Let’s face it, it’s not a great business. There’s nearly no barrier to entry, all you need is a computer, Internet access and time, meaning that the market is filled to the brim with competition and it’s fierce.
Obviously it’s not impossible – there are plenty of successful of web design agencies out there but there’s no differentiation. Regardless of what you think you’re doing differently, you’ll be one of too many to count.
There’s no such thing as owning the market either. Success only brings on more work but not marketshare. It’s a hard life. Additionally, more work is just more work and it’s not your work. You’re always working for someone else. Clients are your bosses. They pay your bills and your job is to make them happy, which means doing work that you don’t want to do. It’s not the design you would pick or layout you prefer, and no matter how much great work you do, it’s not the work you choose to do.
Be contrarian. Make your own work and develop something that you sell to your clients as your design and your expertise. Make it so perfect they can’t pass it up and have to say yes. Don’t get stuck in the same cycle, working harder and harder for the same work.
