Sometimes the best investment isn't learning another piece of software. It's knowing where your own time creates the greatest value.
Over the last couple of years, we've all been given access to an incredible range of creative tools. Canva, AI image generators, website builders and countless other platforms now make it easier than ever for business owners to create their own marketing.
I think that's a good thing.
The problem isn't having the tools. The problem comes when people assume that because they can create something themselves, they automatically should. That thought came back to me recently while reflecting on one of our newer client relationships. Last August I received a phone call from Nathan Moss, owner of Just Blinds in Wigan. We'd never met before, but one of our direct mail campaigns had landed on his desk. As a fellow Entrepreneurs Circle member, Nathan immediately recognised what we were trying to achieve. Rather than seeing it as another piece of post, he saw it as a business investing in its own marketing and decided to pick up the phone. We spent a while chatting about his business, the work we'd produced for other shutter companies and some of the opportunities he could see for Just Blinds. At the end of the conversation he didn't ask me how much a brochure would cost or whether we could copy something he'd seen elsewhere. Instead, he asked a much better question.
"Can you share some ideas?"
For me, that was the moment this stopped being a potential job and started becoming the beginning of a relationship!
Good marketing starts with good thinking
After our conversation I sent Nathan a selection of brochures we'd produced for other clients. What surprised me most was his response. He didn't ask us to reproduce somebody else's design. Instead, he picked out the thinking behind several items from different brochures. He liked the idea of telling the story of the business as a family company. He wanted to explain the commitments they make to every customer. He saw the value of QR codes linking to product videos and recognised how awards and customer reviews would help build confidence.
None of those comments were about the design - colours, fonts or layouts. They were about communication, trust and helping customers make a buying decision. That's a very different conversation from simply asking someone to "make me a brochure."
A few weeks later Nathan got back in touch. The brochure was temporarily on hold because he was preparing the business before going on paternity leave, but rather than waiting until after that event he suggested we tackle something else first. Something smaller and easier to achieve... "Can we go ahead with getting a neighbourhood card design sorted?"
I loved that approach because it showed exactly how experienced business owners think. Instead of trying to juggle everything himself, he recognised there was another piece of marketing that could start working immediately while the brochure was put on hold to develop in the background.
Doing what each of us does best
Of course, Nathan could have opened Canva and created something himself. There are thousands of templates available and plenty of tutorials explaining how to use them. But while he was learning the design software, who would have been looking after his customers? Who would have been quoting work, preparing the business for his time away as a dad or making sure everything continued to run smoothly?
His expertise is advising homeowners on blinds and shutters – ours is helping businesses communicate professionally, consistently and with purpose!
Those aren't competing skills. They complement each other.
I sent the first concept over the following day and his reply genuinely made me smile.
"Can I start off by saying how amazed I am that you made that before dinner when I only sent it at midnight!!!"
It wasn't really about speed. It was about momentum. When clients are excited about an idea, we like to keep that enthusiasm moving. A quick visual sparks another conversation, another improvement and another opportunity. That's exactly what happened here. What began as a neighbourhood card has since grown into brochures, referral packs, business cards, leaflets, advertising and a growing collection of marketing materials that all reinforce the same brand. We didn't pitch for every one of those projects. They happened naturally because each completed piece built confidence for the next.
The biggest cost is often the one you never see
People often ask me whether AI or Canva will replace graphic designers? Personally, I think they're asking the wrong question. The better question is where does your time deliver the BEST return for your business?
If you're producing a quick social media post or an internal notice, Canva is brilliant. You want a quick poster to promote this week's specials in your restaurant - AI is great! We use AI ourselves to help us research, challenge our thinking and improve the way we work. These tools absolutely have their place and, used well, they can save an enormous amount of time. But if you're spending an entire Saturday trying to design a brochure, flyer or sales leaflet, it's worth asking yourself a different question.
Not, "How much am I saving?" But, "What is this time actually costing my business?" Perhaps it was simply a weekend you could have spent with your family instead of nudging text boxes around a screen - and still not getting it right!!
Looking back over the last twelve months, that's exactly the decision Nathan made for HIM, HIS FAMILY and HIS BUSINESS! Rather than trying to become a part-time graphic designer, he chose to concentrate on building Just Blinds while we concentrated on building the marketing around it. The result has been a steady stream of new projects, each one reinforcing the last and each one allowing him to spend more time doing what he does best.
A question worth asking yourself
As I was writing this blog, it struck me that this story isn't really about design at all.
Over the years I've met plenty of business owners who try to do everything themselves. I completely understand why. When you're building a business it's natural to want to save money, keep control and wear as many hats as possible. We've all done it. The challenge comes when those hats start taking you away from the very thing that made your business successful in the first place. If you're an accountant, your greatest value isn't spending Saturday afternoon trying to design a leaflet. It's helping clients understand their finances. If you're a builder, it certainly isn't experimenting with fonts or colour palettes. It's creating beautiful homes and keeping customers happy. And if you're a blinds company, your expertise lies in visiting homeowners, understanding their needs and helping them choose the right solution for their home.
That's where your experience earns its keep. The same is true for us.
People sometimes assume graphic design is about choosing colours or making things look attractive. In reality, that's only a small part of what we do. The real value comes from understanding how people read a page, how to build confidence, how to communicate clearly and how every piece of marketing works alongside the next to reinforce your brand.
That's what Nathan recognised from our very first conversation.
He wasn't looking for someone to operate the software. He was looking for someone who had already solved these problems dozens, if not hundreds, of times before.
Looking back, it's quite fitting that this relationship only exists because one business owner recognised another business investing in its own marketing. A single direct mail campaign prompted a phone call. That phone call became a neighbourhood card. The neighbourhood card became another project... then another... and before long we'd built a growing collection of marketing materials that all support the same business. Built on trust! None of that happened because we sold Nathan lots of design. It happened because he understood where his own time created the greatest value and trusted us to do the same.
After more than forty years in business, I think that's one of the biggest lessons I've learnt. The businesses that continue to grow aren't usually the ones trying to become experts at everything. They're the ones that know what they're brilliant at, concentrate on doing that exceptionally well and aren't afraid to bring in experienced people to fill the gaps.
If you've found yourself spending evenings wrestling with Canva, tweaking layouts or asking AI to create your next brochure, perhaps it's worth asking yourself one simple question.
Is this really the best use of my time... or would my business be better served if I spent those hours doing what only I can do?
Because, in the end, that's what this story has really been about. Not design. Not brochures. Not Canva. Just one business owner recognising that his time was better spent growing his business than trying to become a graphic designer. And that's why I believe we don't simply create marketing.
We help business owners spend less time creating marketing... and more time growing their businesses... Let's talk!
