freelancing after college
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- mantra0
thanks jamble.
- kerus0
dont think, just leap. necessity of the mother of innovation
- kerus0
and with that said, a few years at an agency can be extremely valuable :)
- dibec0
Do it. Before you know it, you are married, with a kid, bald and fat.
There is a lot less risk when you are younger, and if you make it your reward will be yield more. ;)
- dog_opus0
Go big. No matter what happens, you'll learn some valuable lessons that can only help you in the long run. Read this book too, if you already haven't: http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-De…
- TREBIO0
sorry to say but design is only 20% of a design business. you'll spend most of your time chasing money or looking for clients. and when you expand you'll be more concerned about cashflow than design. it's a sad reality. i've been on both sides and it takes a lot of discipline to go freelance.
- ukit0
Not necessarily, I do freelance and 100% of my jobs at the moment are from existing clients. I do 0% promotion and still able to pay teh billz:D
- mantra0
ukit: im in sort of the same boat. we've done 0 promotion and landed some decent sized clients by word of mouth. i doubt that will continue long term, but who knows.
i totally understand about staying and gaining experience at an agency. i've learned alot since i've been here, and i JUST graduated may 10th.
i kind of feel like a dick in a way complaining about not being satisfied at an agency, while most of the graduates from my design program are still looking for jobs. its just that i cant see myself doing this for an extended period of time.
this feels like its a now or never type of thing and really, im not sure why. it could be that im overly ambitious, also it could be that im working with a guy who is 40 and is still at an agency and is going nowhere... which is something that i dont want to happen.
thanks again for your input.
- ********0
agencies are so over. Well, lets just say they'll be stuck pushing the geriatric products will rogues like you will make millions off of re-engineering "cool" for the next generation of hipster doofuses.
- MLP0
Chuck didn't even go to school and he's bigger than Japan...
- mantra0
making millions off of hipster doofuses is right up my alley...
- NONEIS0
Listen, keep your day job, start the business on the side. I make an extra 20,000 or so a year this way, and yeah it requires a lot of personal after work hours to keep it going, but test the waters first while you still have something to depend on every month. Just make sure you don't have a conflict of interest and that you are not violating any non-compete things you may have signed, and you are golden. I just think you will benefit from doing both for a while, it will give you a better perspective of where you really are, and what running everything on your own will really be like, there is a lot more too it then just answering to yourself and having higher moral and design standards then whatever ad agency you work for...
- adev0
Keep the agency job for now. Hopefully, you can learn a lot of business tips if you get to deal with clients and attend meetings--especially if your agency deals with a lot of clients at once. This obviously differs greatly with a small agency to a large agency.
- 24jynnad0
Sorry to, as they say, rain on the parade. I'm pro enterprise and everything but I look at start-ups regularly, couples are rarely a recipe from success and 5k ($?) is a minimal start up amount to go at it seriously.
Take the work on the side and earn some extra cash while you gain corporate experience, when you are in the right position then take the step. I would also recommend bank debting the start-up money, or setting up an llp with a concrete shareholding. It all seems rosy now but the only things certain are.. well you know the rest.
You may have qualified in design but that and business are two very different games!! Good luck either way!
- Llyod0
freelancing is better done after having worked at an agency. that way you'll learn the business.
- joseprieto0
FAIL HARDER!
- ********0
Just do it. Youre young enough to recover if you screw the pooch and it sounds like you want to do t anyway. It's not gonna be glorious, well maybe it will be, but you probably wont have a similar chance.
- mantra0
thanks again for all of the input.
24jynnad:
when i mentioned the startup money, 5k is the minimum amount offered.again, thanks for the advice.