Services vs Products Based Businesses - Aligning Your Design Career with Your Strengths 💪🏼

Tasmin Otter-Lunn

Jul 29, 20242 min read

On my design career journey, I've learned firsthand the importance of aligning your career with your strengths. Initially, I started a products-based business, designing and printing prints, cards, and stationery from home. While successful, I realised this path didn't fully align with my strengths.

Tasmin Otter-Lunn stood at her market stall selling prints and cards — Tasmin Otter-Lunn with her business TOLDesign at a market

The demands of constant stock management, lack of structured briefs, and complexities like postage and online sales limited my ability to showcase my skills. So I took a leap into the unknown!

Transitioning to a services-based business was transformative. Here, I applied my skills effectively—empowering entrepreneurs, creating standout brands, and managing projects with timelines and deadlines, which brought profound purpose and reduced burnout.

While I chose to transition from a products-based business to a services-based one, this decision was based purely on my personal strengths. Success, fulfilment, and pride can be achieved in both product and service-oriented businesses. The most important thing is that your business aligns with YOU.

Tasmin Otter-Lunn sat at her desk smiling at camera

🔑 Key Takeaways to improve your design career:

1. Know Your Strengths:

Recognise what you excel at—whether it’s physical or digital organisation, problem-solving, collaboration, curiosity, or creativity. Identifying these strengths can illuminate your aligned career path.

2. Creativity through Connection:

While product creation relied on solitary creativity which I found limiting and inconsistent, service-oriented work thrives on deep connections, understanding and collaborative creation.

3. Embrace Challenges:

Every career path presents challenges. Embrace these as opportunities for growth and learning.

4. Listen to Yourself and Seek Alignment:

If you feel misaligned in your current career, take some time to look inwards, look at your daily pain points and figure out how to make a change. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses and aligning them with your work can guide you towards a more fulfilling path.

Otter Lunn Creative's studio space with wall full of prints and simple desk set up

⬅️ My new and improved working space - simple and calm!

To those on a journey to find career alignment: discovering and embracing your strengths can lead to a purposeful and fulfilling career. Empower yourself by recognising your unique abilities and leveraging them effectively.

I’d love to know why you feel your career suits you in the comments! ⬇️ 🎯