Originally Posted by Nemaeus
So, im just wondering if any of you guys have done this and made it big ( mainly in the UK ) Also, do most of you advertise localy? And if so by what means?
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i'm going to sound negative, but the whole thing of
making it big is that you're actually a big player in the field and you aren't pinned to a specific sector. the "big" people are international.
it's entirely possible to set up shop and be a success, but it's not something you can do over night. i've gone through the same process. it's long.
just establishing yourself as a business (getting a license, or going incorporated, or whatever you decide to do) isn't going to get you business. the problem with setting up shop, cold turkey, is that you have no credibility. you can have a kick ass portfolio, but if it's all personal work, all it shows is technical talent. it can't vouch that you're not a pain in the ass to work with, that you run off on people, you don't pad your budget, you're prompt, tat you can produce the quality work within certain time frames, etc. all that **** people look for when they want to do business.
it took me a while to realize it, but there is a big reason people start off as someone's work hose and then go off on their own.
1. you can watch/learn from professionals with no risk of failure. if you take on a deal on your own and drop the ball, you can really **** them off and have them bad mouth you to everyone they know. being the work horse behind the scenes, you can talk to people, figure out what they did and compare it to what you would have done.
2. you can focus on your abilities one at a time. to get a job as a junior designer, al you need to be able to do is design. you don't need managerial skills. you don't need PR skills. you don't need budget skills. first you just work on being a good designer. once you have that, you can do point #1 and start leaning new skills from credible people.
3. money.
there's 2 kinds of freelancers. there's freelancers who are basically design mercenaries. they offer the services to anyone looking to hire, from a job to job basis. most of the time they offer their services to other design firms/related companies who are in need of design services on a regular basis. this puts a middle man between you and the client.
the second kind of freelancing is a direct you>client relationship. this is what most people think freelance design is. i hate this stuff. with a passion. most of the clients who look for this route are people who don't want to deal with full studios and think they can get a great bargain on price. they usually can, because the projects are usually boring - if it wasn't, they would probably take it to the big firm. you need incredible networking to get cool jobs this way.
option 1 pays well, because it's funded by people who have the cash flow to go to big studios. you're also not doing any sales work, so if you develop a good connection with the company, they'll probably call on you regularly.
option 2 not so much. boring projects don't pay well. without a solid network in place, you'll probably find most people who inquire about your services are the people that want to spend $500 on a website, start to finish. i don't know if you're in school or not, or what you know about pricing. $500 might look like a lot when you see sites sold on the internet for $100, but trust me. it isn't. the average 2-3 page site would probably run around $2000 with a real pricing scheme. people who don't want to spend $2k usually look for some cornered designer who will take their peanuts out of desperation. that's why i hate dealing with random clients.
i've probably put a negative image in your mind, and you shouldn't see it that way. i'm throwing knowledge at you it takes years to figure out on your own.
it's entirely possible to be a huge success running your own business, but like any success you need a plan. a thorough one. you can just throw down, shout "i'm a web designer" and that's that. you'd have to start small. it'll be boring. you probably won't like it, but it's like any other job. with enough time, you will advance somewhere with it. you can make it big, and become a big player, but it's a lot of work, a lot of planning and a lot of time.
i've been doing both scenarios for the last month and i've made as much as i would as a full time designer, but i don't enjoy working by myself so setting up my own shop isn't a smart idea for me right now.
hope i helped.