So often I think I should write more here on the ups and downs of running your own business but somehow the time required always evades me. Thankfully my colleague Paul Cripps has pointed me in the direction of some pearls of wisdom penned by Andy Clarke.
These are an absolute must read if you’re thinking of starting your own business, going it alone or are already a number of years in (like myself). :)
Another great turn out last night for our 2nd Creative Assembly meeting. Thanks again to everyone who made it and for those that didn’t, not to worry because you can come and join us on Tuesday the 3rd of June! :)
Well we had our inaugural Creative Assembly meeting last night in the Atrium Bar at the South Hill Park Arts Centre. I was expecting a turnout of 6 or 7 people but I was blown away when 18 people turned up.
Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come along! :)
A couple of days late but please join me in congratulating Paul Cripps on his position as Senior New Media Designer/Developer/Monkey at Nine Four. And thanks Chris for the kind words of advice. :)
Yes, that’s right.., I just wanted to say a ‘BIG’ Thank You to everyone who has helped in making Nine Four’s first year such a success. We simply couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement that we’ve had.
Thank You and Happy Birthday Nine Four!
I hear from Phu that the latest issue of Computer Arts is out (issue 120 I think).
Well I’ve not seen it yet but I’m in there somewhere apparently. Via a feature written by Craig Grannell.
If you have a copy to hand, bang us over a coupla scans will you… :)
Paul Farnell writes:
A few months back, fellow UK designer Nathan Pitman interviewed me (and others) about “going it alone” as a freelancer. He was asking because he himself was on the verge of leaving his job and starting out on his own. Now that he’s started Nine Four I turned the tables and asked him the same 10 questions, to find out how it’s going so far.
Tommorow is my last day as an employee. I handed my notice in at Bite CP on Monday and as of 5:30pm on Friday I’m self-employed as Managing Director of Nine Four Ltd.
Exciting? Yes. Scary? Yes.
As you probably know just 2 weeks back my wife gave birth to our second daughter ‘“Isla”:http://nathanpitman.com/journal/397/im-a-dad-again’, so the timing is hardly ideal, and hey I even ignored John’s advice.
I guess it boils down to this: At some point in your career the desire to make a change, do something different and be brave just becomes so intense that you simply have to go with it. To fight against the motivation would be insane, and the way I see it… if I never try, I’ll look back in 10 years time I wish I had, but by then it might be too late.
At the end of the day if it all goes Pete Tong, then so be it. I have the love of my family and friends and I love what I’m setting out to do, what more could you ask for in life.
Ok, so I know I said that Mr Oxton was my final interview, but I was chatting to Paul Farnell of SiteVista fame and just couldn’t resist but to ask if he would do the same (hey that rhymed). He was more than happy to oblige, and has some great advice for anyone looking to ‘go it alone’. I promise, this really is the last interview.
Nathan: So what was it that made you decide to ‘go it alone’?
Paul: Well Iâve never worked at a web design agency or anything like that. Since around 1998 Iâve been doing client work, and it just gradually built up from being work for friends and family whilst I was still at school, to proper paying clients and so on.
Nathan: How did you prepare for the change in employment, did you ‘do it proper like’ and write a formal business plan before you started?
Paul: As there wasnât actually a defined start to it, I never had a business plan â or any kind of plan really! I just aimed to get as much work as I could.
Nathan: On your first day did you do a shed load of work or just play PlayStation?
Paul: I never have a problem getting work done on web stuff, because like a lot of people I genuinely really enjoy it, which is a great position to be in.
Nathan: If you charge by the hour, how did you decide on your hourly rate? Did you pluck a figure from the air or work out a rate based on the salary you required?
Paul: I started out picking an hourly rate that was just a bit higher than my previous part time job â I measured people for hire suits at Moss Bros.! I thought all this web was a bit more skilled than that, so I added a bit to my previous wage. Since then Iâve gradually increased it over the years and no-one has ever complained. Now I charge per day rather than per hour.
Nathan: What about marketing then… do you advertise your services in local rags, wear a short skirt and tout yourself on street corners or just rely on word of mouth?
Paul: I placed one advert in my local paper and got two clients from that. Since then everything has come from word of mouth. Recently Iâve started attending conferences, like Reboot in Copenhagen, and the Geek Dinners. Theyâve been really worthwhile for me, and every time Iâve attended one Iâve ended up working with some of the people I met there. Plus theyâre a lot of fun! Reboot especially â lots of drinking!
Nathan: How does your average work day pan out? For example do you have specific times during which you respond to prospects and clients, read blogs and eat biscuits, or do you just go with the flow?
Paul: Since Iâve started reading blogs over the last year or so, Iâve found that I now need to plan my time more carefully. FeedDemon just sucks my life away! I donât always stick to my plan entirely but then I donât think many people do, do they? It certainly helps though, if I tried to âgo with the flow�? Iâd never get anything done.
Nathan: Does working freelance ‘actually’ give you more free time for yourself and/or your family? Or in reality and do you actually spend every waking hour sat at the computer trying to make sure that you can pay the bills each month?
Paul: No, definitely the latter. Not just to pay the bills, but because I work from home my computer is always there so I think, âIâll just check my feeds one more time, and see if thereâs any email whilst Iâm there�?. Iâd love to get an office, but I donât feel I can justify the expense.
Nathan: What’s the one single biggest disaster that you’ve had to face, and how did you deal with it?
Paul: Nothing major, money-wise. Iâve had my servers switched off by my host because their system thought something fraudulent was afoot (it wasnât) â they were off for two days, and I was on holiday at the time. That was pretty stressful.
Nathan: Being self employed you must have some ambition… where do you want your business to be in ten years time?
Paul: Ten years â wow, thatâs a long time! Within a few months Iâd like half of my income to come from my SiteVista product, and within a year Iâm hoping to have launched two more Vista products for web designers. After that, who knows?
Nathan: And finally, what single tip would you give to someone who is considering going freelance to help make the leap into the unknown that little less daunting?
Paul: Allocate some of your time to âdo a 37signals�? and build a product. Itâs a ridiculously good feeling to know, âright, I have X subscribers, so this month Iâm guaranteed £X�? â it gives you so much more security. And itâs ten times more fun to work on compared to client work â you can do anything you want! I dedicate about a third of my time to SiteVista â I see it as if it were a client. Other than that, I guess it goes without saying that you should have a blog, and Iâd try and meet up with other people from the industry as much as you can.
Thanks for the interview, Nathan!
Nathan: No worries, thanks for your time Paul.
Finally I get around to posting my final ’10 questions’ for web designers and developers who are self employed (Sorry for the delay, new arrivals do throw a spanner in the works). This time I ‘metaphorically’ sat down for a chat with John Oxton. John is a web developer based in the Cotswolds. Well known for his use of the ‘F’ word, he’s really a jolly nice chap. On with the questions!
Nathan: So what was it that made you decide to ‘go it alone’?
John: Because the studio I worked for went bust when the dot com bubble burst and I couldnât get a job as a âweb designer�? for love nor money. Also, I was sick of working for people whose only motivation is money.
Read that back as: I had to, I am technically unemployable.
Nathan: How did you prepare for the change in employment, did you ‘do it proper like’ and write a formal business plan before you started?
John: Ha! Errr… yeah, pass, next question.
Nathan: On your first day did you do a shed load of work or just play PlayStation?
John: I looked after my son on my first day and for the next 729 days after that. I really wasnât too busy for the first year and a half and then I simply struggled with time for the last 6 months before my partner gave up work.
Nathan: If you charge by the hour, how did you decide on your hourly rate? Did you pluck a figure from the air or work out a rate based on the salary you required?
John: My hourly rate has been rising slowly but steadily over the last two years and confidence in myself and an improved portfolio have certainly been a factor. I also did a survey a little while back to see how I compared across the board. I am pleased to say I am still quite inexpensive, though donât ever call me cheap!
Nathan: What about marketing then… do you advertise your services in local rags, wear a short skirt and tout yourself on street corners or just rely on word of mouth?
John: Word of mouth really and my CSS zen garden entry has helped. I always keep meaning to go on a marketing spree but donât seem able to summon enough BS for a flyer and/or advert.
Yeah, I know, me and BS are synonymous but not when it comes to PR(Public Relations) it would seem.
Note: Lotâs of acronyms and abbreviations in your marketing is a bad thing, FYI.
Nathan: How does your average work day pan out? For example do you have specific times during which you respond to prospects and clients, read blogs and eat biscuits, or do you just go with the flow?
John: I have quite an erratic routine which usually depends on whether I am feeling creative, or not or, in all honesty, if I am enthusiastic about a client/project, or not. I tend to get a second wind at around 1am and start with a âgreat�? idea and then end up staying up all night, only to be whacked out by 10am, the great idea abandoned.
It used to stress me out, that I couldnât get my routine nailed down, but I remembered that a rigid routine was one of the things I hated most about working as an employee so now I just go with the flow — itâs just me — and get the Missus to take messages from clients; they are very rarely urgent as I donât do hosting, at all.
One advantage to this, eyes like a panda, approach has been working with clients in the US. They usually think itâs great if I am willing to work overnight with them, it makes me look really keen; rather than just the truth, which is that I am an insomniac. Actually, I hope none of my US clients read your blog.
I do, though, tend to find my routine is more stable when I am at the planning or coding stage of a project, rather than when at the graphic design/creative stage; this could be a left brain/right brain thing I guess.
I did, for a while, have a problem with the surfing, biscuits and coffee routine taking up too much of my day but I removed all notifiers from my machine, started using bloglines for my subscriptions, gave up smoking and shut down my own blog; itâs helped enormously, I am now 3.25%* more productive than the other leading brandsBrits.
*incorrect at time of writing.
Nathan: Does working freelance ‘actually’ give you more free time for yourself and/or your family? Or in reality and do you actually spend every waking hour sat at the computer trying to make sure that you can pay the bills each month?
John: I hardly ever spend any quality time with my kids these days, it is usually a quick ten minutes here and there. Itâs hard to take a day off when work is in the same house and there are deadlines looming. Itâs something I very much want to change next year with my third child patent pending. Even so, on the plus side, I bet I see more of my kids than most dads with a career and serious ambitions and, I would wager, even fewer have had the real pleasure of looking after their children on a full time basis as I did in the early days.
Nathan: What’s the one single biggest disaster that you’ve had to face, and how did you deal with it?
John: I am dealing with it now and itâs tough, I canât really talk about it right now without rendering this post unpublishable and probably getting sued in the process, so I wonât.
All I will say is that I remind myself, daily, that I am only doing this because I want to do it, not because I have to. All my life I have taken the attitude that you have to bounce back no matter how hard you get hit, thereâs no other choice.
Read that back as: Fuck it, shit does and will happen.
Nathan: Being self employed you must have some ambition… where do you want your business to be in ten years time?
John: I am undecided as to where I should go with this. I have certainly got a better profile and know more people than I did when I started out but the business, my business, isnât a great deal different from when I started but thatâs mostly due to question 8. I still feel like I am at the beginning.
I recently turned down a really good job in order to stay freelance, so I guess that tells me something — other than I must have been fucking mad on that day!
I do have a couple of people interested in investing money in me, so maybe a studio will happen but I wouldnât be ready to commit to that until at least 2007.
My dream? I am interested in making a million (or three), who isnât, but I am not interested in being a completely ruthless f**k to get it. I have had run ins with these sorts (see ‘when disaster strikes’) before and all the money in the world isnât worth becoming that sort of person for.
Nathan: And finally, what single tip would you give to someone who is considering going freelance to help make the leap into the unknown that little less daunting?
John: Have some savings set aside for a rainy day because there will be rainy days; clear all your credit cards and other debts first; get your mortgage before you go freelance; have a Mac and a PC and an external hard drive to hand but most of all, talk to your family and friends and make sure you have their moral (and maybe financial) support.
There is no way I could have survived the last four/five years without the love, support and understanding of my partner and my family. As an example, my Mum lent me £800 for a new beige box when mine quite literally blew up (smoke and a big bang and everything there was) two years ago. Without that kind of support, I would have had to get a job and my business would have died at a crucial moment.
Sorry, you said single tip didnât you, in that case it would be: Be prepared, itâs probably gonna be tougher than you expect but go with it, better to look back and say you tried than wonder what if.
Also, avoid cliches when giving advice, cliches suck and can cause validation problems when spelt correctly.
O yeah, one more if I may, donât do favours for friends (they wonât thank you for it), do discounts.
O sorry, the other thing is if you donât have a strong portfolio, set up a blog instead and write about what you do. I have had more enquires for work since I took my portfolio site down and replaced it with a blog… odd that! Okay, I am going now.
Changes are afoot. On Friday the 30th of August Nine Four Ltd was incorporated.
More news soon.
In the fourth of five interviews with web designers and developers who are self employed I chat with David Longworth. Much like Jon Hicks, I’ve never actually met David… I just kinda dropped him an email and he’s been kind enough to give some of his time for my 10 questions. David is a web designer & design consultant based in the Uk and has a business called Orange Tape Studios.
Nathan: So what was it that made you decide to ‘go it alone’?
David: I had recently finished a project I had done for a friendâs friend and I thought to myself why not make some money out of this because before that I had just messed about in Microsoft Publisher â97 creating sites (Nathan: You’re a brave man.) that I had to host on one of those free, advertising pasted hosting sites (Bravenet if I recall).
Nathan: How did you prepare for the change in employment, did you ‘do it proper like’ and write a formal business plan before you started?
David: No, nothing like that. Although I keep an idea of where I am up to using Ta-da list amongst other things.
Nathan: On your first day did you do a shed load of work or just play PlayStation?
David: I donât actually recall a first day; I suppose everyday is a first day for everything because I am constantly learning new stuff from more talented folk. Great answer eh?
Nathan: If you charge by the hour, how did you decide on your hourly rate? Did you pluck a figure from the air or work out a rate based on the salary you required?
David: I did my research for this part. I read a couple of articles on how fellow designers set their own rates and what they were, particularly John Oxtonâs article which had some very useful comments on it. This led me to £20 an hour/£200 a day â it sounds reasonable to me because I think I have style :)
Nathan: What about marketing then… do you advertise your services in local rags, wear a short skirt and tout yourself on street corners or just rely on word of mouth?
David: Me and Andy have talked at length about this, everything from telephone sales to flyers through the letter box however the best way by far is having a chat to people you meet and ask friends/family if the know anyone who needs a website.
Nathan: How does your average work day pan out? For example do you have specific times during which you respond to prospects and clients, read blogs and eat biscuits, or do you just go with the flow?
David: After I get up first thing I do is switch on the PC (thatâs right not a Mac) and check my emails to see if there has been any overnight activity, which there usually has been so depending on the urgency of the email I will either respond straight away or leave it until I have more info available to answer it. Then I usually fire-up my copy of FeedDemon and check for any new posts from my favourite blogs and have a read of those. I will usually work as long as I feel up to it, with plenty of breaks and refreshments along the way.
Nathan: Does working freelance ‘actually’ give you more free time for yourself and/or your family? Or in reality and do you actually spend every waking hour sat at the computer trying to make sure that you can pay the bills each month?
David: I would say it offers more flexibility because I can pretty much work whenever I want, as long as I do work eventually; whether that is 2am or 4pm. I can also change things around if any social events pop up that I want to go to.
Nathan: What’s the one single biggest disaster that you’ve had to face, and how did you deal with it?
David: Thank God there has only been oneâ¦so far. To cut a long story short a client decided that he didnât like what he saw, even though he had said ok to it all the way through. So in the end I redid the whole site in a couple of hours and everyone was happy â just goes to show that my best work is when I am under pressure.
Nathan: Being self employed you must have some ambition… where do you want your business to be in ten years time?
David: Mainly expansion, I would like to get some office space and hire some more talented folk to work with. Maybe even move into other areas of new media and see how I do, but it depends on how many clients I have/how much money I earn.
Nathan: And finally, what single tip would you give to someone who is considering going freelance to help make the leap into the unknown that little less daunting?
David: The most important piece of advice I can offer is that you should really have a blog/website of your own. There are two distinct advantages to this, one being you can show off you design skills while having a laugh writing and discussing with other people about whatever you like, the second is that through the links that you (might) get, you also get potential clients you your inbox. Take this answer you are reading, it would not have been here if Nathan hadnât found my email address on my site.
Sites like the CSS Reboot are also a great way to get linkage. I was getting a small amount of traffic that I was pretty happy with, but you know the more the merrier – then almost overnight things exploded and I had a full inbox and lots of site activity thanks to Benjamin Adam and his great idea.
In the third of five interviews with web designers and developers who are self employed I chat with Darren Miller. I got to know Darren whilst working at TMB on an event based video game for HP. Darren is a new media designer and developer.
Nathan: So what was it that made you decide to ‘go it alone’?
Darren: Not a sit-and-think-about-it decision by any means. On returning from a year away I found it incredibly hard to either find a permanent job or commit myself to the daily commute. So I took a few freelance jobs – mainly working from home. Suddenly a year had passed and I was getting by just fine.
Nathan: How did you prepare for the change in employment, did you ‘do it proper like’ and write a formal business plan before you started?
Darren: No plan at all. I borrowed a computer from my Dad, a spare room from a friend, sent out a few letters and just got on with it.
Nathan: On your first day did you do a shed load of work or just play PlayStation?
Darren: Due to my circumstances at the time (work shy hippy), my first day was spread out over about six months. I just gradually noticed I was watching less Columbo and doing more work.
Nathan: If you charge by the hour, how did you decide on your hourly rate? Did you pluck a figure from the air or work out a rate based on the salary you required?
Darren: My hourly rate is based on a few phone calls to agencies to get a feel for the going rate. I’m still not sure I charge enough…
Nathan: What about marketing then… do you advertise your services in local rags, wear a short skirt and tout yourself on street corners or just rely on word of mouth?
Darren: There’s been a few times in the last two years I’ve thought “I must get some new business” and start to look into doing a mailing or getting on the phone. Every time I think that my phone starts ringing with work offers and doesn’t stop for days!
I guess the lesson there is do a good job for people and they’ll come back for more.
Nathan: How does your average work day pan out? For example do you have specific times during which you respond to prospects and clients, read blogs and eat biscuits, or do you just go with the flow?
Darren: Depends on work load but I’ll usually do my emails and admin before getting stuck into paid work. It’s also important to devote at least one day per month to getting the bills out and the money in.
h3. Work and play
Nathan: Does working freelance ‘actually’ give you more free time for yourself and/or your family? Or in reality and do you actually spend every waking hour sat at the computer trying to make sure that you can pay the bills each month?
Darren: I’d find it very hard to work any other way. The ability to take time off whenever you feel do to whatever you enjoy is worth so much. The price you pay for that is some unusual working hours sometimes!
Nathan: What’s the one single biggest disaster that you’ve had to face, and how did you deal with it?
Darren: Moving house was a fun week. NTL were late installing my broadband so I was checking emails and uploading stuff from a friends house. Then I lost my car keys so couldn’t do that either. Then the power got shut off.
I’d made sure I didn’t have much going on around the move so I got away with it through lots of smiles and excuses. Generally people are understanding if you have genuine problems but you do need to have a backup plan in the back of your mind for when things go really tits up.
Nathan: Being self employed you must have some ambition… where do you want your business to be in ten years time?
Darren: Retired would be nice – but sadly unlikely. I’d like to think I’d be doing something completely different in ten years. Programming is good at paying the bills but it’s hardly a fulfilling job. For now I’m happy enough but I always have an eye and and ear out for new opportunities.
Nathan: And finally, what single tip would you give to someone who is considering going freelance to help make the leap into the unknown that little less daunting?
Darren: Can I do two?
In the second of 5 interviews with web designers and developers who are self employed I chat with Jon Hicks. I’ve never ‘actually’ met Jon, but he’s a fellow Brit and makes his money off the back of some one man venture called ‘“Hicksdesign”:http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk’… you’ve probably not heard of him, it’s not like he did the Firefox logo or anything you’ve probably heard of him, he did the Firefox logo don’t you know.
Nathan: So what was it that made you decide to ‘go it alone’?
Jon: There were a few factors:
Nathan: How did you prepare for the change in employment, did you ‘do it proper like’ and write a formal business plan before you started?
Jon: I wrote up a ‘mission statement’ – what I wanted to do, and what I needed to do to achieve that. This statement changed later – but it doesn’t matter, it got me started. I registered for VAT in advance (so that I could claim back all the VAT on equipment that I would buy in the first year), and worked out a price per hour.
Also – try and save up 3 months pay before you do it. Even if you get work on day one, its going to be a while before you get paid, and you need that buffer to be safe.
Nathan: On your first day did you do a shed load of work or just play PlayStation?
Jon: A shed load of work believe it or not! I had some jobs lined up ready (fortunately!) and its hasn’t stopped since.
Nathan: If you charge by the hour, how did you decide on your hourly rate? Did you pluck a figure from the air or work out a rate based on the salary you required?
Jon: Based on 2 things. First working out expenses/costs for the first year (obviously this is a guess when you’re starting off), how many hours I intended to work and how much profit I wanted (say 50%). From that you can work out how much you need to charge to cover your expenses and profit. Its also based on current market rates, and I gauged whereabouts I should place myself with my skills & experience.
Each year, don’t forget to increase your costs. Inflation rises, and you have to follow it to stay in business.
Nathan: What about marketing then… do you advertise your services in local rags, wear a short skirt and tout yourself on street corners or just rely on word of mouth?
Jon: Me in a short skirt? Ugh, that wouldn’t help anybody!
I expected to have to do a lot of advertising, but everything (and I do mean everything!) has come from Word of Mouth. Even before I got a blog (which opened up more possibilities) I got all my work from happy customers passing my details on. It’s the best form of advertising.
Nathan: How does your average work day pan out? For example do you have specific times during which you respond to prospects and clients, read blogs and eat biscuits, or do you just go with the flow?
Jon: Answering email enquiries is a huge time sucker, as are RSS feeds. My structure is generally;
Get into work. Check emails, and respond to any urgent ones.
Quit my email app and RSS reader – work until lunchtime, with wee breaks to stretch every hour.
Read RSS feeds over lunch, then quit out again.
Mid-afternoon is my worst time. Energy is low, feeling sleepy, so I often take a walk at this point to clear my head and think through problems.
Evening – respond to emails and a bit more work.
The day is also punctuated with copious cups of tea, or diet coke. I don’t have any specific time that I talk to clients – its whenever I or they need to. I don’t change my working position as much as I should do. If you can get a desk that allows to change your working position – such as working standing for short period, thats the ideal. Try not to let your body be fixed in one position for too long.
Nathan: Does working freelance ‘actually’ give you more free time for yourself and/or your family? Or in reality and do you actually spend every waking hour sat at the computer trying to make sure that you can pay the bills each month?
Jon: The reality for me is that I spend a lot of time working. I would have more time with the kids at the weekend if I wasn’t freelance, but at least it means your more flexible during the week.
Nathan: What’s the one single biggest disaster that you’ve had to face, and how did you deal with it?
Jon: Cashflow. You really do have to plan ahead and work out if you’re going to have enough money coming in in 3-6 months time. It wasn’t a big disaster, but it almost was. Unfortunately its very easy to ignore the accounts side – you don’t get paid to do it, its dull, and therefore it gets left to the last minute. I loathe every minute of it, but I do it.
Nathan: Being self employed you must have some ambition… where do you want your business to be in ten years time?
Jon: That would be telling! I do have some plans – I don’t want to be a lone freelancer forever, but neither do I want to go back to working for someone else! More on that in a while ;o)
Nathan: And finally, what single tip would you give to someone who is considering going freelance to help make the leap into the unknown that little less daunting?
Jon: It may be hard work and stressful at times, but the sheer satisfaction is unmissable. After a while you look back and realise that you’re doing everything yourself, and your only ‘boss’ is your client. You can’t beat that feeling – trust me! If you never make that leap, you’ll never get to experience it.
In the first of 5 interviews with web designers and developers who are self employed I chat with Craig Grannell. I first met Craig whilst working at Designation way back in 1999. Craig’s business (Snub Communications) provides web design and copywriting services.
Nathan: So what was it that made you decide to ‘go it alone’?
Craig: Two things, really. The first was being able to rely on myself rather than others. I got hit by the fallout of “dot bomb” and then ended up at another agency in financial strife, thereby reducing both potential workload and salary. During this time, I’d got a number of contacts in the industry and figured I’d be better off just having to look after myself and my clients rather than a company as well. And then I moved to Iceland â¹ seeing as I’m not fluent in Icelandic, I’d have only been able to get menial work there until such a time as I could speak the language. Having a solid freelance client list meant I could work for myself, despite living overseas.
Nathan: How did you prepare for the change in employment, did you ‘do it proper like’ and write a formal business plan before you started?
Craig: Nope. I just gradually went into freelance, reducing the amount of “non freelance” work, until such a point that I was only working for myself.
Nathan: On your first day did you do a shed load of work or just play PlayStation?
Craig: I didn’t have a “first day” in the typical sense, as I’ve just said. However, anyone who spends their freelance work time messing around simply won’t make it â¹ you have to be committed and have plenty of will-power.
Nathan: If you charge by the hour, how did you decide on your hourly rate? Did you pluck a figure from the air or work out a rate based on the salary you required?
Craig: I decided on a suitable salary and used something along the lines of this Payroll Calculator to figure out an hourly rate for a typical working week, based on the annual salary, and then doubled it (because, generally speaking, you only actually work creatively for half your working day). This was then “reality checked” against other companies, and was deemed competitive.
Nathan: What about marketing then… do you advertise your services in local rags, wear a short skirt and tout yourself on street corners or just rely on word of mouth?
Craig: Word of mouth, primarily, but I also get business via my journalism and book work.
Nathan: How does your average work day pan out? For example do you have specific times during which you respond to prospects and clients, read blogs and eat biscuits, or do you just go with the flow?
Craig: Each day is different, so I find that creating plans to try and stick to is just a waste of time. However, I generally try to do “menial”/non-creative work (reading emails and forums, and so on) while eating, leaving the rest of the time for more important stuff.
Nathan: Does working freelance ‘actually’ give you more free time for yourself and/or your family? Or in reality and do you actually spend every waking hour sat at the computer trying to make sure that you can pay the bills each month?
Craig: It means there’s no commute, potentially providing more time during the day. The reality of freelancing, however, is that you never entirely know where your next job is coming from, so most have a tendency to get in too much work and therefore end up working longer hours than is perhaps necessary “to pay the bills” â¹ at least for periods of time.
Nathan: What’s the one single biggest disaster that you’ve had to face, and how did you deal with it?
Craig: My main works hard drive, which had been working fine for months, suddenly failed. Although I had back-ups of most things, I didn’t have everything, and so I had to spend three days trying to retrieve data. I now have a slightly more bullet-proof back-up system in place, which involves a mirrored h/d and regular back-ups to DVDR.
Nathan: Being self employed you must have some ambition… where do you want your business to be in ten years time?
Craig: Ideally, I’d like to be in the position where I only have to “work” a few days each week, thereby providing me with the time to spend concentrating on music and family.
Nathan: And finally, what single tip would you give to someone who is considering going freelance to help make the leap into the unknown that little less daunting?
Craig: Some tips:
As an individual that’s been fully employed since 1997 I regularly wonder what it would be like to set up on my own, whether I could make it work and how others have managed.
Going it alone is something I’m thinking about more and more often. So I thought that to educate myself, and others who have the same ambition, that I’d ask some individuals within the community to answer 10 questions on the subject.
I’ll be publishing the views of these individuals over the next week or so, but first let me introduce those who have been so kind as to take some time out to answer my questions.
Craig Grannell
I first met Craig whilst working at Designation. Way back then (1999?) Craig introduced me to CSS.
Darren Miller
I know Darren from my time at TMB where he got collared into writing an ASP application to collate and output high scores for a Video game we were developing for HP at the time. Lots of fun.
David Longworth
To be honest I wouldn’t say that I ‘know’ David. However I did link to his site and he replied to my email and said “I’m up for that”… so I guess that’s fair enough.
John Oxton
I suppose I’m what you’d call a ‘virtual friend’ of Johns. I’ve never met him or even talked to him on the blower. I did email him a few times though, and he was nice enough to write back.
Jon Hicks
Well… I’m sure you all know of Mr Hicks. He’s done all sorts of neat things and seems to be pretty respected around these parts.
So, that’s the feisty five. Keep your eyes peeled. The first answers will be published shortly.
From the 4th of July I’m taking a bite of something new. After 2 and a bit years at Mirashade I’m moving to a creative agency based in Surrey called Bite CP as Head of New Media.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to work with an experienced and talented team and help to grow the business over the coming years. I simply cannot wait to get stuck in. :)
Kinda reminded by John Oxton’s rant on lack of email manner, I’ve been noticing a steady increase in the number of people who apply for Jobs at Mirashade without care or consideration for a greeting of any kind.
In fact, it get’s even worse… today I’ve had a number of applications without an email message at all, the applicant simply attaches their CV and presumes that this is sufficient. Well, do they really think that I can be arsed to read their CV when they provide me with no introduction, no synopsis, not even a “Hi, find my CV attached, cheers.”
With this in mind I hereby present my top five do’s and don’ts for email composition when applying for a job.
Do:
Don’t:
So, do you have any tips of your own? It’s hot and muggy in the office so I’m gonna take my socks off now and get back to not responding to all these rude job applications.
Well, I’ve been at Mirashade for a couple of years now, it has been great fun and a huge experience but I have plans to develop my career in a slightly new direction. At 28 I feel that it’s time to move from ‘hands on’ to a slightly more ‘hands off’ position, so with that in mind I’m taking some steps to ensure that I’m headed in that direction. In other words… I’m looking for a new work opportunity.
Good question, well I’m a new media designer / developer with management skills and a strategic business led approach to projects.
I’m passionate about design, have a broad range of experience across varying mediums and business sectors and 8 years of industry knowledge to call upon.
I’m looking for a position where I can oversee the running of a small team of talented individuals as a new-media / creative director. I’ll be responsible for creative direction, quality control, meeting with clients and working with management to build the team and drive the business forward.
I’m based in the UK and not looking to leave any time soon. Specifically the Thames Valley area suits me best but I’m willing to explore opportunities further afield.
Well, perhaps you know of an opportunity, know of someone who might know of an opportunity or know of someone who might know of someone who might know of an opportunity… you get the idea… simply leave a comment in response to this post, or get in touch with me via any of the contact methods detailed in my CV.
Yesterday I started my new job as ‘Senior Multimedia Developer’ at Mirashade. Everyone seems very nice, atmosphere is relaxed and I have work to do, which makes a nice change. :)
On the 22nd of Apirl I’ll be starting work at my new home ‘Mirashade‘ in Reading, UK.
My new job title: Senior Newmedia Developer.
Hopefully I’ll be spending more time on interactive projects and less time on print, plus I’ll be much nearer to home. It’s all good. :)