It’s official, Designzillas has turned 5! We’re excited to be celebrating this tremendous milestone and are so proud of how far we’ve come in these exciting 5 years. We wanted to take a moment to reflect on the years and some key values and lessons we learned along the way.

Year 1 - Startup

In March of 2007, Johnny Hughes set out to achieve greatness by establishing a digital agency like no other. With his degree from UCF in hand, and a background in business, marketing, and graphic design, Johnny was ready to make an impact; not only the local web design market but the industry as a whole. To make a splash, Johnny decided he needed to create a brand.

Establishing the Designzillas brand. There was a lot of brainstorming, spitballing, and domain checking when it came to finding the perfect name. Johnny knew he wanted an iconic character to help convey his company as artistic, fun, and corky; but with fierce personality. The “zilla” or who we now proudly refer to as “Mr. Zilla” was the ultimate balance and was instantly the face of Designzillas.

During the first year in business it was hard to say “No” at times, but it was important to only take on projects that were the right fit for the company which was important to avoid having the quality of our work drowned in volume. Fighting through the freelance world was a tough battle as well, and was a true test of how to maintain a quality service, sustain a profit, and know how to maintain a steady and healthy workload.

Lesson Learned in Year One: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Year 2 - Sustaining

In our second year, the goal was sustaining the Designzillas reputation in quality design and customer service (with very limited resources). The local web design field was changing with a lot of big and little players fighting for market position, and Designzillas was quickly climbing to the top. 2008/2009 was also the year we began some of our larger projects that involved additional knowledge and learning to leverage new tools, services, and skills. Landing the flagship project UCFArena.com turned to be a pivotal turning point for our company, as we expanded to a new corporate headquarters in Winter Park.

Lesson Learned in Year Two: Treat every conversation as a networking opportunity.

Year 3 - Expanding

The third year in business is typically a make or break year. However, Designzillas had already proven we were here to stay, and it was time to bring on some quality team members to help add more fuel to the fire. Designzillas moved again from Lee road to Aloma (still in Winter Park) to a more creative environment, where our team began to come together as a family. Design skills were sharpened, and superior programming capabilities began to shine as the group wrapped up their 75th project, and the relaunched the new Designzillas website in Drupal!

Lesson Learned in Year Three: Only settle for the best, no exceptions

Year 4 - Flexing our Strength

Designzillas turned from the mysterious dark horse to the power house in our 4th year in business. Reaching the #1 spot in Google under “Orlando web design, Web design Orlando, and Website Design Orlando” allowed the group to reap the benefits of their hard work. The team grew as well as their reputation for offering a superior web design and development service. Rolling out amazing new projects, establishing a loyal customer base, and loving all that we do! The team moved to Downtown Orlando where they’ve staked their flag in the ground and are here to stay.

Lesson learned in Year Four: It’s just as much work to stay on the top than it is to get to the top.

Year 5 - Domination

Our goal of the 5th year is to completely dominate everything web. With our superior designs, website projects, customer service, and reputation we are seeking to continue sinking our teeth into the Orlando web design world. We are evolving new skills through mobile web design, app development, ipad / tablet designs, and advanced User Experience projects. This ferocious group has made their mark in the web design industry and have determined that they belong in the heart of Central Florida to continue dominating the web design food chain.

Lesson always learned: Work hard, play hard.