Happy Birthday to Begin Studio! - 12 Lessons from my First Year of Business
Happy Birthday to Begin!
As of the beginning of May, I have been working at Begin Studio full time for a year. I have been so so excited to celebrate my first business anniversary and look back on the past year. For me, this anniversary really symbolises how hard I’ve worked and gives me the chance to celebrate the business I’ve built for myself which is firmly rooted in my values. All in all, a really happy and exciting time for Begin.
In part, this post will help me process this milestone and give me something to look back to on my next birthday - but I also hope that I can help you with your own businesses or help anyone that is looking to go Freelance. So, before I jump into my top lessons that I’ve learnt this year, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to every client who has trusted me with their business and continue to recommend me to their peers. I see you and I am so appreciative!
1 - Success can be measured in lots of different ways
I’ve really felt over the past 6 months or so that the industry is starting to realise that freelancers or small one-woman design ventures like myself aren't all about 10k months. I mean that sounds great but money does not have to define your success. It’s up to you to find out what success means to you. It could be working four days a week, flexibility around the hours you work, making work that is meaningful and impactful, or it could be as simple as doing a really good job for each of your clients.
To use my business as an example, my success “goal” when I first started was to match my income at my previous design agency job and I didn’t really consider anything else. And while I hit that goal after 10 months (woo!) I’ve come to realise that I also really value being able to take long lunch breaks, show up on social, work on projects that I find meaningful and book all my projects in advance. So my success goals are changing and that’s awesome.
2 - Your hourly rate shouldn’t just cover your design time
This was a tricky one for me to learn. When you set your hourly rate, you need to also account for all your business time that isn’t spent designing or fulfilling your service. I realised quite quickly that my job is essentially 50% design and 50% admin. So make sure that is reflected in your pricing as you’ll work 35 hours a week but only get paid for 18. Which leads me smoothly into my next lesson...
3 - This job is 50% design, 50% admin
Admin is a serious business need and it’s not just invoicing and sending the occasional email. It’s accounting, meetings, creating presentations, helping your clients with their new designs, creating social media content, writing blog posts, researching and learning new skills. For me, this part of my business has been so lovely as I really enjoy the organisation side and connecting with my clients. I’ve even gone further in recent months and made this part of my business larger by including weekly catch-ups with my clients and free tutorials for their new websites.
It was also an important lesson for me to learn that a huge part of my job is educating clients about what they need to do next, how to use the brand we’ve built together and making sure they have everything they need. I put this all under the admin bracket and I think it really helps my clients feel settled and supported even after our work together is finished.
4 - Outsourcing is really hard but really beneficial
At the beginning of March I started outsourcing a couple of parts of my business, the first one being my Pinterest management. For me, outsourcing is a really hard thing to do, not because I don’t love the ladies I’ve chosen to work with (they are awesome), but because my business has been my baby. I know that is a huge cliché but I’ve worked so hard on Begin and been so proud to be a one-woman business that I worried outsourcing would take away from that.
But eventually I realised that if I wanted to grow and continue to use my time to work on lovely projects, I could outsource smaller parts of my business that I am not trained in. Not only do I get more of my time back, I can then use that time to work on another project - so it’s been a big leap of faith but hugely beneficial.
5 - Word of mouth is a really great marketing tool
I would say 80% of my work comes from previous clients referring me to their friends, family or peers. I used to worry that it meant I wasn’t marketing myself correctly but I actually have embraced word of mouth over the past year. Taking extra care to make sure that my clients have a really smooth handover process and that they feel really supported throughout our work together. So that when it comes time for us to say goodbye they are really excited and happy with the work we’ve done together that they recommend me to their peers or leave lovely reviews.
This approach also plays into what I really love about my business and value as a person - being a supportive cheerleader for the people that I design for and ensuring they have everything they need to move forward with confidence. So all in all, it’s a win.
6 - Getting into a rhythm with Social Media and Blogging is really tricky but really important
As discussed over on my Task Batching blog post or even on my Self Care for Freelancers post, I love a process and love making time for each pillar of my business each week. Social media is a huge part of that. I started to get into a really great rhythm with social media and content over the past year but it’s definitely fallen to the wayside in the past few weeks, and that’s okay. Clients come first and it happens, but I am so excited to start my rhythm again as I move into summer as I find it to be hugely beneficial to my idea of success and it helps me to connect with other designers and businesses.
7 - Your process and personality are unique to you - so don’t fret!
If you’ve followed me on social for a while, you’ll know that I really believe in community over competition and that there is enough work for everybody. So it might seem strange to you that when I first started posting and building my business up, I worried that my design services would just blend into the sea of other one-woman design businesses across the globe but its not true. Everyone brings something unique to the table and I’ve tailored my business around the processes that work for me, my education and my experiences as a designer.
Fun fact: I often call myself a ‘Design Guide’ as I take my clients through the process step by step so I market myself as that, talk to my clients about my values and process and the clients that feel the same way find me.
8 - Done is NOT better than perfect, but perfect is unattainable
Over the past year I’ve taken lots of ideas forward from my previous jobs and tried to build on them. One design role was very creative and allowed me full control of my client communications, my in-house job helped me understand the importance of design education, then one helped me understand the importance of clean folders and organised swatches. I think the moral of the story is that you can’t be all things, but you can find the things that work for you and move ahead with them.
For me, I always aim to make my files as neat as possible, my communication as clear as I can and educate my clients as often as possible, so I balance this line between being the very best I can but not getting upset if I don’t reach absolute perfection.
9 - My process takes time and that’s okay
I’ve adjusted my design process over the course of the year to allow myself more breathing room around my projects. When I first started I tried to get everything back to my clients within the first day or two but I realised this wasn’t the approach for me. I love taking my time on projects, sketching with a cup of coffee, relooking at something over the course of a few days and booking in projects in advance so I can prepare for them. I think the best advice I could give if you want to use this approach is to be completely open and honest with your clients that this is what you do, why you love it and explain the value behind it. I think my clients really appreciate the heads up and the level of detail that I provide.
10 - I never dread mondays but running your own business is hard work
There’s that other cheesy work phrase “If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life” and I don’t believe this is true. I love my job and I look forward to Monday mornings so I can jump back into that project or call that client over coffee but I work blooming hard and my motivation isn’t guaranteed. I think I had this idea that if I loved my job I would be always motivated and happy but what I’ve learned is that I still need to use tools and tactics to keep my motivation up and I still need to take breaks and holiday from my business to recharge.
11 - Being around other designers is the best
My previous roles were in agencies or in-house and I loved the collaboration between myself and my colleagues. I also loved learning new skills from them, sharing designer memes and catching up on tea-breaks. Then back last year when I launched my business, I didn’t really get that anymore and I really missed it. So I feel very lucky that I was able to meet some lovely designers online and that a close friend of mine also has her own freelance business so I can connect with my peers and someone will laugh at my design jokes.
12 - This year has been the longest and the shortest year ever.
This last one isn’t really a lesson, it’s more an appreciation that May 2020 to April 2021 has been the longest year of my life and also the shortest. I feel like I have been working on my business for years, but it also feels like I just left my job to set out on my own. Either way working on Begin full time has been so so cool and I feel every grateful that my lovely business has carried me through this really long, really short year.
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