Читать книгу Start & Run a Graphic Design Business - Michael Huggins - Страница 18

As a solo entrepreneur you need to start with the mind-set of being profitable in all that you do. This is a business and you need to approach it like one. Yes, it will be fun, creative, and exciting, but it’s a business. The obvious truth is you need to be profitable or your business experience will be short lived. Making money is not optional so don’t be shy about charging good money for your services.

You may have started your business out of a love for design, but as a solo entrepreneur it’s up to you to make sure that you find people who are in need of your specific skill set and that you charge them for the full value for your services. Funnily enough, I’m preaching to the choir here. I used to “give” my services away to clients at very cheap rates. In hindsight, I probably felt like I wasn’t good enough to charge premium prices, but we’ll leave that discussion for Chapter 19! I’ve seen the same trend among hundreds of other designers through my years of coaching.

You need to be diligent about profitability. You need to create a process for designing that is efficient and maximizes the time you spend on each project. As a designer, you sell solutions to problems by applying your expertise, and time is always a factor. You’ll need to assess the value of each project and apply your expertise in the most cost-effective and efficient way possible. Essentially, you’ll have to ensure you always make more than the time you spend on the project. That way your business not only stays healthy, but so will you.