DBA Members’ Forum | November Summary

Your team, headcount and pay rises:

• With 92% of DBA members regularly making use of freelancers – the importance of matching your resource to work in the door is always a fine balance for agencies. 
• If future income is uncertain, be decisive; freelancers are an expensive but flexible resource.
• But if your staff costs (including freelancers) to fee income ratio is below 60%, it might be time to make a permanent hire. If you don’t have clear visibility on future workload, you need to carefully consider if now is the time to make the leap of faith, or continue with your freelance resource. 
• While some on the call were cheered with pay rises not being quite as high as in previous years, remember the additional NI you have to pay following the Budget last week. We’ve got an NI calculator tool that can work out how much that will cost you.
• If you’re ready to hire an external Finance Director – get someone adaptable, that understands design, client and employee contracts and can support your account management team on charge-out rates. 

Overseas income and working internationally:

• We’ve seen a steady increase in income from international clients over the years, with close to 50% of member income coming from overseas and this is a key trend we’ve explored in a previous Members’ Forum and in this Design Week article.
• Lots of exciting innovations are happening in different markets – it’s an opportunity to learn something new and bring that knowledge back to your home market. 
• One key piece of advice shared that could save you thousands was to check your bank’s fixed contract terms to buy currency in advance and always know what you’re going to receive. 
• Watch out for RFP scams, especially if performance bonds are being requested, and be aware payments can be withheld if taxes aren’t paid on time or the proper paperwork has not been completed. 

Client servicing and new business development 

• With more businesses looking to grow their income in 2025 without the supporting headcount – we delved into how you can do more with less – and client servicing was highlighted as a way to achieve this.
• Tapping into your existing clients is often an overlooked, cost-effective way of getting more business through the door, how can your client services team upskill to sell more?
• Talk about outcomes in context if you want to recover more client servicing staff costs, and explain the value for money of good project managers and account handlers. 
• If your relationship with your client is strong and there’s a clear value proposition, they’ll do anything to keep working with you – including fighting your corner with procurement.  
• Add a ‘fees to be reviewed annually’ on any fixed fee contracts.

Coming up

There was much, much more covered in the hour – I hope you find these notes helpful. Join our next meeting on Tuesday 3 December, 4-5pm GMT, look out for an email with the details in a few weeks.

We’ve captured the conversation highlights from all the Members’ Forums which have taken place and they can all be found here.