How to Start a Graphic-Design Business and Book Six Figures in Revenue

• Alyssa Nguyen launched a graphic-design business in 2020 to earn extra money and fill her free time.
• Last year, she booked almost $ 170,000 in revenue by helping customers build brand identities.
• Nguyen shared the 10 tools graphic designers should use in their businesses.

At the start of 2020, Alyssa Nguyen was a junior in college and looking forward to her upcoming marketing internship. But when the pandemic hit the US, she was left without work and with an abundance of free time.

By the end of the year, she had launched an eponymous business that tapped her experience in graphic design. Alyssa Nguyen Design helps customers build brand identities, craft social strategies, and create content. Last year, she booked just under $ 170,000 in revenue, which Insider verified with documentation.

Entirely self-taught, Nguyen spent her first few months in the business learning graphic-design skills to keep up with her rapid growth. Her services and skills have expanded exponentially since the start of her career, she said.

Many businesses decreased marketing budgets amid the pandemic, but Nguyen found additional revenue streams by offering clients consulting on brand-identity development and web design.

She spoke with Insider about the tools she used to run her business and believed all designers should learn when starting their own companies.