Is Freelance Design and Publishing the Right Career for You?

Is Freelance Design and Publishing the Right Career for You?
From Jacci Howard Bear,
Your Guide to Desktop Publishing.
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Entrepreneurship requires more than design talent
So you think you want to start your own business? Friends tell you that you've got a flair for making good-looking business cards and fliers. You've got an inkjet printer and an old copy of QuarkXPress. You're ready to start getting paid for doing something you enjoy. Wait! First, find out if a freelance business is the right move for you.

Successful freelancing requires more than artistic talent or software proficiency. If a desktop publishing or graphic design business are your goal those are needed skills; but, first determine that you have the personality required to work for yourself.

Do you work well on your own, without direct supervision? Are you willing to get away from the computer and go hustle up clients? Can you sustain the level of productivity necessary to make a living doing what you enjoy (design) while also tackling the jobs you might not enjoy (bookkeeping, sales)?

Working from home is typically how most freelance designers start out. Home businesses require special talents too. Like any freelancer, you must be self-motivated, organized, and able to maintain a professional work environment in your home.

Working for yourself has many rewards. Just don't go into it blindly. Here's a short reality checklist:

* You don't get to spend all your time doing design. You have to go out and find your own clients and you have to work at keeping those clients. In addition to marketing yourself you'll also likely be doing all your own bookkeeping as well as acting as your own purchasing agent, receptionist, advertising department, and mail room clerk. These jobs all take up significant amounts of time.

* Self-employment doesn't mean you keep all the money for yourself. Checks from clients may add up to a bigger amount than the paycheck you got from your employer, but it has to cover your operating expenses and self-employment taxes too. You can't charge the hourly rate you made as an employee or even just a little bit more and expect to make money. You have to be confident enough to charge what you're worth and what you need in order to have enough money to pay your expenses and pay yourself.

* Business expenses are not money in the bank. Uncle Sam (US-IRS) doesn't give you back all your business expenses at the end of the year. Your expenses are deductions from your profits so you pay taxes on a lesser amount. That's a good thing, yes. But it's not the same as "getting back everything you spent." And, you must keep good records of business expenses.

* You can't take off whenever you want. If you want to do freelance work because it allows you to take a vacation whenever you want, sleep late, or close up shop on a whim, think again. Certainly you are able to do those things more freely than with an employer but you must remember that you don't work in a vacuum. You must keep reasonable hours in order to be available to meet with clients and prospects. You can't take off on the spur of the moment when you have a major job at the print shop requiring your supervision. Freelance work offers flexibility but it doesn't give you carte blanche to only work when you feel like it. The business depends on you. There's no one in the next cubicle to take up the slack when you decide to call in sick.

On the next two pages you'll find some exercises designed to help you put your commitment to doing freelance design in real terms.

Next page > Your Assignment: Time Commitment

You can see my Online work (Graphic/Multimedia/ WebDesigner):http://lifewithoutcolour.blogspot.com/