Updated June 14, 2026
I don’t know what it was like at your house, but by a week past Easter, the only thing left in our baskets were the black jelly beans. My brother and I wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole, favoring the chocolate treats first, then the marshmallows, then any other color jelly bean besides black. However, there is merit to those black jelly beans. They’re sweet and tasty to the right person. In fact, if there’s a person in your house who loves black jelly beans, they make out like a bandit every year.
I started thinking about this concept with regards to the clients who come to me just as they’re getting started — new businesses, recently launched ventures, people who have finally decided to bet on themselves and are figuring out how to do it on a realistic budget.
The clients I didn’t expect to love
Early in my career, I gravitated toward larger projects with bigger budgets. Those are still very much part of what I do. But over the years I’ve come to genuinely love working with clients who are just starting out — people who are excited about their new business, full of energy, and bringing high hopes to their new venture. There’s something infectious about that stage of a business, and it’s satisfying to be part of it.
The challenge, of course, is that brand new businesses rarely have unlimited resources. The question becomes: how do you deliver something genuinely great within a budget that’s more modest than either of us might prefer?
Building a package that fits
The answer, for me, is flexibility. While I don’t advertise a one-size-fits-all starter package, I’m always willing to have an honest conversation about what a new business actually needs right now versus what can be added later as it grows. A phased approach — start with the essentials, build from there — is often the smartest way to go.
The essentials for most new businesses look something like this:
- A professional logo and core brand identity
- A business card — still useful in many industries, though how much depends on yours
- A letterhead template set up in Word for proposals, invoices, and correspondence
- A clean, functional website that can grow with the business
- Social media profiles set up and branded consistently
From there, additional pieces — brochures, email templates, signage, print collateral — can be added as the budget allows and the business develops.
What I won’t do is cut corners on the foundation. A logo that isn’t done right, or a website that doesn’t perform, isn’t a bargain — it’s a problem you’ll pay to fix later. The goal is always to give a new business something they can be proud of and build on, regardless of where the budget lands.
Those black jelly beans are actually pretty great
Funny postscript: my mother loves black jelly beans. Always has. Which means she cleaned up every Easter while the rest of us were busy turning our noses up at what turned out to be perfectly good candy. My mom is also a designer and artist and one of my favorite people — so maybe there’s something to be said for the ones who see value where others don’t bother to look.
If you’re starting a new business and wondering whether professional design is within reach, the answer is probably yes — it just might look a little different than you’re imagining. Let’s have that conversation. And if you’re still in the naming and early planning stage, here’s a good place to start.
