Design Online Right
Rob Riggs left a comfortable programming and systems analysis role at a clothing manufacturer in 2004, at around 29 years old, because he wanted to see people actually using what he built. The internet was emerging as a platform, and he saw web development as the perfect opportunity to build functional, user-facing applications rather than backend systems no one interacted with directly.
He started Design Online Right as a solo operation, doing everything himself. That first year, he made $5,000 in total revenue. But Rob quickly realized the solo model wouldn't scale and made a deliberate choice to hire people better than himself to replace him in various roles. This philosophy of building systems and teams became central to his growth strategy.
Rob's traction came almost entirely through relationships and referrals. "90 percent of our work is referral based," he explained. Rather than chase every prospect, he strategically targeted marketing agencies who had strong design and strategy in-house but lacked technical resources to implement their concepts online. He attended relevant associations and had consistent meetings with potential clients, letting quality work generate word-of-mouth.
By 2015, the agency had 12 employees and hit $1.2M in revenue. Their pricing ranged from $6-8k for lower-tier brochure sites to five figures per month for retainer work with heavy development. Rob maintained a 30% net margin—about $400k in profit after paying himself a modest $36k salary. Rather than pull that cash out, he reinvested in the business and made his first home purchase. He deliberately turned away lower-budget clients who didn't fit their model, instead creating systems that allowed junior team members to handle smaller projects efficiently.
Heading into 2016, Rob projected 15-20% growth, targeting roughly $1.4-1.5M in revenue. His focus remained on small business owners and nonprofits, helping them use technology to improve revenue and operational efficiency. He published content regularly via his website to establish thought leadership, and continued betting on relationships as his primary growth engine. At 40 years old, married, and with a long-term vision, Rob had built a profitable, sustainable agency that valued quality work over rapid scaling.
- •Rob's deliberate choice to hire people better than himself created a scalable system that freed him from execution work and allowed exponential growth beyond solo capabilities.
- •By targeting a specific niche (marketing agencies lacking technical resources), he positioned Design Online Right as the natural solution to a well-defined problem, making referrals self-reinforcing.
- •The combination of word-of-mouth traction with strategic relationship-building (direct meetings with agencies and associations) meant every customer acquisition effort reinforced his positioning rather than diluting it.
- •His one-time pricing model with optional retainers aligned customer success with company profitability, ensuring projects were scoped correctly and margins stayed healthy at 30%.
- •Reinvesting profits into the business rather than extracting cash signaled long-term thinking, which attracted better team members and customers who valued sustainability over quick wins.
- 1.Identify a specific customer segment with a clear pain point (e.g., agencies with strategy but no development capacity), then attend 2-3 industry associations or conferences per year and schedule direct meetings with 10+ prospects per month.
- 2.Build a hiring process that prioritizes recruiting people with stronger skills than your own in specific functions, starting with your first critical hire to replace your biggest bottleneck.
- 3.Set pricing tiers with clear project scopes (e.g., $6-8k for brochure sites, five figures for retainer work), and document systems that allow junior team members to execute smaller projects profitably while you focus on relationships.
- 4.Publish thought leadership content regularly on your website to establish credibility in your niche, while maintaining that 90% of new business comes from referrals rather than paid channels.
- 5.Reinvest 70% of profits back into the business (payroll, systems, team development) and maintain a personal salary that is modest relative to company revenue, creating alignment between long-term sustainability and stakeholder incentives.
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