The Truth About Freelancing: Why It's Not the Right Fit for Everyone — The Everyday Designer #29

So… I have something to admit to you guys…

I may have bit the bullet too soon on the freelance life…

…and I’m here to tell you, my Hail Mary plan, and my plan to return to full-time design work if the time calls for it…

What I Was Sold On

They say its always bigger in your head.

Whether it be good or bad, the content is always bigger in your head. The dream is always more grand in your head. The nightmare is always worse in your head. You get the point.

The full-time freelance, your-hours, your-rates, your-lifestyle, always sounded better in my head. The network-building, the social parties, the “clients booked until _”, the self-generating lead machine, all of it can and does happen. Just hasn’t happened for me yet.

And reality is setting in.

It’s not working.

But I have learned a lot.

I hope this helps even one person, stop, think, and plan, before taking the dive into full-time freelancing (cause it is still totally possible to make work)

What I Learned In Retrospect

Most of the time, a plan is better than no plan at all, after all.

I threw myself into the deep end (at a very strange time in the history of mankind) before learning how to wade in the shallow end. I started trying to run, before I even knew how to walk, here’s what happened:

1. Network — My network wasn’t built up enough to be sustaining for a while long enough to build a snowball effect of clients that I could book months in advance.
2. Portfolio — Virtually does not exist (its my #1 priority now). Yes, www.presa.studio is a working link, and it doesn’t look horrible, its just the case studies aren’t uploaded so how is anyone going to want to hire me if I don’t even have my own website up and running properly?!
3. Savings — Full transparency, I did not build up enough of a savings so that I could “take off” safely. I would say a calculated risk is always better than a risk. Yes, at some point you have to take the risk. BUT, that does not mean it has to be so nonchalantly taken. I learned after the fact, after listening to so many podcasts and reading other people’s experiences and advise, how much better you will feel taking off knowing that you have a safety net underneath you to catch up if things are going well, or picking up.
4. Different hats — The amount of different hats you need to wear as a solopreneur, business owner, studio-runner, is quite staggering. A lot of people don’t take the plunge for this reason alone. It ‘s overwhelming. You have to be the accountant, the bookkeeper, the counsellor, the doctor (diagnosing the real problem), the psychologist, the salesperson, the lead generator. This lifestyle is not for the faint of heart (but again, its not impossible to achieve)

What I Will Do Differently Next Time

You’re probably wondering… “Alex, next time? Hasn’t this scared you into NEVER doing it again?”

My answer is…no.

It actually fuels me to give it another crack. But this time, with all the knowledge and experience I’ve gained since trying it out the first time.

How would I do it differently if I had to try again you ask?

1. I would spend more time working for an agency/a couple agencies (or contract work) to continue to develop my creative chops (both theoretically and practically) so I can come to the table with more developed systems and processes that would be effective and efficient.
2. In doing point #1, I would also be inadvertently be building up a network, working with prospective clients and the networks that they have! I would also develop a better process for reaching out to past clients and asking for referrals as well.
3. I would save up at least 6 months (and if you want to be even more conservative a 1 years’s worth) of income to sustain myself and have my needs provided so I can put out my best work without the stress of not know when my next slice of bread is going to arrive.
4. I would (and will) have my portfolio up! Simple as that. Imagine trying to sell someone on a loaf of bread and never showing them how it looks like, or giving them a sample of how it tastes like. Would be a MUCH HARDER sell. SHOW YOUR WORK as the good Austin Kleon would say.
5. I would hire an accountant to make sure all my books are balanced and in order. If I’ve learned one thing throughout this journey, it’s to delegate the tasks you do not like doing as soon as you can so you can focus on the things you actually like doing.

My Last Ditch Effort

After talking with a business mentor of mine (thanks Peter!) he suggested to me something genius, yet seemingly obvious, that I never thought of before.

And I challenge any of you reading this to join me.

Reach out to a bunch of local design agencies, and ask them if they have any overflow work that they could use help with. (This kinda goes back to my article on serving not selling; which you can read here.)

So either this is going to go well enough that I won’t have to go back to searching for a full-time gig for the time being…or I will be scrambling to send my portfolio to every design job that I can possibly find (which if you’re looking for one I have an article that has links to all the best design job boards for free, here.)

Either way, you will be hearing about the outcome in a future edition of The Everyday Designer!

Thank you 🙏

Please let me know if you found this article helpful at all or if you’re going to try that agency reach-out challenge with me

Feel free to DM me, comment here, or email me at hello@theeverydaydesigner.co would love to get a conversation going!

Have a great week, and go design some beautiful things. 😍

🌊 Currents

ICYMI I sent out my first freebie for you guys, vetted by a few great designers in the industry!

🔑 Design Resource Freebie: Portfolio Project Template — My first of many free design resources, this came out of a frustrating time where I’ve been struggling to develop case studies for my portfolio. This notion template is meant to make your portfolio preparing easy as you get your ideas, thoughts, rationales, research, images, videos, animations, gifs, mockups all in one place; in an order that is good to present to your viewers. (I will also be coming out with a Figma template for the more practically-inclined 😉)

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