Working as a Freelance Designer.

If you ask what the most frequently gossiped-about topic is in our profession, "Clients" come in first place as the subject, and "Bosses" come in second. The content of the discussions never changes either ... If the subject is the client, the topic is most likely the never-ending demands of clients about design. Put the text here, the picture there, let the background color be like this, the logo size like that, etc. etc... it goes on and on. When the subject is the boss, the content varies a bit. The boss never puts pressure on the client about delivery times, never opposes design intervention requests, suddenly changes the workflow, doesn't pay overtime, is unbearable in the mornings, stands over you and leans on your shoulder, you work day and night to get the job done but he doesn't even thank you, and despite all your above-and-beyond performance, if you arrive 15 minutes late in the morning he scolds you etc. etc... dozens of other examples can be listed. I personally don't think I would be exaggerating if I said I never experienced these kinds of situations. Of course, I'll save the explanation of this seemingly extraordinary situation for another time. The main topic is why you have to put up with the never-ending whims of these two leading actors. Why? I have been working freelance—a term I don't like—since 1998. There was a 7-8 month agency stint once, but that period was a very enjoyable process for me. As a Graphic Designer (or, as I now define it, a Graphic Artist) who has spent at least 10 years in agencies as a designer, as an operator in reproduction services, and about 12 years working freelance, I can tell you only one advantage of working as staff at an agency or print shop... You know how much money will go into your pocket at the beginning of the month! But what happens if you launch your professional life today as a freelance designer? Under normal market conditions—the conditions you are eager to work in—what would you experience? If you put on a good performance, I think you'll experience a process roughly like this; - The first three months will be a financially unprofitable period spent expressing and proving yourself. You will continually visit the firms you have your eye on or friends and acquaintances around you to try to acquire clients. - The second three months will pass with you having taken on some work and trying to finish it, and if you didn't take an upfront payment, it means you'll experience another financially difficult period. - In the third three-month period, you're still hustling, meeting new clients... Now you have new jobs in hand and the payments for the previous work you did are also starting to come in. - In the last three months of the year, the market more or less knows you, you have one or a few jobs that have settled into a routine, and your earnings have started to stabilize. - In the period after one year, you'll have an established order, one or two clients who continually give you work, increased work potential thanks to people referring you here and there, and a—albeit variable—income flow that won't make you miss your previous salary at all, perhaps much more. - At the end of the third year, you've reached a point where you can choose both the work and the client. Your decision to work freelance will trouble you for at most one year, and I think this one year should be a time spent shedding the lifelong "client-boss" whims you would otherwise endure. Yes, perhaps you will be free of boss stress only to continue living with client syndrome, but in the end you are independent and can determine your own rules and your own working conditions, and arrange your workflow as you wish. You take the work you want and don't work with clients you don't want. You don't have a coworker next to you whose face annoys you or whose foolishness has worn you out; if you need to, you choose the person you'll work with. If you don't feel like it, you don't work that day; you don't ask anyone for permission to go to the doctor, to the registrar, or to the grocer. No one but you can use your computer, you can change the keyboard if you don't like it, you set up your desk wherever you want, you can welcome guests to your workplace whenever you wish. If your workplace isn't at home, you can move your work close to home, if the tea boy's tea isn't good you brew nice tea in your own kitchen. The work is yours, the place is yours, the time is yours... you make of it what you want. ... On the other hand, doesn't freelancing have any disadvantages at all? Of course it does; there's only one job in the world that has no stress or hardship, and we all already know what it is! So what kind of disadvantages can freelancing have? One, you are now both the boss and the employee. You will track your debts and receivables. From time to time your receivables won't come in on time, and if you're not careful, you'll have trouble with your payments. If you can't learn to plan your income annually rather than monthly, you also won't be able to balance income and expenses. Sometimes you won't get the equivalent of your labor; you'll experience collection problems. So what's the solution? If you clearly state your working principles in your business meetings and create a disciplined payment plan, you won't have much trouble with this. You have to do all your business with contracts and obtain your receivables in cash without using documents like checks and promissory notes. This will narrow your client portfolio; you will lose clients, but at least you'll keep receivables losses to a minimum—which means you'll suffer less. Two, the crisis environments we experience from time to time will also create difficulties under freelance work conditions. But then again, if there is a crisis, you may also be laid off from the agency you work for, or face the possibility of getting your salary late or not at all. So a crisis is a situation that affects not just you but everyone. Freelancing is a working style in which you control the flow of work and money. You can comfortably get through difficult days by saving up some money during good times to ride out the lean times. This depends entirely on your earning and spending discipline. Before taking a freelance position, if possible, you should patiently work for at least two or three years in an agency, design office, print shop, or a similar service company in order to develop yourself and gain experience. My most serious advice on freelancing is working hours! Be absolutely principled about this; you should be at your work by 09:00 at the latest, no matter what time you went to bed. Finish your workday at 20:00 at the latest, visit clients at least once a week if possible, visit the digital print center, the print shop, and your other solution partners you work with. Always give your business card to everyone you meet, and never bad-mouth your competitors. Never criticize the previous work that the new potential clients had done before; instead, share positive aspects from a different job, brand, or company by showing good examples. Remember, anyone can sling mud, but only those with knowledge can speak the truth—show your knowledge. ... I'm not trying to talk you out of your current working situation and encourage you to a lifestyle you're not used to. Though rare, there are even those among you who are content with their boss, their workplace, and even the clients of the company they work for; with all due respect. There are those of you who say, "I'll grit my teeth, and after 10 years I'll set up my own business with the agency experience I've gained"—that's also one of the options. Who knows, maybe your boss will even offer you a partnership; in fact, some of you may already be working under such a promise. What I'm trying to say is this; If you are experiencing boss and client syndrome, you are torturing yourself for nothing. Instead of living with this trouble for a lifetime, scratching your way up the ladder to success by establishing your own working discipline for at most two years will be the greatest favor you can do for yourself. If you trust the quality of your output, if you believe you can run your own working conditions under solid work discipline, the fact that you're still waiting means you're losing the two most important things... Health + Time! Zülfikar Fidancı