Posted by: BoDo Team
Category: BoDo Niblets
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WHEW! We made it to the end of the Starting Out and Setting Up Series. You’re ready skill-wise, taking it personally, honey has the money, and the clients, oh my! Location has been decided, you’re equipped and accounting for your actions. Right?

If that’s so, on with the hat tipping

What’s ‘hat tipping’ you ask? It’s where we review a series in its entirety, while thanking those who took the time to get back to us. It’s also where we acknowledge that it takes time to respond to requests such as ours.

If you’d like to take the time for a future series, contact Cat. There’s always a series in the works she can attach to you.

Starting at the beginning …

First up was the Series Introduction where Mark McGuinness opened with a quote.

In Are You Ready? Tammy Lenski had a comment to share. We then went over to Daniel Schutzsmith’s Graphic Define for even more.

On the experience side of Are You Ready?, we asked the question, was Jay ready? We found out how Leslie was ready, Neil made ready, Alina’s ready, Stefan was ready and Cat wasn’t.

In Taking it Personally, we borrowed Seth Godin’s point, which we followed with Ten Traits of Successful Business Owners.

On the experience side of Taking it Personally, Stefan’s determined, Leslie’s been practicing, Neil’s backpacking, Alina’s evolving, Danita has no regrets, Jay bites, and Cat’s bossy and barks.

In Alina’s In-sights, Alina took it further with Corporate Grinding.

In Clients, Oh My! we discussed the feasibility of starting out with none, one, four or more.

On the experience side of Clients, Oh My! we found that Leslie was covered, Neil was covered too, Stefan had it made, Jay’s been lucky and Cat’s been roaming about.

In keeping in the spirit of the series, Ask jay settled on five quick tips for getting new clients.

In Where’s the Money, Honey? it dipped into serious talk.

On the experience side of Where’s the Money, Honey? Chris discussed his money management, Stefan and Leslie did too. But Neil, he had no money, honey.

In Location, Location, Location we mulled over the pros and cons of working in or out. Writer ME “Liz” Strauss shared her location of choice, with a reminder that “it’s supposed to be fun.”

On the experience side of Location, Location, Location, Abhijit was happy at home, Leslie was dedicated, Neil was located, Jay’s domainly SOHO and Cat’s now online.

So, How Equipped Are You? By opening doors, cupboards, and drawers, we scrambled to put together a new business wish list.

On the experience side of How Equipped Are You?, Neil was equipped, Leslie was steady, Jay started out with loads of tools and Cat didn’t need as much.

We went back to the money issue with Who’s (ac)Counting now? This is where we put together another list. We’ve been told lists are good.

On the experience side of Who’s (ac)Counting Now? Neil’s into numbers, Stefan’s into services, Leslie recommends accountants and Jay minds her own business. Then there’s Cat, with a box.

On a roll, Ask jay came in with Seven ways to get organised.

We ended with the results of the Niblets Series poll, announced in the beginning.

In the coming months we’ll enlarge on each of the issues touched on in the Starting Out and Setting Up Series. Until we do, in alphabetical order, we’d like to thank those who helped make this series a success.

Abhijit Nadgouda | Freelance Software Professional
iface Consulting

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

Chris Tomlinson | Visual Communication Designer
Gonik Design & Print | Gonik Blog

Danita Reynolds | Principle/Creative Director
Creative Expertise | NO!SPEC

Dr. Tammy Lenski |
I Can’t Say That! | Lenski Strategic | BoDo Author | Creative Conversations

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

Mark McGuinness | Coaching Creative Professionals
Wishful Thinking | BoDo Author | Creative Coaching

ME “Liz” Strauss | Business Writing
Successful Blog | Letting Liz Be | Liz Strauss.com | The Blog Herald | Performancing.com | BoDo Author | Write with ME

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

Thomas (Tom) Stephan | Director of Something Clever
BoDo Author | Dyer Straits

An lastly,
The BoDo Team
cat - nt - jay

Posted by: BoDo Team
Category: BoDo Niblets
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There’s nothing like hindsight when it comes to costly decision making. Better than nothing, is getting advice from those in the know. Choosing where to locate your business can be an expensive or minor financial glitch. Take your pick.

In the mother post of Location, Location, Location we had a list of pros and cons. Now we’ll see how these designers have located themselves.

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Abhijit’s happy at home

Working at home is great, you can save a lot of time and effort by skipping travel. You can really boost your productivity by building your own environment. However, it also comes with its cons, the biggest being that, the line between work and home can get blur easily and at a point disappear. Not being able to meet people physically also takes its toll. That is why to stay motivated and focused I maintain discipline and a process. Having said that, working at home also teaches you a lot of things since you end up doing more than just your work. I am quite ‘at home’ when working at home!

Abhijit Nadgouda | Freelance Software Professional
iface Consulting

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Leslie’s dedicated

I do not recommend working from home for most creatives. Creatives (generally speaking) have a hard enough time separating themselves from their work. When you add working from home into the mix, you usually end up with the creative working too many hours and being unproductive with her/his time. However, often it is the only option financially for many. If you must work from home, you need to have a space that is exclusively dedicated to your office. The kids don’t get to use the computer there (get a separate one for the home use), for example. Then you need to select your standard working hours and go to work during those hours (and only during those hours, except for the rare crunch-mode). Work is work, not-work is not working.

Sharing can be great option. It lowers the cost for the creatives sharing the space and it can mean sharing clients. For example, if you do web design, share with a print designer.

Me, I have a dedicated home office–a separate room, with a door. When I go to work, I go to work. I get up, get dressed (don’t work in your PJs!), and go to work. But, it is easier (mentally) for me to do that than it is for many creatives.

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

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Neil’s located

Once the business was underway, we set up an office area in the basement of our townhouse. It was totally separate from the rest of the house. As a matter of practice, we met with clients on their turf, not ours. Occasionally, a client would swing by and we’d meet in our living room. Clients never saw the office area.

After we took on our first employees – two project managers/sales people – it was time to spread our wings and move out of the townhouse. As luck would have it, one of our clients was a retail real estate company. We did a barter deal for office space. It was a raw space, so we were able to custom design the interior. That lasted two years and we needed more space. We moved to another office building, closer to home and stayed there for a few years. After a downturn in the economy, lots of stress and blood pressure that was through the roof, we decided to bring the business back into the house. It was a good move and I’ve worked from home every since. You can’t beat the two-second commute.

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

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Jay’s domainly SOHO

Having sampled working in hired space, shared and our own offices, I prefer to work from home. It saves travel time and I can work totally flexible hours. Once I’ve started something, I hate being interrupted, so I have the luxury of turning off outside contact if I choose. My SOHO is my domain.

Usually my clients contact me by phone, email or ICQ and I like to visit new clients in their offices: It gives me an idea of how they operate, they have all their present materials on hand and I can put faces to names when calling.

Since they have lots of work for me on a regular basis, I also have my own desk in one client’s office. They like me there and I am happy to oblige, provided I come and go to my own schedule and my portable office (laptop, mobile phone, etc) comes with me. That way, I am still available to my other clients and can work on my own projects, if I have a spare moment.

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

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Cat’s online

I started out working at a home office and was fairly happy with the situation. Well, except for the times when a client would call, coinciding with my son flushing a loud toilet (and being a kid, he’d leave the door open). Or when a client would be shown in unannounced and I’d still be in pj’s.

My financial manager was building an office in Bandar (‘town’ in Malay) and made a serious offer to share space and staff. The office was beautifully done, centrally located, but as it turns out it, not my cuppa.

This, coupled with a second attempt at working out of an office convinced me I’m better suited at working on my own. In the silence, or not, of my own choosing.

As I moved out of print and into web and running Creative Latitude, I rarely met up with clients. Even if they were in the same country. From personal experience, at times too much time is wasted on meetings, most unnecessarily long. Forget getting the spiel together. First you have the personal preparation, then the drive over, the waiting, the meeting, the small talk in the meeting, the constant interruptions, the small talk after the meeting, and the drive back. Again, not my cuppa.

By xing out on-site meetings, I’ve saved not only myself hours of time, but for my clients as well. Skype and Airport R Us.

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

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Our next post in the Starting Out and Setting Up Series will cover equipment needed to fill in your office. Whether you’ve chosen to work at home, or out.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
cat - nt - jay

Posted by: BoDo Team
Category: BoDo Niblets
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So far in the Starting Out and Setting Up Series we’ve had discussions on money, experience, clients, personalities, and being ready. Next up is the equally important issue of location. Where will you work? Out of your home office? Or at an official, dedicated office?

The pros and cons of off-site office space and working at home

Should you work from home or rent/buy an office? This question inevitably crosses the mind of most designers going off on their own. And it’s a tricky one. Some assume that working from home will make them appear less than professional. Others love the idea of working in their jammies until late in the afternoon.

Where you work is certainly a personal choice (at times led by finances). We’ve put together a number of pros and cons for you to mull over.

Working at home – the pros

• Rent, utilities, furnishings, etc., are at a minimum
• As are work attire, daily travel and lunchtime expenses
• For those with small children, childcare costs are reduced
• Home office deduction potential
• Totally flexible working hours
• The 2-second commute
• Easy to set up

Working at home – the cons

• Travelling to clients eats up your billable day
• Distractions – personal phone calls, tv, kids, etc.
• As you’re always available, it’s assumed you are not really “working”
• “Less than professional” is on some minds (read: “clients”)
• Loss of privacy if you work with a team
• The work is always there, with you

Outside office – the pros

• A (potentially) more professional image
• Less personal-related distractions
• You can leave work at work
• A more customized space

Outside office – the cons

• Lease commitment
• A continuing expense
• Possible redecorating expenses at start up
• For those with small children, childcare expenses increase
• Potential accessibly problems (some offices don’t have 24-hour access)
• Travel time to and from the office

Writer, visiting author ME “Liz” Straus says:

I don’t know anyone who started their business with an office outside their home. It’s a nice ideal, but everyone I know has opted to use that possible cost — in rent, commute, and energy — to invest in equipment and time toward getting their business off the ground.

Here in my home office, I have the ideal commute from my bedroom, to the kitchen, to my computer. I never worry about things being in one location when I’m in another, because there is no “other location” to worry about. The tax benefits of an office in my home also help out — we have specific space in our living room clearly defined by a rice-paper screen marking off my office. That also means I get the view of the harbor out our window at sunrise. I could never afford an office with that.

Of course, the downside of starting our on your own is the temptation to be all about work. It’s a natural thing, because we don’t know when, or if, the next job will come. Working at home only makes that “work all of the time” temptation worse, because everything is always within reach. We hear it, silently nagging, saying “you could be working on me.”

Educating friends and family, who truly don’t understand our working style and our working needs can also be a problem. After getting it wrong the first time I worked at home, my husband, young son, and I agreed on some guidelines about how my home office crossed into their lives. For example, my son who was a child then, wasn’t allowed to answer the business telephone.

If you make the choice to work from the place where you live, think through your work needs and the needs of the people you live with. Talk with them about your office hours and be sure to have hours when the office is locked up and closed. The people who love will appreciate that and support you in venture if you take some time to let them know that you haven’t left them completely.

And remember, it’s supposed to be fun.

Bottom line, think things through (yes, it’s lecture time). For those coming new into a business, to get an outside office for the sake of having an outside office can be a great cash sucker. It’s best to be doubly sure before you sign.

Coming next, in the experience half of Location, Location, Location, we’ll hear from Abhijit, Leslie, Neil and Cat.

Until then,
The BoDo Team
cat - nt - jay