Teaching himself to design and building a $25k/mo productized design
service
While Calin Balea was building a side hustle in college, he taught himself how to design. Now, over a decade later, he has a one-person productized design agency called Studio Contrast that's bringing in $25k/mo.
Here's Calin on how he did it. 👇
Self-taught out of necessity
I am a self-taught designer. While studying finance in college, I learned design out of necessity while working on a small side business with a friend. We needed marketing materials like a logo, website, flyers, and so on. I already had some knowledge of Photoshop when I started, but I quickly realized that wasn’t enough. So, I began learning Illustrator and InDesign.
Three years after graduation, my first real job was at a local advertising agency. By that time, I had built a small portfolio of work from my side project and various projects for friends, which helped me get my foot in the door.
But I wanted to create something bigger than myself. And I wanted to help more founders avoid common mistakes that often stifle the growth of their startups. Because the truth is, many founders lack the design skills necessary to build a strong brand identity and product experience. They need a reliable design partner — similar to the role Johnny Ive played for Steve Jobs.
So, after many years on the individual contributor path, I decided it was time to take my career to the next level. I launched Studio Contrast, an interface and brand design studio for new ventures. And now, I have a rewarding career in design, and I enjoy my work every day. And it's bringing in an average of $25k/mo.
Starting a productized service
Before launching Contrast, I spent time talking to early-stage founders. Not pitching; just listening.
I wanted to understand what they were struggling with in terms of design. The patterns were clear: they wanted good design in a fast, predictable, and affordable package.
So the “product” I created for them wasn’t a typical SaaS. It was a studio model designed like a product — clear positioning, repeatable process, clear outcomes. I built a system around speed, clarity, and quality. And I offered it with a subscription model that gives clients a clear idea of what costs to expect and what they'll get in return — weekly strategy calls, daily support on Slack, and 48-hour turnarounds.
All I had to do was set up:
A simple website in Webflow.
Cal.com for embedded scheduling
Hellobonsai.com for contracts and invoices
Stripe for payment processing
On top of the subscription, I sometimes take on one-time projects. I'm also exploring offering other lower-priced services, such as one-time consultations or a "design leadership" subscription, where I consult on product and brand design without being involved in execution.
How have you attracted users and grown your business?
The challenge with such businesses is getting in front of the right people at the right time.
I've tried a lot of different things to attract clients: ads, directories, LinkedIn, X, Reddit, Slack communities, cold outreach, and more.
Here's what worked best for me:
Engaging in Slack communities where PMs and founders hang out. That helps more people discover me, build trust, and stay top of mind. When they need help, they know who to reach out to.
Proactively connecting with potential clients on LinkedIn and X — and trying to start a conversation that delivers value
Creating insightful but snackable posts on social media. No one wants to read an essay on X. A good post has instant impact and then delivers a few nuggets of wisdom that people can save and come back to later.
If I started over again, I'd focus on building a strong funnel and offering an entry-level service/product for customers who want to test my abilities.
Learn how to sell
Learning how to sell on a call is a key skill many founders underestimate. There's a lot of misinformation out there about how to sell — from high-pressure tactics to infinite follow-up loops that make people hate you.
Here are some things that actually help:
Always prepare a deck for a call. Don't show up empty-handed and hope for the best. Send the deck after the call with the next steps.
Don't stick to the deck at all costs. React to what the customer is saying and forget the deck if you realize they're interested in something else.
Always come to the call prepared. Do a bit of research. With AI, that's easier than ever. Ask AI to help you prep for the call and tell you everything you need to know about the company and the person you're meeting with. Ten minutes of preparation can make a world of difference.
Always try to schedule the next call at the end of your first call. This is a great filter. People who are interested and serious about moving forward will schedule right away. If they're squirrely about scheduling the next call, it's likely not a good fit — in rare cases, they might not know their schedule, but more often than not, they're not that interested.
Keep your network warm. Even if someone doesn't convert the first time, staying top of mind can help convert them later. Engage with their posts on social media and also post updates on your work.
Sell before you build
Always sell before you build. I see a lot of founders making that mistake — they jump straight into building, hoping customers will come later when they start marketing.
The only way to sell is to understand the problem deeply. This will also help you understand if a problem CAN be solved and IS WORTH solving. Even if you experienced the problem yourself, you need input from others to have a 360-degree understanding of it.
If a problem is painful enough, and your solution idea resonates with your customer, they'll gladly sign up for a waitlist, or, even better, pay for early access.
What's next?
I'm looking to double my revenue in the next 12 months and build a lead generation engine that gives me better predictability.
You can follow along on X and LinkedIn. Or check out my website.
Leave a Comment
i am new to indie but your content has been an inspiration for me
I am interested in clothing business is anyone interested to formal short talk with me
I am new to indie , interested in bussiness talk
Calin Balea’s journey shows the power of self-learning and structured processes. Building a productized design service with predictable outcomes and validated offers is inspiring for anyone aiming to scale efficiently and sustainably.
Self teaching is time consuming and slow tracked. but dedication clearly paid off
This really resonates 🙌. What stood out to me is how you treated your studio like a product, not just a service. Clear positioning + predictable process = trust, and that’s exactly what early-stage founders crave when they’re overwhelmed by uncertainty.
I’ve noticed the same pattern while talking with founders — they don’t just want design/dev work, they want clarity and speed packaged in a way they can understand and budget for. Subscriptions and productized offers nail that.
Also loved the point about selling before you build. That lesson alone could save countless makers months of wasted effort.
Curious — when you started, did you ever worry that packaging your creativity into a subscription would “box in” your flexibility, or did you find it actually gave you more freedom?
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
yes I do have to start selling before building, but I don't think presenting the idea before building a foundation itself, is a bad idea. So after making something that the user's can place their trust on, I would start selling.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
I know Calin personally. I worked with him in the same team 10 years ago. He is a great person and his work ethic is an example for everyone.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
Great read!
Calin's business is very similar to what I'm building (same model but software dev focused), plus we're both Romanian.
A lot of helpful and relatable advice in here that got me thinking and inspired.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
How did you figure out the pricing and scope-limits of your subscription? I have been struggling to decide/define this for myself for months. I work primarily with nonprofits so I want to keep the pricing accessible for them, but need to make sure it'll cover the operational and delivery costs. I'd really love any insights you have.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
Really inspiring journey — thanks for sharing this in detail. I like how you framed your studio as a ‘productized service’ with clear outcomes and a repeatable process. That resonates a lot with what many founders miss when building their online presence.
I’ve been exploring similar efficiency ideas on the technical side of websites. One example is rpecalculatoronline.c, which runs entirely as a focused web tool under one clean setup instead of being spread across multiple properties. Different niche (fitness), but the principle is the same: keep things simple, fast, and valuable to the end user.
Your point on selling before building is gold — saves so much time and energy.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
That is a great story,
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
That's impressive.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
Thanks for sharing
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
Great read, and some really useful tips in there! For someone focusing mainly on branding, do you think the subscription model could work?
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
Calin Balea’s journey from self-taught designer to running a $25K/month productized design service is truly inspiring. His focus on clear positioning, repeatable processes, and predictable outcomes has set a new standard for solo founders. The “sell before you build” approach is a game-changer. Looking forward to seeing how he scales further.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
Thanks for showing how productized design with clear pricing avoids endless scope creep — really practical insight.
Hi, you can try the Chrome extension at smeta(.)blog. It helps me analyze ads and improve them much better.
Great work!
Thanks for sharing!
Impressive stuff, Calin. Teaching yourself design is one thing, but turning that into a productized service pulling $25k/mo is something on another level. Most agencies I’ve seen stay stuck in custom projects and can’t make the process predictable.
How do you handle quality as you scale? Is it mostly templates, systems, or more people?
Sell before you build——I thought I should take the time to learn it, I made a mistake, I created a few products but I couldn't find customers to sell them
Self-taught → productized design is such a clean path. The big wins I saw: tight positioning (one clear promise), fixed scopes/turnaround, and a simple operating system (templates, SOPs, and async updates) so quality doesn’t depend on heroics. That’s how you get to $25k/mo without chaos.
Two things I’m curious about:
Which lever moved ACV the most; packaging (tiers), faster turnaround, or adding strategy upfront?
What early signal best predicts a long-term client; first “quick win” shipped, adopting your review process, or a second project within 30 days?
If you keep compounding this, a tiny “how we work” page (timeline, handoffs, 2–3 case studies with before/after) and a 60-sec Loom walkthrough of your feedback flow can lift close rates fast.
P.S. I’m with Buzz; we build conversion-focused Webflow sites and pragmatic SEO for service businesses and product launches. Happy to share a 1-page “productized service” landing-page checklist if useful.
Really inspiring read — especially the part about sell before you build. I’ve been guilty of the opposite myself 😅
I’m currently building Fit Rest (iOS), a sleep & fitness app for Apple Watch that connects heart, sleep, and workouts into one dashboard. Like you mentioned, I started by solving my own problem, but I realize now that marketing + community is just as important as building features.
Curious if anyone here has tried organic growth tactics for health/fitness apps — outside of paid ads? Would love to learn from others’ experience while I figure this out.
Great article. I am also a self taught designer, building my productized service at logosprints.framer.website
that's inspiring. I have also created a tool and I hope and pray that people will like it. You just need one good project in your life to start with. My tool is checktheworth dot com . I will really appreciate if people just goes there and give me feedbacks. Thank you
Thanks for sharing, learned a lot – especially the "sell before you build" point.
it was quite an article you know i just sign up for this website and i read this article and i am really impresed
Really inspiring journey. What stands out most is how you turned design into a productized service with clarity and predictability, something so many founders actually crave but rarely get from agencies. The “sell before you build” advice is gold and applies far beyond design. Thanks for breaking down not just the what, but also the how.
Nice
yes, i have realized that marketing is really important recently .if you want to lanch your own career ,and refuse to work for any company ,you have to do marketing someday ,and you cannot escape the way even if you are not good at social and communicating with others ..this is the way you have to go .when i know it ,i feel the sky falling to the earth .but we have no choice but to be faced with .try it as your best .
Really smart how you productized design into a predictable system. Would be cool to see a peek at how you structure your repeatable workflows for speed and quality.
Woah...! And yes I do have to start selling before building, but I don't think presenting the idea before building a foundation itself, is a bad idea. So after making something that the user's can place their trust on, I would start selling.
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