laissez faire to llc: 10 lessons for business 2020 taught me
While I’ve done freelance design projects off and on since 2014, it wasn’t until February 2020 I made the huge leap to pursue it full-time. Fresh off the high of a successful zine publication for the Philly Freelance Festival in January 2020, I had a couple clients lining up to sign contracts, an internship in UX design nearly locked in, and a whole lot of optimism about the coming year.
You can probably imagine how that played out. The internship cancelled, half the projects “put off indefinitely” and no more in-person events at which to network my new offerings and services.
But it all worked out for me and my fledgling business. The systems put in place to keep people afloat during a pandemic, in conjunction with a LOT of looking out from the communities I am engaged with in Philadelphia, kept a roof over my head, no bills went unpaid, and I gained experience and referral business from previous clients.
So by 2021, it was clear my design work was not just an “in-between things” thing, like it had been at other points in my life, but the main event of my career moving forward.
While starting a business during a pandemic was by no means easy, I learned a lot about myself, my business style, and that really tired word: resilience.
Here are my top 10 business lessons of 2020/2021, so far, and in no particular order:
Don’t work on learning, learn to do the work
It only takes 18 months of showing up and putting in the work to turn your life around
Learning to estimate is VITAL. The first time you put in 20+ hours of work on a project you charged a flat rate of $200 will be the last time you ever charge a flat rate of $200 for something you can’t templatize or do using automation.
Staying organized with a contract/proposal/invoicing platform is worth the subscription cost. Of course I can’t tell you what financial reality you face, what you can afford, but the $20-$30/month for a platform like Bonsai saves me at least 15 hours a month in creating proposals and contracts, and sends automated attitude-free reminders when I have unpaid invoices with a client.
Your previous clients can be your most powerful marketing tool. As long as you have delivered on your promise, you should never feel bad hitting up a previous client and asking them to hook you up with a few leads they may come across that month. The work you did for your previous clients only gains in value as you become more and more successful, so even if they don’t realize it, your past clients do have a vested interest in your success!
Sometimes you just have to ship. Perfection is the enemy of progression.
Don’t fall for the trap of trying to “cast the widest net.” BMW and Volvo owners don’t take their cars to an auto shop called “Jon’s Fix You Up Foreign and Domestic,” they go to shops with names like “Rossi’s Euro Werks: European Car Specialists.” Specializing and “niching down” provide clarity to you and your target client about the kind of work you want to be involved in.
It is OK to have 2 tiers of work: the work you do that you showcase, and the work you do that you don’t showcase. The work you showcase should be representative of work you want more of, work that fulfills your creative goals and points you in the direction you want to be going. Taking work that you know you won’t showcase can still be a really crucial part of your business’ income the first few years while you carefully curate your portfolio of ideal types of projects. That doesn’t mean you don’t do a good job, but it might be for an industry you don’t want to work in long-term, or is attached to an NDA so you don’t have permission to share it anyway. (Extra tip: If there is an NDA attached, always charge 15-20% more than you would charge a similar client that doesn’t prevent you from showcasing the work publicly.)
Work or concepts that a client has rejected do not have to be a sunken cost of your time. Think creatively about how you can recycle rejected concepts or turn them into ready-made templates/downloads you can sell on your website. As long as your contracts stipulate that you retain rights to rejected concepts and IP, you can spin those rejects up into passive income, baby!
Don’t go it alone. Find a community of people who are also running their own businesses, changing careers, or work in the industry you’re getting into. You’ll be amazed how much value industry peers willingly offer. Whether it is advice in a general sense, referrals to legal/accounting professionals, or hot leads on potential new clients or gigs, you will ALWAYS get more out of a community than it takes on your part to be a part of it. That’s the magic of collectivism.