The idea of working for yourself and administrating your own time is, at least, interesting. Thinking about some advantages of being your own boss, many professional designers are trying to get their slice of the market. Let’s discuss when is the best time to start a business, if it’s really worth, how to get started and other relevant issues.
This is such an important decision to take, there are many aspects to consider. Why do people start their own business? Some are trying to get their best, some can’t find a good job, some are just tired of working in agencies. Whatever is the reason, you must be sure that you can handle it. It’s great to think that you won’t have a boss anymore, that you can control your time and work and that all the incomings are only for you. On the other hand, it’s not that good to know that you have to take care of everything, that there will be no more free weekends (you’ll always take work home, even if it’s not really working, you’ll have too much to think about, now it’s all about you and YOUR business) and you have to pay all the expenses. The more power you have, the more responsibilities you have too.
How far is it good?
Be sure you are prepared to this big project in your life. Many recent ex-students get away from college and start their own business. But even being great designers, it’s not enough for business. You must have some experience working on agencies to learn about the work flow and the issues of a company. It’s not good to skip steps. But if you’re sure that it’s possible to go ahead for your own, go fight for it!
One of the important things to do, before starting the process, is a viability study. You must know if your service is really needed in your area, this will ensure that you will have work. Learn more about the expectations and needs of your target audience. Check competitors to see what they offer and what you can innovate. If you are not going to make something new, some point must stand you out from your rivals. Think about what could you do to make the difference, getting rid of being common ground.
Make your business stand out
Start making a business plan, a document with the proposal of your business. There will be everything since the explanation of services/products to the marketing strategies. It’s a good way to organize your needs and check if everything is running according to the plan. Here is a good article about How to write a business plan.
After making the business plan, you must know how much you are going to invest at the moment. This time you may need help from an accountant, a bank or even the government if you don’t have the cash to start. There are many options for getting this help to launch your project. Ask professionals to indicate you the best for your business.
The rest is up to you. Work hard to make it go well, use marketing strategies and do not give up. The start is always the hardest part, but once you went through this, the return will come naturally. Keep the ethics and give your best.
We would like to hear your own experiences and how you took this decision. Share your story with us.
I would like to add that you should ALWAYS get some cash up front and have a Service Level Agreement. A service level agreement will assure the client that you will fulfill your end of the deal and also outline the steps you BOTH agree on and what constitutes a completed project. It also outlines what additional services will cost.
There is a term called “Scope Creep” and you WILL have to face it. Scope Creep (or Project Creep) is a problem in project management where the initial objectives of the project are jeopardized by a gradual increase in overall objectives as the project progresses.
The request by the clients for new objectives can overwhelm the capacity of the resources allocated to the project resulting in the project missing deadlines, budgets or failing completely.
For example: After the job has been completed, they will ask you to change a hyperlink color or some simple task. It is generally not a difficult item but if you jump in and do it for free, you will set the precedent for correcting little items for no charge and then you are stuck. Refer them to your Service Level Agreement (SLA) and tell them…”Great that will only take me 10 minutes. It will cost $X.XX and I’ll send you a bill.”
Another example is that the client will want to add a blog to the project during the building process. That was not mentioned in the development stage. If you have multiple projects going on, it could impact your time working on another paid job. What do you do? Refer back to the SLA and show them the clause that states “Additional request above the agreed upon tasks will impact final cost and time length of the project.” …or however you wish to word it.
Search for SLA’s on the Internet or hire a lawyer to help build one. Ask others in your field what they do. Seek information from forums and ALWAYS protect your interest. Time is money. Your time is a valuable resource and should not be given away or it lessens the value of everyone in your field.
@Rob Great Additions! thanks! I think all of us suffered the consequences of not protect ourselves and I must take all the measures to achieve that goal.
the most important thing for entrepreneur.. emotional intelligence.. master it or your biz go busted sooner
@ahmad I am toally agree with you, emotional intelligence is a key factor because is the tool for growing a business it helps not to give up on failures and not have and emotional response to bad situations like an angry client of badfeedback (or a hate full comment on your blog) you name it.
i have my own business with my blog . and i love what i’m doing right now
Starting your own business can be a bit of a midfield at first, but it is all about making mistakes and learning from them. The only downside is never being able to escape work!
@MJ Well being able to escape from work is another lesson you have to learn :). It is hard to learn because you is your own business and it become more complicated when you have a home office, so it get harder to separate, but it is on of many challenges to face.
I absolutely like your post! For me, right attitude (like hardworking, self-confidence, fighter, etc) and luck is the best combination in order to become successful.
Personally, I can build my career outside but I chose a career with no strings attached, as a freelancer. Well, I’m happy being my own boss but there are times that I’m evaluating myself based on financial aspect. And because of that, it seems that I’m not doing the right thing cause there are times that I’m earning too less or too much for a month. Actually, the stability of monthly earnings really bothers me. Sometimes, I even asked myself, why am I doing all of these if I earn more working in field/office? With that confusion on my part, I’ve learned so many things and I’m expecting to learn more.. Let me cite some…
1. hardwork (as far as I know, lottery is the only way to get rich quickly)
2. don’t give up (some people tend to give up easily after experiencing just a minor problem)
3. try to learn something new (new stuffs can usually help your business)
4. as a freelancer, you must spend your earnings wisely (no one knows what will happen tomorrow, the next day or in the near future)
5. enjoy your work not just because you’ll receive a great compensation (for some, this is one of the major reason why of their failure)
I hope all of these insights can help everybody…
Echt gut, weitermachen,
Despite the current economic conditions there is definitely an increase in people starting their won business. This may be due to redundancy or a new determination to start up, but more people are starting a limited company according to recent figures. If you are considering starting your own business then a business plan may help focus your intentions.
Judging by the experiences of some of my friends who went to start out a business, the planning stage is the most crucial of all. Some of them went bankrupt in the first few months. Nice tips. registry cleaner reviews