First time design business owners mistakes
Thursday’s Management Tip for Graphic Designers
Starting my own business has been a daunting task and it is for most people. There’s a lot at stake.
I’ve learned a lot being in business and dealing with clients (good and bad). So, I wanted to share what I consider to be rookie mistakes in the hopes that maybe you can learn from them and avoid them.
Most common mistakes of first time graphic design business owners
What are those things that trip up most business owners? All stem from lack of preparation and planning. The old adage is true: fail to plan, you plan to fail.
- Not knowing how much you are worth: I started out not figuring out an hourly price for myself and pricing each job individually. Create a list of prices and decide if you will charge by the hour or by project.
- No marketing plan: Don’t start off blind. How will you get jobs? What do you plan on offering? Where will you look and market your services? Where do you want to take your business?
- Not setting up your business properly: Set up your accounting practices, get registered and have all the forms you need at your disposal. Everything should be at your fingertips.
- Doing business without a deposit: Never start a job if you have not received some of the money up front. No money = no work.
- Incomplete contract specs: Not specifying all the work that is expected to be completed. It should be specified in the contract how many pages the job is (web pages or print), the number of revisions, how many phone calls they are allowed, etc… Everything needs to be spelled out to avoid unpleasant surprises!
- Depending on one client for all your work: Never put all your eggs in one basket. What if it doesn’t work out for some reason?
- Thinking it’s about the work and not client relations: Clients seldom care how good your work is if you don’t give good service.
A few things to avoid at all costs:
I also wanted to bring up a few important points. So important in fact, that they deserve to be by themselves. And, they are a bit controversial too.
- NEVER work on spec: I went to a bootcamp where there was a design job fair. They offered assignments on spec. I did a couple and never heard back. So, one day, I had created a promotional brochure and sent it off to all the companies at the job fair. One replied back saying she didn’t accept freelance contracts as the company had all the in-house designers they needed. I guess she didn’t know that I was at that job fair where she was saying they hire freelancers. You don’t expect people to work for free and then you pay them only if you like the work… So why would you do it?
- Thinking jobs will come as soon as you hang your shingles: You have to work for it. You have to market yourself and your business.
C O N C L U S I O N :
The biggest mistake I made was not trusting my gut feeling. Sometimes, I had a feeling that a client would be very difficult (thus not worth the bother) and I would ignore it. I ALWAYS regretted it.
My second biggest mistake is waiting to have all my ducks lined up in a row. Wanting everything to be just so. Perfect. Nothing will ever be perfect and you can always improve on it.
The point is, get out there. As Woody Allen once said so beautifully, “80% of success is showing up” and another variation “90% of life is just showing up“.
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