Possibly the greatest advantage of running your own shop is you get to choose who you work with. You’re never in a situation where you might lose your job if you say the wrong thing, hold the wrong opinion, or belong to the wrong group too publicly. You’re the one that does the hiring and firing, and the worst that can happen is you have to fire someone else.

Working for someone else is entirely different. Unless you’re very lucky, you’re going to be working people that don’t have the same opinions, beliefs, or backgrounds as you. They may violently disagree about anything from American Idol to the afterlife to the local mayor to the proper way to blow your nose. At any time, what you thought was an innocent conversation can wander into a minefield of undiscovered disagreement, risking explosions that can destroy team unity and leave long-festering wounds.

How do you avoid tripping over someone else’s personal issues? I have a few suggestions that can help you stay away from invisible hot buttons and prevent a total workplace meltdown:

• Stick to Business: Talk about the work, never your private life, except in the vaguest way. Discussing what you do outside of work leads to talking about activities that others may find problematic, not to mention your membership in clubs, religions, political parties and other areas of conflict.
• Dance Like the Wind: When a coworker stumbles into a controversial topic, remain as vague and noncommittal as possible. Answer everything with content-free affirmations like “that’s interesting” and “I guess you could say that.” If your fellow employee possesses more awareness than a houseplant, they’ll take the hint.
• Play the Opinion Card: If you’re cornered, and have to make a concrete statement you know someone else is opposed to, follow with “but that’s just my opinion.” It gives the other person permission to pretend you don’t really believe that, and do not require them to hate you.
• No Validation: If you simply cannot get through life without having those around you validate your personal beliefs, then an office environment is not for you. Either find some company that only hires people that think the same way you do, or go back to being your own boss.

There are a lot of benefits to working with other people: friendship, support, the ability to tackle larger projects, a steady paycheck. Those benefits come with a price, and part of that price is leaving your ego and your personal issues at the door. If you can do that, and you can avoid trouble with coworkers that can’t, you can survive and flourish as part of a team.

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

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

Creativity vs. wages and benefits

Nearly all of my design career has been working as an in-house designer. I was a single mom for quite some time, so I depended on a regular paycheck and benefits provided by in-house jobs. Not that I haven’t dreamed of being my own boss!

However, I was not born with the entrepreneurial gene. Neither of my parents were entrepreneurial, nor was I particularly exposed to anyone who was, and the business of design wasn’t taught in schools I attended. I was also frightfully shy and for the longest time had no clue nor any talent at marketing myself. To me, it felt as if I were bragging, which was SO uncomfortable to me.

I also know myself well enough to recognize that I need to be around other people; I need to know where I’m going to be each day, and I need stimulation. Otherwise, it is very easy for me to crawl into a shell and hibernate. If I isolate myself, it only compounds the problem. Thus, due to financial and security reasons, plus knowing my own personality, I determined that in-house jobs are better suited for me.

In-house jobs, I have learned over the years, offer their own pros and cons. It seems to often come down to a matter of creativity vs. wages and benefits. Jobs with financial institutions and large corporations have the backbone and infrastructure to support higher wages and better benefits. However, the more corporate the setting often means that the work you do is limited in scope of creativity and in breadth of expertise. You find yourself doing the same thing over and over and over… which can really start to stifle one and cause one to stagnate unless you take on freelance jobs or your own creative projects just for fun to feed those creative juices and to exercise new skills. There is also the chance that you work with a large number of people who do not understand nor appreciate the intricacies of good design. If it’s a very large corporation, chances are good that they have a significant and highly professional graphic department.

Or, if it’s a smaller corporation that has the bare-bone minimal graphic department, the designers tend to work more directly with non-design staff. This can prove to be very challenging, especially when any design that isn’t centered and as large as possible (type from edge to edge), simply sends the non-designer into a massive anxiety attack because the world is not symmetrical, centered and big. Some people find anything that deviates from their perceived universe to be downright wrong, even evil (grin).

Once upon a time, I worked for a financial institution as one of their in-house graphic designers. The pay was excellent, we had great benefits, and we had short work weeks. But the work itself was pretty dull… lots of graphs, charts and a preponderance of text and forms… all with the same clichéd themes. For a short time, we had a marketing director who wore nothing but gold… lots of gold jewelry, gold shoes and purse, gold clothes; even gold hosiery. She had a difficult time understanding why it was not the best idea to have gold architectural columns on every page. Stuff like that can make you crazy.

Next, I was hired with a creative design firm that dealt with architectural elements. It was like a dream come true… however, I had to take a significant pay cut (with the promise of a raise within a few months). That was painful, but I was so excited about being around creatives who understood and demanded good design. Indeed, this is a firm that is absolutely design-driven. I was in heaven. I had a wider range of projects, and they were projects I would be proud to show and proud to be a part of. There was still the issue of all the work having the same corporate standards and look, but at least it was a very respectable standard. With a design firm that also involves manufacturing production, cash flow presented challenges. And, because they are so design driven, I, the sole graphic designer, was designing the graphics for every minute detail. I had people and projects coming at me from all sides.

I worked much longer hours, was paid less, and found a much higher rate of micro-management throughout the company. The personalities were fun and flamboyant, but also unpredictable and volatile. And, the lower wages created a greater stress in my personal life. When you’re struggling to make ends meet and working your tail off, it deflates your morale and makes you feel miserable, no matter how good the design might be, if you’re worrying about every penny.

After being immersed in the corporate work environment for 15 years, it starts to wear thin; I find myself wanting more variety, more freedom, more creativity. Along the way, I have learned more about the business side of being creative, but will I ever feel confident enough to take off on my own? I like to think that someday I will be confident and savvy enough. Someday. In the meantime, I keep grinding away in the corporate world. It’s been good to me and I have made a lot of friends and gained a lot of experience.

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

So, you’ve had a momentary lapse of reason and decided to forgo the regular paycheck in favor of starting your own business. Welcome to the club. Being in business for yourself can be a WILD ride, so fasten those seat belts.

BoDo is here to (hopefully) make that ride a little smoother. We’ve all had our triumphs as well as tribulations. We plan on sharing all the ins and outs. The ups and downs. As well as the in betweens.

Quoting Creative Coach and visiting author Mark McGuinness from Wishful Thinking

To run a successful design business you need to be more than a great designer. You need to be an accountant, manager, negotiator, salesperson, marketer, presenter, networker, copywriter, debt collector, strategist, intellectual property developer and more. You need to be comfortable dealing with people, money, technology and sometimes even the law.

Take advantage of programmes on offer to help you develop these skills. Make use of resources like BoDo where you can learn from others’ expertise and experience. Read books, ask questions - do whatever it takes. Commit to learning these business skills - they are tools for turning your creative talent into creative success.

In our first series, BoDo Niblets: Starting Out and Setting Up, we will cover the bare basics. The series will be just a nibble, an intro, a bite of what BoDo will bring. Later posts will go into more detail on the running a successful design business.

We’ll also be introducing team members, visiting authors (like Mark), and a few odd friends who’ll stop by on occasion.

Below is the outline of the series. For each subject there will be joining posts, BoDo Experience. It’s where a few of us dig back into our start-up days.

Are You Ready?

Do you have enough experience (both with design and running a small business) to start your own design company?

Taking it Personally

Are you an independent self-starter, disciplined loner, superb marketeer, multi-tasking monk? Or do you feel more comfortable working mainly in-house, surrounded by living, breathing flesh?

Clients, Oh My!

How many clients do you need to get started?

Where’s the Money, Honey?

How much ready cash does it take to leap?

Location, Location, Location

Decisions, decisions … Will you rent office space, or work out of the home? Will you work on-site or via the Internet?

How Equipped Are You?

Can you start with the bare basics, or do you need the bells and whistles?

Who’s (ac)Counting now?

You’ve got the clients. You’ve got the projects. What kind of invoicing will you need?

A Recap of the Starting Out and Setting Up series

So, how’d we do?

Thanks for stopping by,
The BoDo Team
cat - nt - jay