Running a business requires skills and experience that are generally not taught as part of form design education and most consultancy owners learn these whilst on the job, often through trial and error. However, it is possible to enter the design industry as a chief executive or managing director of a business without being a trained designer.
An example is Nick Ramshaw, president of the Design Business Association, managing director of Leeds branding consultancy Thompson Brand Partners and former managing director of Elmwood Leeds.
Prior to working in design, Ramshaw was a chartered surveyor with a vocational degree in estates management who entered the industry by helping out a friend who was running a small design consultancy.