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Designers have one major question to ask themselves before they go out on their own as a freelancer. It is one that many of them struggle with, but one that is crucial to the future of their business. Designers have to ask themselves what kind of identity they want to give themselves in the market. Do they want prospective clients to see their freelancing business as a one man show, or as a larger design firm? Most freelance designers started out working for a firm, so it might seem proper to keep that mind-set when creating promotional materials and advertising. The question is whether to use “I” or “We” when talking about your freelancing business. The use of either one gives prospective clients two very different ideas about your business. What you need to understand is that there are two different types of people out there. Some people are looking for individual freelance designers, and some are looking for corporate design firms. You just need to decide which of these two types of people you want to advertise to. Do you want to be a freelancer or a firm? Almost every design firm out there started with just one or two people. Those who wanted their business to grow into something greater over the years took the “We” strategy. Those who wanted to stay a low profile freelancer took the “I” strategy. Here are four factors of freelancing that might help you make your decision: 1. The cost of keeping your freelance business going is incredibly low.
Freelancers usually work from home, which means the only thing you really have to pay for to keep that business going is the rent, your Internet connection and tomorrow’s dinner. Most of the money you make goes directly into your pocket to do whatever you want with. Design firms have to pay for their office building, employee pay checks and updating their equipment. Freelancers have lower overhead, which means they have higher profit margins. 2. You don’t have to worry about losing work to your competitors.
There are thousands of freelance designers out there, and while the competition is fierce in the multimedia industry - custom web design, programming, technical writing - freelance designers tend to see that network of designers as friends rather than competition. People you can share client horror stories with; people you can learn from. You might lose a project to them here and there, but honestly, there are is plenty of work to go around. Prospective clients base their decision to hire you off of your portfolio, price, experience and professionalism. 3. Clients think your work is worth less because you’re only one person.
Large design firms can justifiably charge their clients thousands of dollars per project because they have a big office, a team of designers and programmers, and a front desk who answers calls and makes coffee. It can be difficult for a freelance design to convince a prospective client that they can do the same quality of work as a larger design firm with all of their expensive extras. Prospective clients tend to think freelancers are unreliable because they don’t have all the fancy paperwork to back them up. And for all the client knows, you could take their money today and disappear tomorrow. Additionally, clients know that freelancers don’t have to pay for an office, a team of employees or a front desk clerk. The truth is, freelancers just can’t make the kind of money even a smaller design firm can. This means freelancers can only charge their clients for the physical hours you are able to put into a project. This also means you might have to turn work down on occasion because you don’t have enough time on your hands. 4. Freelancers are forced to wear too many hats.
When you are running your own one man business, it is inevitable that you will have to put on a lot of different hats to succeed. You will be required to be the designer, writer, programmer, accountant, receptionist and everything else that comes with running your own business. You can’t afford to outsource any of these responsibilities, which means you have even less time to be working on projects that pay the bills.
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