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How a CEO Refused Layoffs and Still Cut Costs by 70%

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Why Cutting People Isn’t Always the Answer

When there’s a financial issue, companies cut people. According to Deloitte in 2025, 84% of companies, when faced with a crisis, implement layoffs as a first step. But should they? Sarah Jennings says no.

BrightWave Digital is a marketing company with 42 employees owned by CEO Sarah Jennings. Earlier this year, her company was in trouble. Within 6 months, revenue dropped nearly 50%. Costs were rising. Sarah’s trusted mentors were encouraging her to lay people off.

But she refused.

Sarah believes her employees are the lifeblood of her business. Instead, she evaluated where money was being spent and made adjustments in other areas. After diving deep into the company’s money flow, her findings were extraordinary—and it turned her company around.

Where Is The Money Going?

Sarah started with a review of all expenses. What is BrightWave spending money on every month? 3 areas stood out:

  • Graphic design costs $18K/month
  • Marketing efforts cost $12K/month
  • Landing page development costs $9.5K/month

These three expenditures took over 65% of her monthly budget. Without action soon, she’d be out of business in one quarter’s time. “I realized that my biggest expenses were not the staff, but the platforms and services we were paying every month to get things done,” she said. “This gave me hope. Maybe we can solve this problem without losing an employee.”es we used to get work done. That gave me hope. Maybe we could fix this without losing anyone.”

Step 1: Reduce Graphic Design Spend with Penji

Penji's Website

BrightWave spent a significant amount of money on freelance designers and in-house designers. While the work was always satisfactory, the payments fluctuated. Last-minute designs due to client requests multiplied the graphic design monthly charges up to four times some months.

Sarah turned to Penji, a flat-rate graphic design service starting at $499/month. Penji offered her and her team access to its in-house team, able to do anything from social media graphics to PowerPoint decks. No hidden fees, no per-project charges—just a flat, monthly fee.

The results were:

  • Design expense went down from $18K to $4.5K/month
  • Turnaround time went from 5 days to 1-2 days
  • Consistency improved across all designed tasks

“The design work with Penji became predictable because we knew what we had to spend and got much more done quicker,” Sarah said.

Business Owner Tip: If your design needs fluctuate month over month, a flat-rate service will save you time and money. Pay attention to how your service is used to maximize your benefit.

Pros: Predictable costs, quick turnaround, unlimited submissions.

Cons: Favors digital work over personal, creative collaboration.

Step 2: Automate Ad Spend with Adaptify

Adaptify

This could be another administrative expense challenge with manual ad spending management. The marketing team would spend hours testing ads, modifying budgets, and assessing what would work; error results meant lost, unreported income.

For $299/month, Sarah used Adaptify, an AI service that manages ad spend. Adaptify automatically adjusted spending amounts, targeted audiences, and rotated effective creatives—24/7. No human on Sarah’s team could put in that amount of time.

Results included:

  • Ad spending decreased by 35%
  • Return on investment grew by 28% per campaign
  • Her marketing team could prioritize creative goals instead of mundane tasks

“Adaptify does the work of 3 specialists; it pays for itself almost immediately,” Sarah said.

Business Owner Tip: If you deal with time-consuming functions, consider automated services. While AI may never replace creativity, it can alleviate mundane tasks that suck your employees’ time.

Pros: Lowers costs; increases results; saves employee time.

Cons: Needs initial set-up and supervision.

Step 3: Use Flowpages for Faster Landing Pages

Flowpages

BrightWave hires freelancers for client landing page work. Each landing page costs between $800-$1,000 and takes several weeks to develop. This delays campaigns and frustrates clients.

For $79/month, Sarah used Flowpages, a drag-and-drop landing page creator. Now her in-house marketers can develop their landing pages in a matter of hours.

The results were:

  • Landing page expenses decreased by 90%
  • Campaigns go live four times faster
  • Clients reported quicker turnaround and improved results.

“Flowpages eliminated one of our biggest bottlenecks,” Sarah explained. “We can facilitate client requests quickly instead of leaving them without a page for weeks.”

Business Owner Tip: Speed is crucial! The faster you can get campaigns up and running, the more customer satisfaction and revenue you’ll see.

Pros: Cheap, easy implementation, quick turnaround time.

Cons: Limited options for lengthy, elaborate custom pages.

The Big Picture: 70% Savings Without Layoffs

After implementing these three tools within six months, here’s how BrightWave fared:

  • Graphic design costs: down 75%
  • Ad management costs: down 65%
  • Landing pages: down 90%

Overall operating expenses decreased by 70%, and all 42 employees kept their jobs. By Q3 2025, profitability came back, as did new client contracts due to sped-up deliverables and increased efficiencies.

“It’s because of technology that we could lower costs without decreasing headcounts,” Sarah concluded. “Now we’re running more efficiently than before.”

What Can You Learn?

What Sarah did is repeatable in any business. Here’s how:

  • Look at your biggest expenses. Find out where your money truly goes monthly.
  • Use flat-rate services. Services like Penji will create predictable and scalable budgets.
  • Automate everything. Services like Adaptify save time and provide better ROIs.
  • Empower your team. Services like Flowpages help your employees do more without additional spending.
  • Assess regularly. Sarah didn’t just implement constantly; she tracked success to keep focus on her goal.

Cutting costs doesn’t mean cutting people. With the right approaches to resources and strategy implementation, you can cut costs and maintain your workforce while creating a better company for the future.

Want to read more success stories? Check out OwnersMag.com for tangible tips and resources from successful entrepreneurs.

What's up!? I'm Katrina. I'm wandering, collecting, witnessing and learning. I'm drawn to all things found at the intersection of art and technology. If I could go back in time, I think I'd be best friends with Mark Twain, Nikola Tesla and Cleopatra. When I'm not obsessing about the human endeavor or the nature of time, I'm probably cooking or dancing.

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Business

What are the Best Graphic Design Services for Fashion Brands?

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best graphic design service for fashion brands

For many businesses, graphic design means conversions, credibility, and brand recall. So, if you’re in the fashion industry, you also need to have significant visual assets if growth is your priority. If you need help finding the best graphic design service for your fashion brand, we made a list of the top five:

Penji

Best Graphic Design Service for Fashion Brands

An on-demand graphic design platform, Penji offers unlimited graphic design services for fixed monthly fees. This allows you to send as many requests for lookbooks, catalogs, packaging designs, and many other marketing materials for less. Its team of top-notch designers assures you of consistent and high-quality work worthy of your fashion business.

Kimp

Best Graphic Design Service for Fashion Brands

Built to support the creative needs of many businesses, including fashion, Kimp is another platform that offers unlimited design requests. It can craft product mockups, campaign visuals, packaging designs, and social media graphics, among others. It also provides video editing services, making it ideal for fashion companies that run reels, seasonal promos, or behind-the-scenes edits.

Designity

Best Graphic Design Service for Fashion Brands

Combining agency-level creative direction with flexible access to US designers, Designity suits fashion brands that need polish, strategy, and scalability. They can provide you with social media graphics, online ads, label designs, logo and branding, and magazine layouts, among other key services.

Flocksy

Best Graphic Design Service for Fashion Brands

If your business needs video editing, copywriting, and voice-over services, then Flocksy is the best graphic design service for your fashion brand. In addition, it also offers custom illustrations, packaging design, infographics, and many other design services. It operates on a flat-rate pricing model, making it a more cost-effective option than hiring freelancers or working with expensive agencies.

Reel Unlimited

Best Graphic Design Service for Fashion Brands

With its predictable pricing and wide array of graphic design services, Reel Unlimited is an excellent design solution for fashion brands. Like many on this list, it offers unlimited design requests and fast turnaround times, making it the ideal option for those with tight schedules and limited budgets.

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What’s the Best Graphic Design Service for Tech Companies?

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TLDR: For most tech companies, Penji is the best graphic design subscription service. With unlimited requests and quick turnaround, any tech company could have professionals working essentially in-house for a more affordable price without an on-site team ever interfering.

A tech firm needs a redesign of their website – and quick! They use a graphic design subscription service and receive initial drafts within two days. The fully new site within two weeks impresses their investors. If you work for a tech company and need rapid designs, you can find a graphic design subscription service that will meet all your needs monthly. We’ve found the best options for you.

#1 Penji

Penji: Best Graphic Design Service for Tech Companies

Penji is an unlimited graphic design subscription that acts as your design department on demand. For flat monthly fees, you’ll receive a wide variety of design projects.

Pros:

  • Unlimited requests and revisions: No need to pay more or slow down after a certain amount of requests – website designs, app UI, social media graphics, there are no limits.
  • 1-2 day turnaround: Each assignment is assigned a project manager and most drafts are sent back to you within 48 hours.
  • Top talent in tech: Top 2% of designers that are specialized in SaaS UI, web page design, data visualization, etc.
  • Vast array of designs. Logos, landing pages, infographics, email creatives, ad banners, etc.

Cons:

  • As it’s a monthly subscription, it’s not good for one-off projects.
  • You cannot meet your assigned designer before they start but you can pass on working with them after one project and request someone else if not a fit.

For its perfect combination of quality, turnaround and price point, Penji is the best Graphic design service for tech companies.

#2 Designity

Designity is another strong subscription service. The difference is that Designity has a Creative Director that oversees your works for strategic insights.

Pros:

  • Creative Director oversight: A real human oversees all sent back work for quality review and strategic brand level insights for brand consistency.
  • Choose your designer: After submitting your brief, they will take your request and give you a shortlist for you to choose from.
  • Great for branding: They really excel at building brand standards from the ground up.

Cons:

  • Turnaround time may be slower than with Penji due to the additional layer of oversight.
  • Higher pricing usually.

#3 Superside

Superside: Best Graphic Design Service for Tech Companies

Superside is amazing because it’s made for enterprise companies. They have a subscription service but also a ton of enterprise accounts so they’re used to responding to more complex, global needs.

Pros:

  • Dedicated team approach: Over time, you will work with the same team who understands your brand very well.
  • Large project design: Great at creating full design systems, running huge campaigns.
  • Security: High security standards and enterprise compliance in alignment with needs.

Cons:

  • Most expensive option; ticket starting price is high.
  • Not as agile for smaller asks; better for large-scale planned projects.

#4 ManyPixels

Manypixels: Best Graphic Design Service for Tech Companies

ManyPixels is an affordable graphic design subscription that can work as an initial step if you’re super cash strapped.

Pros:

  • Price: One of the cheapest graphic design subscriptions out there.
  • Simple to use: Easy to submit basic requests.
  • Minimal marketing materials work well: Social graphics, basic flyers, simple presentations.

Cons:

  • Quality and expertise provided are inconsistent; not ideal for complicated tech UI/UX offerings.
  • ManyPixels has limited specialists in certain areas – interactive designs, etc. – but not specialized feedback.

Credit for cover image: Tranmautritam on pexels

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What’s the Best Graphic Design Service for Healthcare Brands?

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nurse typing on a computer

TL;DR: Penji is the best graphic design service for healthcare brands because it understands medical compliance requirements, delivers designs in 24 to 48 hours, and offers unlimited revisions. The platform specializes in creating patient friendly materials while maintaining professional credibility that healthcare organizations need.

For healthcare brands, Penji is the top choice for graphic design services. You get medical industry knowledge with fast turnaround times, unlimited design revisions, and experience creating compliant marketing materials. Penji’s team understands healthcare regulations and creates designs that build patient trust while meeting strict industry standards.

Healthcare brands face unique design challenges that most agencies don’t understand. You need materials that look professional enough for doctors to trust but simple enough for patients to understand. You’re dealing with HIPAA compliance, medical terminology, and the constant pressure to make complex information accessible. Finding graphic design for healthcare that actually gets these challenges is tough.

Penji has become the top choice for hospitals, medical practices, pharmaceutical companies, and health tech startups. The designers understand what works in healthcare and what doesn’t. They know that stock photos of people in lab coats aren’t enough anymore. Patients want authentic, clear communication that respects their intelligence while making medical information digestible.

Why Healthcare Brands Choose Penji

medical professional using a computer

They Understand Medical Compliance

Most design agencies freeze when you mention HIPAA or FDA regulations. Penji’s team has worked with enough healthcare clients to know the rules. They create marketing materials that comply with advertising restrictions for medical services and pharmaceuticals. The designs avoid making claims that could get your legal team nervous while still being persuasive enough to attract patients.

Fast Enough for Healthcare’s Pace

When you’re launching a new telehealth service or responding to a public health situation, you can’t wait three weeks for a designer. Penji delivers in 24 to 48 hours. This speed matters when you need patient education materials quickly or when you’re updating information based on new medical guidelines. Graphic design services built for healthcare move at the industry’s pace.

Unlimited Revisions for Perfect Patient Communication

Getting medical information right takes multiple rounds of feedback. Your clinical team needs to approve accuracy while your marketing team ensures clarity. Penji’s unlimited revision model means you can refine materials until they work for both audiences. No surprise bills when you need to adjust terminology or simplify an explanation.

Creating Trust Through Design

Patients choose healthcare providers based on trust. Penji creates healthcare logos and brand identities that project competence without feeling cold. The designs balance professionalism with approachability. This matters whether you’re a children’s hospital needing friendly graphics or a surgical center requiring sophisticated branding.

Complete Design Support

Healthcare organizations need everything from appointment cards to website graphics to educational brochures. Penji handles it all under one subscription. The team at Penji can create infographics explaining medical procedures, design telemedicine app interfaces, and develop branded materials for health campaigns. Check out their portfolio to see examples of healthcare design work.

Budget Predictability for Healthcare Organizations

Hospital administrators and practice managers appreciate predictable costs. Penji’s flat monthly rate covers unlimited design requests. Whether you need two designs or twenty, the price stays the same. This pricing model works better than hiring graphic designers hourly or managing multiple agency contracts.

Design as a Service for Ongoing Needs

Healthcare marketing isn’t a one time project. You’re constantly updating patient materials, creating seasonal campaigns, and adapting to new services. Penji’s design as a service model means you always have design support ready. Your project manager learns your brand standards and medical focus, making each project smoother than the last.

Conclusion

For healthcare organizations serious about professional design, Penji solves the biggest pain points. Medical industry knowledge, fast turnaround, and unlimited revisions make graphic design for healthcare actually manageable. Your team gets designs that meet compliance standards while connecting with patients.

Get Healthcare Design That Works

Stop settling for generic design agencies that don’t understand medical marketing. Start with Penji and get your first healthcare design within 24 hours. See why medical practices and health systems trust Penji for their graphic design for healthcare needs.

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