. He gave me the name, a general idea, and free-will to design. The logo I created for him is still one of my favorites until this day! After finalizing the logo with his partners, my God-brother continued to push me to pursue graphic design and eventually I did.

Since then, I have been gaining clients and evolving my craft each day. My goal is help business owners provide quality branding and marketing to their audience to build credibility, cohesiveness, and professionalism. Nobody is going to invest in a company that doesn’t invest in itself. As entrepreneurship continues to become a prominent career choice, business owners need to learn the importance of good branding – that’s where The 429 Design comes in.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

This is a very important lesson for all entrepreneurs, especially if you are just starting out. I wish I learned this earlier in my business but the lesson is still very relevant to my every day work.

As a new entrepreneur, your main goal is getting clients and keeping clients. You will find that the amount of clients will not always be consistent to begin with, so you may unconsciously over extend with the clients that you do have. For example, I pride myself on personable, professional, and timely customer service; however, sometimes good customer service would result in overextending myself. I often found myself diverting from my policies “to be nice”. I would offer additional revisions with no charge, work at unruly hours, not charge my worth, accept inadequate visions from clients that left me overwhelmed, and so much more.

It is okay to go out of your way at times to deliver great customer service, but you should not sacrifice your money, time, or mental to try and please every little request from a client. You are a business, which means you should not do things for free – people will pay for what they want to pay for. You are also a person, which means you have to prioritize your needs and wellbeing – if you aren’t taking time to take care of yourself, there’s no way you can take care of a business.

I have to remind myself that I am not a machine nor someone’s doormat. Clients come to me because they need my services, a good client will be willing to compromise, follow your policies, and come payment ready each time. All money is not good money, so as a business owner you have the right to pick and choose who has the pleasure to work with you.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients as been a combination of word of mouth and social media. I regularly post my projects on Instagram and Facebook, which is a great way to publicly display my portfolio for prospective clients. Social media is a great way to market your business because people can contact you directly and see how other people engage with your work.

My strongest source of new client is probably word of mouth. A lot of my clients have friends and associates that also own a business so they will refer my services. In addition, some of my clients will need projects for personal use (birthdays, events, etc.), and will reach out for that as well. Word of mouth is very promising in any business; if a friend or someone you trust refers a business to you, you are more likely to use the referral over a different company because you believe that person won’t steer you wrong.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScFqCrIn1tivrz8yXq8rvFgmOt4ntoTywScG6FqBf04GOsNeg/viewform?usp=send_form
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the429design/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The429Design
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/The429Design