Читать книгу Start & Run a Graphic Design Business - Michael Huggins - Страница 14

Being a solo entrepreneur has its own unique set of challenges. The biggest and most obvious is that you will always be the business. No “you” equals no business. If you’re going to choose a one-person business model, you’ll need to consider what happens if you aren’t able to work. How will you generate income? If it becomes necessary, you may need to have a way of outsourcing your work to others.

You’ll also need to consider the type of work you will go after. How will you generate sales for your business? You’ll need to create a marketing plan that works with minimum effort, or choose a niche where the work is always available to you. It will all be up to you to get the work, do the work, and collect the check.

Being a one-man show could mean choosing work that makes it easier to do what you like to do (design), while minimizing the things you don’t like to do (the business stuff). It’s tough to run a business and look for work at the same time. A friend of mine owns his own design business that caters specifically to other design firms and agencies. His work comes exclusively from these companies. They get the clients, and he does the work. This makes it easy for him in a lot of ways.

Mainly, he doesn’t have to market his business very much. It did take some effort at the beginning to make his initial connections in these agencies, but once he made them the hard work was done. His clients are always calling him, and that’s the beauty of his situation. His clients don’t require a lot of maintenance because they understand design and the creative process. He can keep his meeting times short and his productivity high.

The downside for him is the rushed timelines and excess work that can happen from time to time. Sometimes he’s pressured to work well into the night to get a project done. He says turning work down is always a struggle for fear his clients will find another designer to do the work. He wants to keep his competitors far away from his lucrative work source. As a result, there are some stressful weeks. For the most part it’s the perfect balance. The clients do the stuff he doesn’t like and he does what he likes to do: the design.

Working on your own can be great for productivity. You can get a lot done without the normal workplace interruptions. The other side of that is the lack of input and stimulation from other designers and coworkers. This also means that when you face a difficult challenge, you’re on your own. So, it’s good to create a network of other designers and professionals that you can call or get together with on short notice for help and support.

Having a solo business also means you’ll need to learn and do most (if not all) of the grunt work too. You’ll be responsible for everything from garbage detail to preparing and mailing invoices. Some days can be a real challenge, especially when you are trying to get your design projects completed. I’d recommend that you delegate where possible, or hire specific help for certain tasks to make doing the work easier.

Lastly, holidays can be difficult to schedule and take when it’s just you. In fact, a big struggle for the solo entrepreneur is to take time off and just relax. Many solo entrepreneurs find it difficult to “unplug” and take a vacation. Often they will blend free time with work time, but even that’s not so bad when you have a laptop or PDA. You live in a world where technology can easily keep you connected to your business from almost any location. That is, as long as you can manage the mental gymnastics it takes to keep it all balanced.