In Are You Ready?, we briefly shared seven questions you should ask yourself when getting ready to start your own business. Brief, because the Niblets are just that, a taster. Later on in BoDo, we’ll tear into each subject covered in the series. Chunk by chunk, bite by bite. Until you are satisfied.

Was Jay ready?

The decision to run my own business was never a conscious step. It was an evolutionary process that started with me handling the bookkeeping, taking on more responsibilities and culminating in running the business itself.

Mainframes were my forté, so I took myself off to the local TAFE College to find out what these PC things could do and that combined with 6 months of basic accounting in University (way back in the …. er, nevermind) gave me the skills to land a part-time bookkeeping job in a small studio.

Being in a graphic design environment and having a solid background in IT and computers in general, I realised I had a natural talent for the work being done around me. I quickly learned the basic design skills as well as the software packages (then Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop) and when one of our designers left the company, I applied for her position successfully.

As my skills improved (thanks to my mentor), I kept up a furious rate of learning more and more design skills and software applications. Many hours were spent on Graphic Design forums and websites. I really was burning the midnight oil during this time, and I kept relieving the pressure on my mentor by accepting greater responsibility. I was essentially running most aspects of the business.

The business shifted focus from being mainly print driven to being mainly web driven. This was ideal for me as it combined my old skills of building computer systems with my new skills in design.

Was I ready? You betcha! In our industry it is vital to keep your finger on the pulse of all developments, especially technology and software. You need to be prepared for any shift in direction. Confidence in my own business management abilities was necessary as well. However, I would not have come this far without the support of my design mentor who was not only willing to give me the chance, but also willing to hand on his skills.

Jeanette (jay) Wickham | Systems Manager
FastCoconut.com | NO!SPEC | BoDo Team | Ask jay

How Leslie was ready

I don’t think anyone is ever fully prepared to launch their own business, regardless of what kind of business it is, but there are certain steps you can take to start strong. The first of those is to run numbers–if you don’t know how much you need to bill to make your nut, you’re going to get in trouble very quickly. There are several sources for learning how to figure your cost of doing business (CODB), from SCORE.org to AIGA to ASMP.org and books like the GAG Guide and there is software out there for developing business plans (always a good idea) which will cover CODB as well.

In my case, before I launched I had a comfortable savings account to live off while I built my business, I did lots of math to see what I’d need to make it financially, and I bought a copy of QuickBooks (which I already knew how to use). Most importantly, I talked to my friends and family about the idea of going on my own and got their emotional support. While you can run a business alone, you can’t do it completely alone…not and stay relatively mentally healthy.

Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua | Creative/Marketing Consultant & Coach
Burns Auto Parts–Consultants | Burns Auto Parts blog | Podcast | Book

Neil made ready

My folks each had their own businesses. So did my grandfather and great-grandfather. As such, working for someone else was a bit unnatural for me. From my teen years, I had planned to go into my own business. I started freelancing, as a photographer, when I was 17, shooting garage bands and working with a publishing house that did school books.

At the time, everything was pretty free-wheeling. So, I felt I needed to learn business skills as well as getting some more formal training in the creative arts. Off I went to college and then to art school where I concentrated on commercial photography and graphic design. When I got out, I continued to freelance. One client, a cosmetics company, asked me to come on as their in-house art director. I took the job and learned a lot. From there, I jumped ship and started working for a major newspaper in South Florida. I hooked up with a guy (my boss) who became my mentor. He taught me loads about marketing, sales and business. I decided to work for some other companies, ad agencies and design firms, learn all I could and then start my own [formal] business in my early 30s.

Neil Tortorella | Marketing Manager
Tortorella Design | The Marketing Mind | Creative Latitude | BoDo Team | Marketing Minute

Alina’s ready

I had always excelled in art from an early age, so it just seemed natural to follow the course and study as much art as possible in grade school, high school and college. I got a BA in Visual Arts from UCSD, which at that time was pre-computer, and was more fine art than “commercial art” (as it was called back then). Upon graduating, it suddenly dawned on me that I had no idea how to WORK in this field! Life is what happens while you’re making other plans, so I ended up starting a family, and the career was put on hold.

Later came my divorce, and I found myself living in Europe for almost three years, which had a tremendous impact on my design future. It was so exciting and inspirational to see European graphic design. Once I moved back to the States, I went back to school to study graphic design for three more years, and I continued to increase my work experience on the job as a design assistant, then graphic designer, until I advanced to a senior graphic design position.

I actually started learning computers while in Germany, so I “learned in German” since the software there was obviously in German. Once back in the States, I continued to learn on my own, in classes, and from co-workers. One tremendous source of education and support came from the About.com Graphic Design forum. It’s there that I learned a lot about the business side of design, in addition to all the other aspects of designing.

Alina Hagen | Visual Communications Designer
Alina Design | Creative Latitude | BoDo Author | Alina’s In-sights

Stefan was ready

It seems that for most of the past few years all I did was prepare for running this business. I had a few intro business classes my senior year of college, but as I learned there is nothing that prepares a business owner more than digging in and getting your hands dirty. But that wasn’t to say I didn’t look for advice and guidance from other business owners, specifically ones that owned a similar business. I was fortunate enough to trade emails back and forth with Joe Duffy of Duffy Partners, which was a real thrill and an honor. I also tried to read about successful businesses in other industries and try to glean insight and inspiration from their success. I think what has really helped me is just being curious and observing what works and making that work for my company.

Stefan Bean | President/Creative Director
Pulse Creative Partners, Inc. | BoDo Author | Bean’s Biz

Cat wasn’t

Boy, even though I came up with these questions, they’ve even given me pause to think. Way back.

I started my own design business out of desperation. Not mine (that was still to come), the desperation belonged to a company who had tried out the local designers, one by one. Then discarded them, one and all. They were desperate enough to take on someone who had drifted around the industry as a portrait artist, draftsman, Geotech, graphics specialist, photographer and quasi Art Director.

I could draw, I could design (or thought I could), I knew my way around graphic software (the wrong ones as it turns out), but not how to prepare files for print. And I knew next to nothing about the business of design.

Desperation does different things to different people. Everything was “no problem!”

On the plus side of this arrangement, when it came to working with designers the client didn’t know what they were doing either. On the minus side, the client didn’t know what they were doing either.

I started out slow, but not slow enough to stave off snafus resulting from a lack of preparation. At the same time I was getting projects out, I was learning how to deal with client situations, teaching myself new graphics packages (Adobe), fudging bookkeeping, working with printers (who kindly taught me how to check my files), sparing with business partners, and hiring staff then listening to their problems (and there’s always problems).

I worked long hours (12 – 16 a day) and most weekends. For the first three years, any holidays I did manage were a blur. I even slept through what I imagine was a great time in Bali.

If you are wondering what my strengths when sharing my experiences on BoDo, I’ll gladly tell you.

I’m here to advise what one should NOT do when running a design business. Mistakes, yes, I’ve made more than a few. And I’m here to tell all. Most all anyway, as there’s always the safety net, the nondisclosure aspect of our industry …

Catherine (cat) Morley | Project Manager
Creative Latitude | NO!SPEC | Katz-i | FastCoconut.com | BoDo Team

Next up in the series we’ll talk about Taking It Personally. But before that we’ll have the first of our (to be) regularly scheduled Podcast Humpdays, where Cat reviews an entrepreneur interview.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
cat - nt - jay