What is Designing Demand?
Designing Demand is the Design Council’s national business development mentoring service for SMEs. It is part of the Government’s portfolio of business support, Solutions for Business.
Who is the service for?
The service is designed for manufacturing SMEs that want to grow. It is aimed at businesses with between 10 and 250 employees and turnover of £500k to £50m.
The service is particularly, but not exclusively, aimed at businesses with some advanced manufacturing capability.
How does the service work?
The service is delivered through the Design Council’s Design Associates, who form a national network of design management specialists. A Design Associate will lead the business’s senior team through an intensive workshop to identify their biggest challenges and explore how the strategic use of design can help overcome them. Design Associates do not undertake the design projects themselves. Their role is to mentor the business through the key stages of identifying, procuring and implementing the right design project.
What is a Design Associate?
Design Associates are design specialists who understand the fundamental challenges facing businesses. They have experience working in businesses of all sizes, including some of the most recognised brands and businesses in the world. In doing so, they have used design skills to help identify and avoid the barriers to economic growth. They deliver the Designing Demand and other mentoring services for the Design Council.
Is the service run by the Government?
No. The service has been developed and is run by the Design Council, but is endorsed by the Government as part of its business support portfolio, Solutions for Business. It is also financially supported by the Government, allowing the Design Council to offer participating businesses a generous subsidy towards the cost of the mentoring service.
What does the service cost?
Designing Demand is part funded by Government which means there is 50% subsidy available for the cost of the mentoring service; participating businesses must fund the remaining half. Depending on the length of the time, the cost of the mentoring to the business will range from £2,500 to £5,000.
In addition, businesses will need to pay the cost of the design project that emerges from the service. Each design project is different but typical costs range from £5k to £15k.
How long does the service last?
The mentoring usually takes a period of six to ten months, but this is dependent on the nature of the project.
What are the timescales for Designing Demand?
The 2011/12 call for applications opens in early September for a limited period. Successful applicants will receive their first visit from a Design Associate from October, and the mentoring service will then run until March 2012.
What level of commitment is needed?
The Managing Director, or equivalent, will need to spend at least five days on the project, and the senior management team will need to commit up to 10 days. In addition, the business must be prepared to invest in a design project that emerges from the service. These typically cost between £5k and £15k.
How many places are there on the service?
For 2011/12 there are only 40 places available.
What are the real benefits of this service?
It provides a new approach to business development and growth. It helps businesses understand how design, used strategically, can be an effective tool to boost performance and increase competitiveness and profit.
Design is more than the look and feel of finished products, websites or logos. It is what links the internal vision and strategy of the business with its need to understand the external demands of its customers and users, and makes these real through the design project that emerges.
The service is tailored to the individual business but always delivers real, practical benefits, such as:
- Acceleration of business growth
- Improved communication of the business story
- Greater understanding of how to market a product
- Increased market share
- More efficient and cost-effective processes
- Better competitiveness
Previous participants have seen benefits including:
- Business growth of 20% a year
- Increase in sales of 35% from a rebranded and repackaged product range
- Sales out-running forecasts by 14%
In addition, an independent evaluation of the service in 2011 showed that every £1 invested in design projects typically returned over £25.
Why should businesses be interested in this service now?
These are testing times for UK manufacturers with strong competition from overseas and decreasing export demand. Companies that fail to innovate and make the most of what opportunities there are risk losing out to faster moving rivals.
By considering design as part of their strategic planning, businesses can accelerate their growth, in turn outgrowing their competitors.
Will the service provide a quick fix to my company’s problems?
No. The service is not designed to provide quick fixes. Instead it equips businesses with valuable new skills and fresh insights that can drive innovation and deliver lasting success.
How is this service different from typical business consultancy?
The service is different from typical business consultancy and mentoring because it focuses on a design approach. The Design Associates use an interactive process to help the business’s senior management team understand how design can be a strategic tool in business planning.
Designing Demand is also much more than just a mentoring service. When a business completes the service it becomes part of the Design Council’s wider community, joining a growing network of businesses, organisations and designers. This provides opportunities to continue learning and developing and to build new business relationships.
