DesignDash Magazine: Kara Duffy Talks Dream Business Building

LIKE

2

LEAVE COMMENT 0

6 min read

Host of the Powerful Ladies Podcast and a recent guest on our own DesignDash Podcast, Kara Duffy is a business strategist and creative entrepreneur whose journey began with launching her first venture at just nine years old. Over the years, she has built an impressive career, from leading product and strategy for global brands like Puma to pioneering innovative approaches for small business owners.

Kara now coaches entrepreneurial women and creative business owners on how to boost revenue, streamline operations, and design a fulfilling life without falling prey to the “work-life balance” myth. But this isn’t another “work harder, grind more” pep talk.

It’s a wake-up call to slow down, simplify, and trust that your value doesn’t come from the hours you put in—it comes from the impact you create. In this article, we synthesize her advice on building a dream design business into a series of do’s and don’ts. Kara’s advice is actionable, relatable, and delivered with a dose of humor that’ll leave you inspired and ready to shake things up.

“I truly believe we should be building selfish businesses—that is, businesses designed for our best life.”

Kara emphasizes the need to blend creative passion with smart systems—through process documentation, meaningful networking, and confident pricing—to build a sustainable business. She advocates for a “selfish” business model that prioritizes personal freedom, ensuring your enterprise serves your ideal life rather than consuming it.

This article was originally published in the Winter 2025 issue of DesignDash Magazine.

Six Steps to Building Your Dream Business with Insights from Kara Duffy

Step 1: Define Your Vision and Values

To build a dream design business, start by defining your vision and values using Kara Duffy’s “selfish business” mindset. Focus on what matters most to you—whether it’s spending quality time with family, pursuing creative projects, or enjoying the flexibility to set your own schedule—and let these priorities shape your decisions.

Embrace your inherent worth and create a business that reflects the life you want, not one built on sacrifice or others’ expectations. As Kara explains, “We’re so good at taking on everyone else’s shoulds and coulds and what-ifs, but we need to be honest about our own values. It’s not fair to live based on someone else’s expectations.”

Ultimately, commit to a business that serves your best life. As she puts it, “I truly believe we should be building selfish businesses—that is, businesses designed for our best life. Why build a business to serve everyone else when it should work for you?”

Fuel your creative fire & be a part of a supportive community that values how you love to live.

subscribe to our newsletter

_{*please check your Spam folder for the latest DesignDash Magazine}

Subscribe

Step 2: Systematize Your Operations

Efficient systems are the backbone of a dream design business. Kara Duffy advises, “One of my favorite phrases is: automate, delegate, or delete.” By documenting your processes, you eliminate unnecessary tasks and free up creative energy for what truly matters.

That might be through detailed checklists, organized spreadsheets, or project management tools like Monday.com. Regardless, Kara emphasizes that having a repeatable system prevents you from reinventing the wheel with every new project; instead, your process becomes like an accordion that can stretch to include all the details or collapse to highlight the key touchpoints.

This not only ensures consistency and quality in your work but also enables you to scale your business efficiently. With clear systems in place, you can delegate routine tasks or automate them, giving you back precious time to focus on creative strategy and client relationships.

Step 3: Build a Robust Networking System

Kara Duffy believes that a well-organized networking strategy is essential to sustaining a thriving design business.

“A networking tracking sheet is a game changer.”

By logging every vendor, client, or potential collaborator you meet, you ensure that no connection is lost and that you’re always top-of-mind when opportunities arise. Kara explains that, rather than letting these encounters fade into memory, capturing them systematically can lead to “magical calls” and unexpected business opportunities.

She also advocates for curating authentic relationships—focusing on genuine, friendship-like connections over transactional interactions. Instead of the standard exchange of business cards, she recommends organizing curated events or informal gatherings where these relationships can deepen naturally. This approach not only turns fleeting meetings into lasting bonds but also transforms your network into a living resource that actively fuels your business growth.

Step 4: Price Your Services Confidently

Recognizing your worth is fundamental to building a sustainable design business. Kara Duffy encourages you to test higher pricing—even doubling your fees—to filter out clients who truly value your work. As she puts it, “Every time I test a new price and a client says, ‘Oh, that’s it? This is such a great value,’ I kick myself—I should have four-x-ed it.”

In taking Kara’s advice, you’ll not only affirm your value but also signal to potential clients that your work is worth every dollar. Equally important is setting clear boundaries: establish firm payment and scheduling structures to protect your time and ensure you’re not overextending yourself. She also advises that, early on, you should seek out a coach or mentor who has successfully navigated similar challenges—someone who can guide you to set rates that reflect your true value rather than defaulting to prices that fall short of your impact.

By pricing confidently and maintaining these boundaries, you attract clients who appreciate your expertise and create a business model that honors both your creative vision and your well-being. Don’t sell yourself short!

Step 5: Invest in Curated Coaching and Mentorship

Fuel your creative fire, thrive with support from peers, & make 2025 your firm’s best year yet!

JOIN THE DESIGNDASH COMMUNITY

Join the community

A strategic coach or mentor can be the much-needed guiding force that bridges your creative vision with business acumen. Kara Duffy emphasizes the importance of finding a partner who not only understands design and business but has also worked with businesses similar to yours in size and team structure. She advises, “If you’re evaluating a coach for yourself, you want to find someone who definitely shares values with you,” and adds that you must select a coach who understands your unique lifestyle components.

Whether you’re a business owner juggling parenthood or navigating a partnership with a romantic partner, choose someone who has experience with similar dynamics, ensuring that your business strategy aligns with your personal life and priorities. In doing so, you’ll learn to set clear boundaries, avoid undervaluing your services, and bypass rookie mistakes.

Step 6: Design a Lifestyle-Friendly Schedule

Creating a schedule that honors both your creative energy and personal well-being is essential for a thriving design business. While she isn’t a fan of the “work-life balance” obsession in our culture today, Kara Duffy emphasizes the need to stop overworking, urging, “Everyone listening, please stop working more than 40 hours a week—just immediately stop doing it,” because excessive hours lead to burnout and diminish the joy in your work. Instead, she recommends intentionally designing your week with a focus on 20 to 40 hours of dedicated, high-impact work.

This means planning your schedule carefully—using tools or spreadsheets to map out your tasks, appointments, and creative sessions—so that you reserve clear blocks of time for strategic thinking, innovation, and personal pursuits.

Delegating routine tasks and automating repetitive processes further ensures that you remain in your “zone of genius,” while safeguarding time for family, self-care, and the inspiration that fuels your creativity. Find ways to scale back your hours without losing your impact, and you won’t regret it. As Kara notes, “If you had freedom of time in 2025—if you decided to close your doors at 4 PM every day—you’d get back 365 evenings with your family. Freedom of time is the ultimate goal.”

But remember, if you occasionally work more than 20 hours a week, that’s okay!

What About Pitfalls to Avoid?

For more advice from Kara, read the full article in DesignDash Magazine here or listen to her podcast episode above.