Friday is Freelancer’s Monday
I was working at a pretty interesting firm as a UX designer when I realized in spite of all the comfort and growth I had, something wasn’t working for me. I enjoy diversity at work and I was fortunate enough to work as both visual and UX designer, it gave me more control over the projects. I had amazing mentors, amazing friends and amazing working hours BUT (yes, this had to be all caps) I was missing something… probably my college life liberty — I used to design posters, logos, apps, websites, toys, transportation devices, make films, choreograph dance routines and what not; it was not just the process of creation that was entertaining, it was also the creative exploration that added to the kick. Though I was into multiple roles but working on the same product day in and day out at my job wasn’t very fulfilling.
The Solution: Freelancing
Freelancing gave the opportunity to own my creative business. The advantage of choosing the project I wanted to work on came with a cost of being responsible and accountable for everything I do. It introduced me to the business side of design — from pitching, contracts, and communication to management, networking, and outsourcing.
The Challenge: Discipline
Some days I would wake up to alarm at 4AM in the morning to work and convince myself that going back to bed is the first step to a healthier and better life.
The process ‘from finding clients to getting paid’ is a tough task, it takes a lot of background work to do it efficiently and repeatedly. Moreover, you are looking for growing the business and not get stuck at wherever you are, hence you need to constantly look for better opportunities. Discipline is the single most important thing in freelancing, if you cannot manage yourself, you cannot manage the business.
For one of the most difficult parts of the process has been marketing. It’s easy to market one skill. For example, if it’s relatively easier to market yourself as a UI designer than a UI + UX + Graphic designer. Almost every client that I have worked with had a bad experience of working with freelancers and that makes ‘winning trust’ even more difficult for me. I haven’t found a satisfying solution to “ How to win pitches as a generalist designer?” yet. Hopefully, I will get a solution somewhere ahead in this journey.
The Help: Tools and Team
Tools like Bonsai (for contracts and invoice) and Asana (for project management) have been of great aid to carry the business forward. Awesome people like Abodid, Kunal, Rites and Kuthum make life little easy and the struggle — worthwhile.
There is an addition of one more layer of experimentation to my journey (an attempt to market multiple skills.) Now I work with a dream team of product designers and film makers — Visual Notes — arguably the most interesting chapter of my life; more about that in a future blog. :)
Beginnings are the hardest part of any process, you will make mistakes, you will be yelled at, you will be laughed at and you will fail but amidst of all the pointed fingers, you have to shut your ears up, do your shit and keep moving forward.
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Have a good day.