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These days it seems that every other wage-slave is quitting their
secure full-time job so that they can set up on their own. Why do
people give up a guaranteed monthly pay cheque for the long hours,
hard graft and stress that comes with working for yourself?
By Nigel Gordijk
My long road to self-employment started more than ten years ago
when I began sub-contracting for dozens of design companies, working
as a temporary designer through recruitment agency Aquent. I joined
Aquent (back in the days when it was called MacTemps) shortly after
I received a few thousand in compensation following a road accident.
Before that, I had worked for five years for a small design consultancy,
but I felt like I needed a bit more variety after such a long time
in one place. I figured that a few grand in compensation would be
a safety net for when I had lean times. It turns out that I never
had to touch a penny because I had so many clients that often asked
for me to come back when they needed help with their work overflow,
which kept me incredibly busy for more than seven years.
One of these clients (the London office of Interactive Bureau)
offered me a permanent position as its senior Web designer. I happily
accepted as the company already employed a good number of extremely
talented people and I wanted to be part of that team. However, following
the dotcom crash a few years ago, business at Interactive Bureau
hit a slump and I, along with many others, was made redundant.
In my twelve year career, this was the first time that I had ever
been "let go". It left me a bit shell-shocked and shook
me out of my comfort zone. After years of clients asking for me
by name, I suddenly found myself to be dispensable. I immediately
signed up with Aquent again, but work seemed to be much harder to
come by. I quickly realised that if I wanted to get the type of
projects I enjoyed, I would have to work at it myself. As someone
once said, "No one takes care of you like you".
I began visiting several online forums, looking for advice from
fellow professionals. For me, the best of these was, and still is,
the Graphic Design forum on About.com. I read magazines and books
on all manner of business and marketing topics with a voracious
appetite. Gradually, I learned how to get clients to come to me
by using self-promotion and marketing. I redesigned and rebuilt
my Web site from the ground up so that it would achieve a higher
ranking on search engines like Google. I became one of the founding
members of an online global network of creative professionals called
Creative Latitude (I designed its Web site).
Following a short stint as a full-time designer for local consultancy
Wild Dog Design, in the summer of 2003 I decided that the time was
right for me to begin working for myself. In the months before I
made this decision, I had invested a lot of time in marketing my
services and promoting my site. This paid off because in less than
four months on my own I was earning more than I had as an employee.
As I approach the end of my second full year as a sole trader, my
workload is increasing to the extent that I now choose which new
clients I want to work for.
Incidentally, the value of good working relationships and not burning
your bridges should not be undervalued. I left Wild Dog on good
terms and they continue to be a major client.
My first-hand experience of taking that vertiginous leap into the
world of being your own boss has proven invaluable. Many of the
companies on my client list (almost a third) came to me as start-ups
or firms that had been trading for no more than a year.
It's exhilarating, exciting and, at times, extremely scary - and
I heartily recommend it to everyone. |
