Thread

Right now, I’m still in school (online) for web design and development. While I know that having a degree isn’t absolutely necessary (especially if you’re striving to start your own gig), the foundation of knowledge to build from and opportunity to network is great. It still doesn’t seem to match being out there in the trenches, chasing bugs, and finding interesting solutions to seemingly impossible problems though.

I’m working at a bank in their online banking (telephone tech support & financial consulting) division. Since I’m also a new dad, I depend on the benefits and stable pay.

(sigh)

Between all of this, I’m landing some “freebie” work to fill out the portfolio, but handling these clients (and the inevitable scope creep) while tackling everything else has proven to be incredibly tough. The only thing I can think of is devoting a full day’s work to handling client projects and landing new clients - but to do that I’d have to leave the stable pay and benefits behind. I’m wagering that a good time to do that is when you’ve made a name for yourself to such a degree that you’re turning away work.

I’m sure many of you had faced a situation like this before going for it. I’m not looking for a magical solution to this, but maybe a roadmap made of experiences.

Believe me when I tell you that I’d be grateful for any insight you might share.

Between all of this, I’m landing some “freebie” work to fill out the portfolio, but handling these clients (and the inevitable scope creep) while tackling everything else has proven to be incredibly tough.

It is yes, as seldom will things fit into one’s available time. I worked full time and learned/ did sites on the side for a number of years, up to six/seven years ago. While difficult to turn work down, one has to at times even when working at it full time.

The main thing that helps is to be clear to clients what time you have available and give a realistic time frame. Most will be helpful.

I’m wagering that a good time to do that is when you’ve made a name for yourself to such a degree that you’re turning away work.

After quite a long time doing so and when the long term looks like it will continue.

Hey James,

Being your own boss has its rewards but requires a certain work ethic to succeed. My sophomore year in college I worked for a Billionaire as his personal limo driver. We went from bank to bank all day and the best advice I ever got was from him, it has been priceless.

He said “No matter what you do you will always have a boss. Everyone of my clients is my Boss.”

I was a commercial airline pilot and after 9/11 realized that I had to change careers. I spent all of my free time on my laptop hacking away - started with pMachine and that led me to all of the open source technology we use today. When I resigned form the Airlines my family and friends thought I was crazy. Maybe I am, but I really enjoy what I do and get really excited when we produce a new module or finish a cool project.

It’s not easy though and don’t be fooled. I have invested everything I have in HCC. I have gone without food, haven’t had a vacation in years, I don’t have medical insurance and my clothes are in dire need of buttons. Why do I do it? I believe in the reward, both financial and internal.

I got a job offer a couple years ago to fly a corporate jet for the owner of the Chicago Cubs/Tribune/Sox. I turned down the 165K a year job to pursue my venture. It’s not about money, believe me, I think I made like 25K that year. It’s about building, creating and passing on.

The hardest thing you will need to address is the support of your family and the needs of your child. I have a son myself and thats a tough one. But now my son has the opportunity to work in the family business and someday take it over. If he doesn’t oh well. I don’t work for my Dad, he has three factories and several patents.

By the way we are hiring 😊 drop me a line.

I think everyone should decide for themselves when it’s the right time to go freelance.

But there’s certainly nothing wrong with building up a portfolio/experience while holding down a day job, especially with a family to support 😊

I think everyone should decide for themselves when it’s the right time to go freelance.

Yep - that’d be really swell…;)

Unfortunately (or fortunately) some of us didn’t “bust out” or decide for ourselves…;) 

I was on the HermanMiller.com team—cushy corporate job at a company with a great reputation.  We weren’t pulling down the huge bonuses like right before I hired in (just missed 32% the quarter before I took the job) but were doing OK.  The week we were out looking for the second, bigger house I was called into an early morning meeting and told that the post-9/11 market shrinkage had just cost me my job.

HMI offered outplacement training, and in that I learned that I had many of the personality characteristics of an entrepreneur.  That - along with only getting project offers instead of job offers made me decide to try it on my own.  I had several weeks of severance pay so worst-case I’d be back in the same spot a couple months later.  That was 7 years ago now - and like Mike posted I’ve had up years and down years.  But I’d certainly never go back to the corporate world.  I don’t care if I have to work until I drop dead - sitting in someone else’s cube staring someone else’s screen busting butt all day to help sell products someone else designed along with all the politics, crazy HR policies and flat-out soul-sucking stupidity of the corporate world is a kind of living death anyway.

Bottom-line - I never once considered starting my own business.  It took losing my job to get me there.  It was a terrible time to start a business with young kids at home, my wife a stay at home mother, and a not-great economy.

But sometimes I think the need to eat is the best motivator of all…;)

One year ago today I started part-time freelancing. I’m fortunate in that my day job I only 4 days a week and have a fair amount of free time on the days I do work - I’m a language teacher at a university in Seoul, South Korea.

I made the decision to move into web development because I’m not happy with my industry in Korea and want to move back to Canada and have marketable skills - language teaching in North America is a terrible industry to be in.

I’ve given myself until summer 2011 to get myself off the ground and running. In my first year things have gone phenomenally better than expected, but I still have a long way to go.

Like yourself, I have young kids 7 & 3 and don’t always have enough time to do everything.

I’m not so sure that taking “freebie work” is the way to go to pad your portfolio - I haven’t done anything free, but have done work for much less than I should have, but that was also part of the learning process. i.e. I didn’t know how to properly estimate the time I need to do a job. That’s still difficult but I’m getting better at it.

While I’m still in the process of learning and developing my client base I think the best thing you can do is to have goals - I wrote a blog post about this here.

But sometimes I think the need to eat is the best motivator of all…;)

And I agree with Mike whole hearted, I also want to add this - Benjamin Franklin once said;

“I would rather go to bed without dinner then to rise in debt”

http://quotationsbook.com/quote/10155/

Some good advice here.

I’ve been pretty much working two jobs for the last 6 months. My nine to five for 37 hours a week and about as much on my freelance as well. Most weeknight evenings I do between 2.5 - 4 hrs and saturday and sundays between 4 and 14! hrs each day depending what I have on. My daughter is 14 and most of the weekends she’s out with friends or away with army cadets. I couldn’t have managed to give it so much time when she was younger. My wife is very supportive as well, we made the decision that some sacrifice now would hopefully pay off in the long run.

I’ve worked for less money than I should have at times but have slowly but surely been making contacts and getting my name out there. As of July 1st I’ll be working for myself full time. I handed my notice in last month. It’s scary not having a regular cheque coming but definitely focuses the mind!

Another good tip is to to bank all the freelance money you can while you are still employed. Don’t think of it as extra money, think of it as start up money for your future business.

I wish I was at the point of turning away lots of work! I have enough to keep me very busy for the next 2-3 months and after that who knows. I guess you just have to back your abilities, have confidence that you can do a good job for people and keep plugging away. Time will tell.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

Wow! I didn’t expect such an awesome response! I just got home from work and checked the forum. This is not only helpful to me, but any others who may be wondering about all this in the future - so thank you!

@Bruce2005
I think that providing an accurate time frame for site deployment based around my schedule has been one of the more challenging aspects of project management so far. You also matched my sentiments about the prospect of long-term work looking solid enough to make the leap.

@Michael Hahn
Thank you for such a genuine post. Right off the bat, you hit home with what one of your old bosses said. I’ve often considered that fact. I come from a primarily customer service oriented background, where it’s often stated that your true bosses are the ones who pay your salary.

I also appreciate your passion. It comes through in your words. Turning down a job like the one that you did would have probably resulted in my death at the hands of my fiancee! But in all seriousness, I sympathize with what you say. I would rather do this and be comfortable, than miserable with more money (not that more money is bad, but it’s the cost of obtaining it)!

The last thing is what scares me the most, not being able to provide for my family - that’s how I know that I have a way to go before I’m ready to stand on my own two feet. I’m not ready to leave my day job behind, it’s just not feasible.

Thank you for the offer, PM sent. 😉 

@e-man
Thank you for the input. I think your right, the decision to go it alone is up to the individual.

@Boyink
You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while, but I keep forgetting to do so- have you read Leadership is an Art by Max Dupree? Apparently this guy runs or ran Herman Miller, and wrote a pretty interesting book on leadership that I wrote off as cheesy when it was first recommended to me, but it’s actually a pretty good read. I can’t remember where I read about the connection between you and Herman Miller before, but your post just reminded me.

I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like then. Maybe I just don’t want to. You seem to have done well since then. It’s inspiring to watch.

Your view on corporate work life is right on with how I feel. I can do it, it’s just the fact that I feel like a cog in the machine. You know the rest of the story. Needless to say, I laughed out loud when I read your take on it.

@Sean
I’ve been keeping my eye on your progress Sean. Your doing it. I remember last year when you were ready to jump into taking on client work. You’ve done well in such a short amount of time! I’m still here if you need some design work done from time to time - send me a PM or get a hold of me on Twitter.

I think I may have shot myself in the foot with the “freebie” idea, but luckily they were for friends and a guy that I work with at the bank. My next job is finally is an EE build that someone is willing to pay for (is it just me, or are your friends the hardest ones to convert to paying clients?). In retrospect, I should have charged at least something, but all was not lost, I got in some good practice runs.

@timprint
Like you, my significant other is supportive of my decision to go with web design as a career. My son was just born in January, so I figure I have less than three years to get something proper cooking before I get “kicked through the window” (I joke! It just conjures up such a moronic mental image).  😛

I appreciate the financial advice as well. It appeals to my “other life” as a banker.

I read on your site that you started with illustration and design as well. I’m sure those abilities are serving you well. I can also tell that your passionate about design, and the constantly changing realm of web design. Good luck with Shooma, Tim! (The site rocks, by the way).

I respect and look up to you all - and I can’t thank you guys enough for sharing your stories and insight with me (and everyone else).

@Boyink
You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while, but I keep forgetting to do so- have you read Leadership is an Art by Max Dupree? Apparently this guy runs or ran Herman Miller, and wrote a pretty interesting book on leadership that I wrote off as cheesy when it was first recommended to me, but it’s actually a pretty good read. I can’t remember where I read about the connection between you and Herman Miller before, but your post just reminded me.

No - honestly I’ve never been able get interested in many business books.  Don’t know what it is…but if I have time and a book like that is sitting next to a book of good fiction I just can’t make my hands pick up a business related book..😉

DuPree is no longer involved in the company and hasn’t been for years.  IMHO whatever culture he developed and wrote about doesn’t exist within the company anymore (and any long-termer will tell you the same).  What drove it home for me was hearing that just this year, after 7 down years and multiple rounds of layoffs (going from 11k employees to shy of 6K), just now the execs thought to take a pay cut.  To set an example. 

I can’t even imagine what that must’ve been like then. Maybe I just don’t want to. You seem to have done well since then. It’s inspiring to watch.

Thanks!  Honestly I’ve been having more fun the last year to 18 mos than I ever thought possible when it comes to making a living. 

Your view on corporate work life is right on with how I feel. I can do it, it’s just the fact that I feel like a cog in the machine. You know the rest of the story. Needless to say, I laughed out loud when I read your take on it.

I’ll add this - being self-employed I feel like I’m finally all the way grown up.  My days are mine.  I don’t have to ask anyone permission to do anything - take a long lunch, take the day off, or start working on a new idea.

Granted I work more than I did in past lives - like right now on a Saturday afternoon when it’s low 80’s with a nice breeze out.  But today (like yesterday) I can work in grubbies and be multi-tasking client work with house projects.

I don’t regret my time in the corporate world - it was a great education.  And I wouldn’t know how good I have it if I hadn’t experienced a few years of Dilbert-ville…;)

My story is not all that different from some of the others here. I woke up one morning and realized I was pissing my life away for someone elses benefit and spending the rest of my time in traffic. My in laws had moved to mobile, al a few years before and we enjoyed visiting and wanted to be closer to them. We sold our house in DC and made enough on the deal that I had some cushion in finding a job. I started taking small web projects around 4 years ago for 500$ and got a few clients and my career as an entrepreneur began. I love it. There is a lot of self induced stress bit the balance of deciding what you want to do and when is invaluable. But it is not for everyone…