I’m approaching my first year of being a full time freelance designer and I can’t believe how fast time has gone by. I also can’t believe how successful I’ve been, how many amazing people I’ve had the opportunity to work with and how much fun it’s really been to work for myself. When I first started freelancing exclusively, it was out of necessity. To get started, I read some books, read some blogs, and decided that since I already had a computer, software and the design know-how, it wouldn’t be that hard to get started. One of the books I read had a line in it that said, basically, being a self employed freelance artist is one of the hardest and most rewarding career paths one could choose. That book was right…soooo right! Here are some of the things I’ve learned on my journey, which I’m sure will be greatly added to as more time passes.

Don’t sell yourself short. This is really hard for a designer, especially a young designer like myself who has a lot of experience doing in-house design, but not so much studio experience. In a studio, I imagine you learn at some point what you’re skills are really worth. When you’re in-house, you know what your salary is and you don’t have to worry about sending out quotes or learning about what people are willing to pay for your services. I learned this the hard way. I’ll be very honest, I’m still working on figuring this out. I just had a great talk with a friend, Will Kesling of Design Miner, and we both agree that pricing is tricky. His advice to me is to aim high and negotiate when you need to. So far, it seems to be working. We also both agree that doing work on crowd sourcing sites is a no-no. If you’re a good designer, you deserve more than $100 for a logo. Don’t settle!

Set the bar to a level you can reach. During a meeting with a client yesterday, they said to me “I just love doing business with you because you’re fast, reliable and your work is great.” Part of being fast and reliable is not telling your client you’ll have something tomorrow or the next day just to sound like you’re fast and reliable. If you think it’s going to take you a few days to do a set of concepts or get your client a flier, tell them that it will take you a few days. Sure, they would love if you could have x-project to them by 4pm the day you meet them, but be realistic with yourself and with them. If you set their expectations super high and then you can’t meet that goal, they will be disappointed. If you set their expectations where you’re comfortable and you meet it, you’re golden. If you set their expectations where you’re comfortable and you beat it, you’re even better off. Most clients, unless they have a reason to rush a project, are pretty understanding about how long something will take as long as in the end, you do what you say you will. That’s key.

Offer services other than what they’re paying you to do. One thing I love to do for my clients is to get print quotes and pick up any printed work when it’s completed. Then I hand deliver the project. Yes, it takes a little leg-work on my part, but my clients absolutely love it. It leaves me with a sense that I saw the project from beginning to end, and it leaves them knowing that they didn’t have to deal with the confusion that is the printing process. It saves me emails having to go through the client to talk to the printer if questions arise and ensures that I’ll have a sample or two to show to future potential clients.

Running a business is hard. There is a reason many people who start a business took classes in…well…business. That reason is because it’s really hard! When you go to art school, you leave with hopes and dreams of starting your own studio and making it big in your city’s design industry. You also leave with very few, if any, lessons in bookkeeping, self promotion and marketing, tax filing, pricing (that again!), quoting/invoicing/what-to-do-when-your-client-hasn’t-paid-yet, etc etc etc. Books will help, accounting/tax software will help and knowing people who have “been there” really really helps. It will take time to learn all of these things, but it is possible. Just know going into it that you will probably make a lot of mistakes when it comes to learning how to run a business and that you will likely learn from those mistakes. That makes it a little less overwhelming and scary.

Remember to breathe, even when bills are due and you haven’t been paid.

Have fun. I hear all the time “You’re so lucky that you work for yourself.” While it’s really hard and sometimes I question whether or not it’s worth all the stress, I am lucky. I get to wear jeans to the office everyday and my commute is a matter of steps from my bed. If I’m sick, I don’t have to feel bad about calling off because I can work from my couch. If I want to go to the grocery store in the middle of the day, I can. If I want to work until all hours of the night, I can. If I need a break and I decide I want to take a walk, I am allowed. Being self employed is great if you can make it work for you. It’s all about balance, determination, and a lot of hard work.