8 Practical Tips to Start a Design Company [682]

A lot of designersers I know these days are also part-time freelancers. They work in an agency, a design house, a media company, in a marketing department, etc. Then they pack up at 5pm and head home to do the same type of work – design. This happens, often times when a friend or a neighbour they?met at a party needed some work done; and everyone has a friend or three neighbours that need work done.

For most, this type of schedule happens for a while. But for the true entrepreneurs, or those looking to escape the ‘man’, the idea of taking things to the next level will spring into mind. If you find yourself?at this crossroads, what do you do? Well, it’s time to start thinking long term.

Once a steady flow of gigs start coming in, it can be frustrating to juggle the most important commodity we all share – time. The need to always?rush home once the clock taps in at 4:55pm, the realityity of?doing some?side work?during actual work hours, the multitude of excuses you give co-workers for dodging?lunch or after drink sessions, will in fact become a nuisance. This by any means is no way to live. So, what should you do?

This may sound counterproductive, but if you ever want to run your own company in the near or distant future,?you’d better learn how to start delegating some of that work. Hire a junior designerer to help you cope with your workload. This person may or may not have the skills to fully churn out the kickass design similar to what you can produce, but be patient.

Start looking on freelance job boards like Odesk.com, Freelancer.com, or Envato. Try Craigslist if you prefer?someone local. It will take a few rounds of hiring and firing, but get used to it. If it was easy, companies wouldn’t have Human Resource departments or teams dedicated to finding the right talents.

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Everyone I know who is somewhere in life got to to where they are?by sharing. When it comes to your professional life, sharing?will work in your favor. Share your wealth of techniques, processes, and skills to the person who will help you get to where you want to be faster.

In the beginning, you may need to work a little harder for training sessions, but once you start developinging a work pattern with your junior designerer the less you’ll have to worry. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to pass off the responsibility and this will definitely free up your time for lunch breaks and after work drinks.

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Socializing plays a big part of growth – both in your personal and professional life. Make time for?those after work drinking sessions with co-workers and friends. I always believe that there are always more opportunity when you’re out mingling with people, rather than sitting at home photoshopping images for your clients. Remember, you already have a junior designerer working for you – it’s your job to keep giving him more jobs.

In addition to that, mingling takes the stress off and keeps you sane. Working a 9-5 plus having side jobs to fulfill will no doubt turn you into a bigger a-hole, so do yourself a favor and sink a couple of pints.

With a regular?flow of freelance jobs and a junior designerer working for you, your bank balance should be looking quite?healthy. Remember, you still have a steady paycheck from that 9-5 job. Everything looks great, but you still have crap to take from your crappy boss. Well, suck it up. Things could be a lot worse.

Most people will be itching to jump off the corporate wagon into the freelance pool. There?s nothing wrong with that, but do it when the time is right, don?t fall into the trap of being greedy or try to get ahead when things are picking up.

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There is always someone out there who is better than you, cheaper than you, who can deliver three times as fast. What do you do? Focus internally. Keep an eye on the quality of your work and why clients hired you in the first place. If you happen to meet someone who regurgitates one of the lines above, politely ignore them. Your work will speak for you.

Like a restaurant, people will stop coming if your food or service sucks. If you?ve covered those, you have nothing to worry about.

Meanwhile, read up on leadership, experiment with new processes, train and encourage your employee and you?ll eventually see the greener other side.

I still remember asking my designerer if he could come up with a complete rebranding for a client. He did a good job with the logo, but failed miserably with the websitesite. A lot of young start-ups are passionate and need to prove their worth. Expanding quickly into other areas will help later, but for now, focus on only one or two complementary services. If your niche is in designinging logos, offer business cards, but nothing more.

This will also help you lock down your design process ? a key part when you expand your business later on.

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When you start running your own show, you may be able to fire your current boss, but it gets a little tricky when your boss is your own client. There?s no two ways of going about it, as designersers we?re obligated to fulfil a service for someone. And the realityity is, sometimes they will be total f-tards. This will happen a lot.

Whomever it may be and for whatever reasons you don?t see eye-to-eye, always take the high road. Losing a battle between which font face to use is better than losing a client. This of course, is up to your discretion. Some clients deserve to get fired.

If you?ve ever dreamt about quitting your job to inherit the ?perks? of freelancing e.g. working from home, setting your own hours, waking up as you wish, etc, you need to snap out this mindset. Designersers turn entrepreneurs never stop working or thinking as our brains are constantly fixated on making things better.

If you?ve made it past the 6 or 12-month mark, you would have gotten a taste of running your own company. How do you like it so far? If things are better than expected, it may be time to quit your job. The idea may sound liberating, but before you tender your resignation, make sure you have a game plan.

In a nutshell, with all the free time you have once you quit, how are you going to spend it? Remember, you?re rejecting the cushy 9-5 so you?ll be dipping into the savings account to cover things for the next few months. Once you leave your job, you?ve officially on your own. And that is how you own your own design company.