Going 100% Freelance... tips?

[Quiet City]

It's been a while since I've contributed in the forums, and that's largely because I've been so busy in the last few months. I'm splitting my time between freelance work and part-time-ish in-house at a promotional solutions company near my home.

I've been at this company for 6 years, as the graphic artist / webmaster / tech-support-guy. It's been my main job since I finished design school. The freelance work has been all the rest of my time, and it's much more rewarding and interesting. The promotional work is boring, and I hate the people I work for. not all of them, but most. It's time for me to leave. (It was time for me to leave a long time ago~!)

So I've desided to leave the in-house job and put all my effort into my freelance work. There's work to do, but I'm not sure if it will be enough to keep me floating right off the bat. I don't have much of a connection to the design community to ask specific people for advise, and thought I'd put it out here in the forums.

Does anyone who's made the transition from in-house to freelancer have any tips or advise/warnings for someone about to dive in? I'm mostly curious about how you've motivated yourself from day to day, as well as how you've grown and maintained your client base, and techniques and methods to make sure the monthly bills are paid.

Thanks all! Any and all advise is greatly appreciated!

[PrintDriver]

Do you have a written down business plan?
I've noticed here on the GDF that many people just starting in Freelance tend to jump in blind. You are starting a small business. If you treat it as such you may do better than you think. Take the courses on small business offered by banks and Adult Education offerings. Visit your Chamber of Commerce, attend their functions if it is active in the business community, etc.

[Quiet City]

I keep hearing about the importance of having a Business Plan, and my research all shows that they are useful. But I've never seen one that deals with the creative / design industry. Many of them have absolute figures for goals in sales, etc. How would a design firm set or measure those goals? Anyone here ever write a business plan for a creative company?

[PrintDriver]

You have to have some kind of financial goals. How are you going to cover your overhead? What is your overhead? What is your marketing plan?
Do you have any capitol saved? Where do you stand as far as skill level with the competition in your area? Do you have a website, portfolio, resume, marketing tools in place? Do you have any kind of reputation and references you can stand on besides your former employer? So many questions. It absolutely boggles my mind that some kids jump right from school into Freelancing without ever establishing themselves as a designer first. They price themselves low. That's also part of your competition. You have 6 years, that technically puts you beyond Junior Designer status but what did you do in those 6 years and do you have portfolio material to show for it? Have you done any kind of networking while at this job you had for 6 years? Are there print vendors or web contractors you can contact for a bone or two?

I'm not being crass or rude. You've given me an opportunity to vent about how unprepared some people are to actually run a business. It's more than hanging out your shingle and proclaiming "I iz a dezina" :D. The fact that you have actually done some research into a business plan is refreshing.

[Kool]

I keep hearing about the importance of having a Business Plan, and my research all shows that they are useful. But I've never seen one that deals with the creative / design industry. Many of them have absolute figures for goals in sales, etc. How would a design firm set or measure those goals? Anyone here ever write a business plan for a creative company?

Don't get caught up in the sales goals portion of the business plan. That part is mostly for people wanting to get a loan. There is no real practical difference in the plan for a creative and the plan for selling any other kind of product. In this case the product you are trying to sell is your skills at design. What the business plan will do is force you to address the meat and potatoes of starting a business. If you'll click the articles tab at the top of the forum you'll find a couple of articles I wrote about getting started. :)

[ellamac]

You might not need 'sales goals' but you do need to know how much you need to a. keep your head above water and b. where you think you want to be earning.

When I started out on my own - having been paid weekly from a part time job with all the freelance money a bonus - I had no idea how much money it actually took to keep me running. (That's me as a person as well as me as a business).

I had to add all of that up (rent, bills, equipment, including all those things you forget about like insurances, car costs, groceries, a daily coffee etc) and then work out the number of chargable hours a day that it would take to support that. That way you know if you really do do enough freelancing (or have the opportunity of enough) to be able to make the plunge and go out on your own.

[achipmunk]

buddy, good luck!

[Mamamo]

ahhhh I am going thru this now. If you do not like the people you are working with or for, do us all a favor and move on. Nothing personal but it is very difficult working with a person who does not like thier job. Life is too short- Best of luck.

[captain spanky]

love your work Len! :)
two tums up from the cap'n! http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

[Sketcher]

Check out your local bookstore or Amazon.com. There's a ton of books out there to help designers who are starting their own business.

http://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/103-9867934-9209440?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=graphic+design+business&x=0&y=0

[CkretAjint]

101 Ideas to Get More Freelance Work and Generate New Client Leads (http://freelanceswitch.com/finding/101-ideas-to-get-more-freelance-work-and-generate-new-client-leads/)

46 Must-Read Productivity Tips for Freelancers (http://freelanceswitch.com/general/46-must-read-productivity-tips-for-freelancers/)

12 Breeds of Client and How to Work with Them (http://freelanceswitch.com/clients/12-breeds-of-client-and-how-to-work-with-them/)

(http://freelanceswitch.com/finding/101-ideas-to-get-more-freelance-work-and-generate-new-client-leads/)

[Jeff Fisher LogoMotives]

Many designers going out on their own forget that they are in the business of design. BoDo is a great online resource (http://businessofdesignonline.com).

- J.

[Onsoi]

WOW!... nice insights... thanks for sharing!