Freelance vs $120k?
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- cannonball19780
How much does loosing control of your time cost?
- d_rek0
Only 4 more years until student loans are paid off. When that happens i'll probably seriously consider doing freelance / starting my own studio full-time.
- ohhhhhsnap0
Just answer this:
Will the additional $ make you happier?
If you do not have insurance/benefits now... it's the only reason why I would think of getting on board.
- + the mission/brand. do you LOVE it?ohhhhhsnap
- Insurance is ridiculous nowadays too. I pay $1600 a month for the family (and that's considered average).fyoucher1
- ooph!ohhhhhsnap
- formed0
to the detractors...I've been running my business for over a decade now, never could work for 'the man' for more than a few months after grad school and started my own thing (a la 2000 recession).
BUT it is always up and down. You never, ever know what it will be like the next month, let alone the next year.
BIG DEAL - paid vacations/sick leave and healthcare. Sure, you can take time off whenever you want working for yourself, but not only do you not get paid, you lose money that you could have made.
STABILITY - this doesn't mean that you can't lose your job, that can happen in a blink of an eye (I know from experience here, again, 2000), BUT you do know what you will make next month, the month after, if you don't get fired. Freelance you never will know, not for sure.
GOOD - this uncertainty goes both ways, one month you could make nothing, next month you could make 10 times the amount. That's exciting and frustrating.
BAD - there is just no certainty. I suppose it is all relative. If this buy was aiming for 40k I'd say, shit, that's not much, just go have fun and make your own hours, but 120k is a decent amount of money. If you can get that with "some" certainty, that's a pretty big deal. Obviously there are a lot of factors we don't know "Premium Brand" is that Doritos or Prada? Colgate or Porsche?That's my 2 cents. Again, if it were a small amount of cash, it'd be a different discussion.
- randommail0
re: the economy factor,
I feel like being a nimble 1 or 2 person studio has allowed/forced me to stay flexible and thus take on a wide range of projects. So even during the worst of our economic recession, I was able to stay afloat by diversifying my revenue sources. Graphic design, brand consulting, web development management, photography, etc.
But that's precisely where the stress comes in.
I guess that's why a good salary in-house appears attractive. Just do one thing, get paid regularly. But it's a catch-22.
- omg0
say goodbye to your own studio after a year. lose all your clients. take job, then get laid off to have no studio... don't let greed take control of you.
- ukit20
Sit down and do a cost benefit analysis. Subtract projected freelance earnings for the year from full time salary and benefits. Then figure out the cost of sacrificing your freedom, dignity, and control over your own time.
- doing this sitting down is a must ;)ohhhhhsnap
- I always sit down when I sacrifice my dignity.arthur
- randommail0
It's been a year ...
and I went to continue down the freelance/studio route.
It's been good money wise. Fairly close to what a salaried job would be, except the insurance and expenses. So the net income was less. But I continue to hope to grow this year.Now another question looms:
My marketing is directed to businesses, not agencies. I think the agencies will hire from time to time based on the portfolio and not my positioning. So it comes down to, should us solo companies (that can team up with others on project basis) market and brand themselves as a "freelancer" or a "boutique studio"???Curious to what you guys are doing, if you're in the same boat as me.
- randommail0
btw, also to add to my update:
2013 was pretty decent money wise, but amazing in terms of lifestyle!
Worked no more than 30 hours per week. Slept 10 hours a day. Went to the gym 5 days a week. Stayed out late on weekends. Freelancers in their 20s/30s - good life if you're confident in your work ability.
- pinkfloyd0
Freelancing was fun but I didn't have the self discipline. Was nice sometimes pulling in 17k in a month, but I needed more stability.
- fyoucher10
Studio. Expect to get paid freelance rates and thought of as a freelancer if you brand yourself as a freelancer, not a studio. Big big difference, not just money (which is wildly different) but everything else essentially.
- randommail0
thanks guys.
A lot of strong arguments for staying self-employed and trying to advance it further.
I'm leaning towards sticking with my own studio for a bit longer and seeing if my thoughts about it change.
- Maaku0
Post a link to the job? We never know...
- robotron3k0
Ask for more money/or better title from your potential boss to ease any concerns. Bring on a partner (like Stagmiester did) to help you with your studio (take smaller cut), work ft for a while, do some killer work at your new job. Leave after a year or so, charge higher rates and have nice work to show. problem solved.
- ben_0
I just went through something similar, sold my shares of a studio I founded to a belligerent, delusional business partner - and found myself staring down two client-side offers or the possibility of continuing on freelance - I chose the latter because I have a good roster of great clients who have been loyal over the years, and fortunately decided to stick with me. This all happened in the past 4 months, and one of the positions I was offered has already been cut short for the person who took the job. I'm glad I did what I did. For now, anyway. Good luck with it!
- Wolfboy0
Maybe for an agency position, but I'd never go full time in house.
- albums0
insurance is awesome. I'd take the job and negotiate work from home days and make massive mortgage payments until i couldn't do the day job thing anymore then go back to freelancing.
- monospaced0
Full time, in house, art director position opening at my firm.
- Hombre_Lobo0
^totally agree.
Seems to be no benefits to brand as an individual freelancer. Brand as a studio and charge what a studio would charge (more).Obviously people will know that you are just 1 person (or 2 w/e) if they dig around your site, but it's no big deal.