Being an independent designer

It was in 2004 when I first gave serious thought to self-employment. I was part of a team in a small cancer charity, and one day after work I picked up a hefty ankle injury playing football. Unable to walk for a couple of weeks meant some time away from the office, but it was still easy to work remotely. When I was back in the office, I couldn’t shake the thought of starting a business from home, and within the year I’d given my notice.

My formal education really hadn’t prepared me for design self-employment. And judging by the students I regularly talk to, that’s common among designers of a similar level. So if you’re thinking of making the same move, here are a few of the pros and cons from my time as an independent designer.

By Leonetto Cappiello, for Mossant, 1938

You get to wear a lot of different hats

Designer, salesperson, marketer, promoter, project manager, accountant, IT support, developer, cleaner — just a few of the hats you’ll wear. So while you might spend a lot of time working from desks, it’s hardly dull.

Sometimes you just want to wear your favourite hat

At some point you’ll want to be a designer when you need to be a negotiator, or you’ll want to be using your sketchpad when you need to travel for a meeting. Don’t ignore the other hats, no matter how strange the fit might initially seem.

Doing the job you love

How many of your friends and family love their jobs? How many of them work solely to pay bills or support their families? I know how fortunate that makes me.

Love gets tested

A client might disappear without making final payment. A mistake from someone you bring on board to help will mean taking the blame yourself. Some potential clients think that because you love your job, you’ll happily work for free. It’s not all roses.

You decide your rates

If you charge what your previous employer might’ve charged others for your time, and you take your boss out of the equation, straight away you earn more money. There aren’t any predetermined income brackets that someone puts you in, no annual pay reviews where you try to convince your superiors that you’re worth more — in self-employment, you determine your worth. That was part of the incentive for me, but also led to one of the biggest challenges…

No-one tells you what to charge

People can give you some indication of what figure to show on your project quotes, but no-one knows your education and work history like you do. No-one knows the level of effort and attention to detail you put into every project. No-one knows that you sometimes see anchor points when you close your eyes. This is your call, and you’ll always question what you decide, whether you win the project or not.

You set your hours

No nine to five, Monday to Friday. No generating someone else’s profits. If I need to go somewhere one afternoon, or if I just fancy a walk along the coast, I don’t need permission. Routine’s still important, setting the times when clients can reach you, for example, but in general, you have a lot more flexibility with your time.

Some people think you’re always on call

I’ve worked with clients in almost every time zone, more than 30 countries, and in the early days, taking full responsibility for every project detail was completely new, so I wasn’t careful enough about setting boundaries. Being woken by a client calling in the middle of the night is hardly ideal. That’s a small thing, clarifying those expectations. Still important, though.

You set the rules

And you have a huge advantage over bigger businesses. No need for meeting after meeting before a marketing campaign or before changing the focus of what you do. Go ahead. You’re in charge. At the beginning I solely wanted to work with local clients — meeting face-to-face so I could build a stronger relationship. So I got my stationery printed at a local shop, dusted off my portfolio, dressed the part and hit the streets. Was I successful? Not really, but I was trying. I was putting myself in front of potential clients, only needing a few days of preparation.

No one explains what to do

In hindsight, I was at my most naïve when first starting out. My business name was the cringeworthy New Dawn Graphics, with a website made to appear like I was a team of designers rather than just me. I became increasingly uncomfortable with the generic name until finally branding myself under my personal name. I was much happier, but branding definitely wasn’t the end of the mistakes I’d make.

If you want a holiday, take a holiday

Friends going on a last-minute trip? Festival tickets suddenly become available? More stressed than normal lately? There’s no longer the need to juggle your time off around your colleagues’ prebooked holidays. Your only concern is with your clients. Treat them well. Then treat yourself. There’s no boss to give you a Christmas bonus or tell you to have the rest of the day off. That’s on you. Don’t let it slip.

Forget paid holidays

No paid sick days or maternity/paternity leave, either.

Your clients come from all walks of life, all around the world

Clients can just as easily be halfway around the world as they can the other side of town. What I still find strange is that my clients are mostly overseas, and it’s rare when I have the pleasure of meeting in person. But the best part of working with different people is how the nature of their businesses changes with almost every project. With one I’ll need to learn about surfing, with another about tequila, another about fashion, medical advances, digital music… The things you’re paid to study are limited only by the clients you choose to work with.

You probably can’t meet every client in person

You can’t beat meeting face-to-face for building a relationship, so I’m unlikely to create the strongest of bonds through phone and video calls. That doesn’t mean I can’t surpass expectations. It’s just that I won’t always be in the room to see any delight. There’s a positive in there, though — you save a ton of time that would’ve been spent traveling to and from meetings.

The 1-minute commute

Would anyone actually miss rush hour? You can spend that time and fuel elsewhere.

The inability to leave your work “at the office”

When your job’s where you live, it’s easy to work longer hours, easy to say “just one more email” or “one more design change.” But step back. Look around. The people we so easily take for granted won’t be here forever.

Change your scenery

The sun’s shining, not a cloud in the sky, you’ve spent the past week working indoors. Grab the laptop and head to the park, beach, countryside…

In fact, leave it at home. Take the afternoon off. You can catch up later.