Where are you at? Honestly. Before you can get to where you want to go, you’ve got to define where you’re at now. Perhaps you want to do more of what you’re doing now. If so, great! If not, it might be time to do some hard core self-searching and come up with some realistic goals to get where you want to be down the road a bit.

Here are some questions to ask yourself.

Am I happy where I’m at?

Do I want to do more of what I’m doing now?

Do I want to expand my horizons and land a broader range of gigs? Why?

Do I want to move into a new market? Why?

Do I want to specialize in a certain industry or type of work? Why?

Do I want to make more money? Why?

Do I want to get better clients? What’s wrong with the ones I have now?

Do I want to expand geographically? Why?

The trick here is to be cuttingly honest with yourself. If you’re not, you won’t be effective in reaching your goals or be happy if you do get there.

The “whys” are important. Like a method actor, you’ve got to ask yourself, “What’s my motivation? Defining your motivation will get you moving because you’re … er … motivated. If you’re fuzzy on things, odds are you won’t put all your effort into making changes. Eventually, the effort falls by the wayside and you find yourself back where you started.

Maybe you’re bored with the type of work you’re doing now. There’s no reason you need to stay in that rut. All it takes is a wee bit of pro-activity (geez, that word’s over used these days) to change the look of your project roster. A few changes and voila! You’ll find yourself getting more of the types of projects that really interest you.

Three years into her business, well known designer, Ellen Shapiro, found herself looking at the financials and not liking what she saw. Things were “okay,” but “okay” wasn’t good enough for the designer. She could do better and land more profitable projects.

Shapiro decided to target annual reports. But, after researching the market, she found that cracking the Fortune 500 would be a tough act. So, she decided to take a different path and target companies with annual revenues under $300 million. Bingo! Shapiro had found her niche.

But, she had a small problem. The firm had never done an annual report. Not to be shot down, Shapiro designed mock report spreads for a few industries in her target. A mailer was prepared that featured the designs and addressed the needs of CEOs and CFOs. It was a hit and the firm built a very profitable new business segment that let them stretch their creative arms.

It’s this kind of savvy that helps to grow a firm or an independent practice. The idea is to not think, “I can’t.” It’s to think, “How can I?” Doing your homework will help you identify new opportunities and ideas to reach your goals.

Maybe you want to make more money. It’s often said, “Being in business just to make money is the wrong approach.” I agree with that to a degree, but I also agree with the concept of eating and paying the rent. Money isn’t necessarily evil. Actually, it can be a lot of fun. Making enough money is key if you plan on sleeping at night and not worrying all the time. Worry is a creativity killer.

So, how does one go about making more money? There’s lots of ways, but I’ll focus on one for the sake of brevity. Diversify. The easiest way to make more dough is to create multiple streams of revenue for your business. It’s simply a matter of tearing off the label that says, “I’m just a designer.”

“Make once, sell many,” is the mantra of passive income. Your creative. Think up some type of product(s) to make and sell. If you’re a designer, maybe that means creating a line of greeting cards or posters. Maybe some nifty housewares or t-shirts. How about a line of mugs or such with your slick designs on them? What about writing some special reports or an e-book on some topics you know reasonably well?

The whole point here to is make an honest appraisal of where you’re at and where you want to be. Then, roll up your sleeves and get creative about how to get there. Focus on “How can I?” thinking. Nothing ventured. Nothing gained. You might fall on your butt a couple of times, but that’s okay as long as you don’t give up. In talking about the light bulb, Thomas Edison once said, “Oh no, I haven’t failed 5,000 times. I’ve succeeded in finding 5,000 different ways that you cannot possibly build a light bulb.” It’s that kind of thinking that gets results over the long haul.

Until the next
Marketing Minute
all the best,
nt

Designers set off on their own for a myriad of reasons. Some plan for years before opening shop. Others fall into running their own businesses out of necessity. Logic dictates that whatever your circumstances, you need to be realistically prepared.

Before dedicating yourself to the leap, here’s eight questions to ponder.

1. Have I gathered enough design and business experience?
2. Am I committed to aggressively marketing and selling my services?
3. Am I up to the task of effectively and efficiently managing my time?
4. Do I have enough start up capital?
5. Do I enjoy dealing with people?
6. Am I a self-starter?
7. Can I handle the realities of working solo?
8. Can I hold things together under pressure?

Communications Coach and visiting author Tammy Lenski comments.

Working solo means we usually don’t have a trusted office mate we can just pop over and talk to when things get a little tough. You know, the person whose office you can walk into, saying ‘Do you have a minute?’ while closing the door.

And things will get tough occasionally. Find the people who you can turn to for the kind of support you most need in blue or stressful moments. Not just cheerleaders, but the people with great listening ability, the ones who can help you think things through or get your feet back under you when you’re temporarily off balance. It’s about creating a people-populated safety net for yourself before you need it. The folks at BoDo are here for you, too.

Daniel Schutzsmith from Graphic Define has four additional suggestions.

1. List your reasons for wanting to go into business.
2. Next, determine what business is right for you.
3. Identify your business niche.
4. The final step before developing your plan is the pre-business checklist.

Daniel’s list goes into more detail than we’ve posted here, so be sure to read Are You Ready to Open Your Own Design Studio? in its entirety at Graphic Define.

The trick is to be completely honest with yourself. If you’re not, you could find yourself on the fast highway to self-employed hell. It’s not easy to concentrate on time-consuming problems while the pressure is on handling clients, book keeping, designing and many other issues that crop up when running your own business. If you do find personal shortcomings, please take our advice. Before you head off on your own, shortlist what’s lacking and work through the items, one by one.

In the next post, The BoDo Experience: Are You Ready?, we’ll share how other’s were ready. Or not.

Hope this helps,
The BoDo Team
cat - nt - jay