Anyone that has worked for themselves can work for someone else. The key is to find the right someone else. Soulless corporate cube farms and meatgrinder ad agencies are not it. The right company for you is one that gives you many of the same benefits of working on your own, while also giving you the benefits of working with a team.

The first, and most important thing to look for is entrepreneurialism. You are an entrepreneur. If you’re going to work for someone, they have to be one too. Your new job has to be with a company that has big ideas and the will to make them reality. Look for a company that is growing, that puts real money behind new projects and new opportunities. Smaller companies by default have to grow, but you can find big companies that believe in taking risks. No one working at Google or Apple would complain they don’t try new things.

The second thing to look for is flexibility. If you’ve gotten used to coming and going whenever you please, you’re not going to have an easy time adjusting to a 9 to 5 schedule. Most creative departments will allow some degree of flexibility, ask about this up front. You don’t need total freedom, but being able to shift some hours around is a must.

Finally, you need to find a company that has a loose hierarchy. You’ve been your own boss. You can handle someone else being your boss. But you might not be able to handle 37 layers of management between you and your boss. There are plenty of companies with flat or loose organizations that will let you talk directly to whoever’s in charge, instead of going through an army of business drones. This is another area where small companies shine, but I’ve seen huge, multi-million dollar corporations that have flat creative departments that are completely isolated from the corporate structure.

It takes a bit of looking, but you really can find a full-time job that is creative, engaging and challenging, that doesn’t drain your soul and leave you lifeless and grey. Many small companies are good fits for solo designers. A few large companies are too. As long as you pick a company that fits the way you work instead of forcing yourself to work in a way that doesn’t fit you, you’ll do fine.

Until the next
Cube 2.0,
Josh

Josh Jeffryes | Graphic Designer | Technologist | Organizer, St. Louis Design Meetup
Jeffryes Design | On Design | St. Louis Design Meetup | BoDo Author | Cube 2.0

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