You were humming along in your design career. Maybe you were a graphic designer, a web designer, or a brand designer for a company or branding agency. You found a 9-to-5 and settled in. But “settling in” didn’t feel very good once realized you were a cog in a boring corporate machine.

 

So you picked up some side projects — a branding gig here, or a web design gig there. Or, if you were adventurous (or desperate), you might have skipped the step of getting a 9-5 and started freelancing from the very beginning!

 

What’s next for you? Let’s take a walk along the freelancing path and into the realm of business ownership. Yes, as a freelancer you are technically a business owner – but as we will show you, “thinking like a freelancer” and “thinking like an entrepreneur” are two completely different things.

 

Before that, be sure to grab a spot in our free $12k Client Attraction Masterclass where we teach you exactly what five-figure web and brand design clients want and how to restructure your offers to attract them!

Titles Don’t Matter, But Definitions are Necessary

You may have started as an employee. But when you ditched your 9-to-5, you became a freelancer. (And, of course, it’s possible you haven’t had the courage to take that step yet… if that’s you, then check out this graphic design blog  which will show you how to land your first freelance design client!)

 

When does freelancing morph into being a “small business owner”? And what happens if you want to get to the level of “entrepreneur”? Here are some handy definitions:

 

Employee

• You’ve studied a skill that most people don’t have.
• You may have a diploma, a certification, a degree, or a natural talent
• You work for a company that gives you a regular paycheck and they deduct government taxes to remit on your behalf.
• If you want a vacation, labor law state what your employer has to give you.
• Your employer provides a workplace, equipment, software, project assignments, & expected outcomes.

Contractor

• You have the same skills or talents as an employee.
• You aren’t on payroll, but one or more companies arrange for you to work with them.
• You commit a certain length of time to the contracting organization (might be a person, a company, a referral agency, or a non-profit).
• You take breaks between contracts, if you want a vacation.
• You provide your own equipment & software, but project assignments are clearly understood.
• You issue invoices to be paid (or your contract determines when you will receive a payment) & taxes aren’t deducted automatically.
• You handle & submit taxes & can deduct certain expenses.

 

 

Freelancer

• You do all the things a contractor does.
• You need to learn how to find graphic design clients in order to land new projects.
• You pick & choose what design clients you want to work with.
• You may work on many projects at one time, or you may have one primary client.
• You invoice your clients to collect payment.
• You might use a digital platform to find work
• Your income stream is a bit uncertain & having too much work causes you problems, as you’re the only one doing the work.
• You dream of landing five-figure projects & worry when you can’t see the next client on the horizon.

Business Owner

• You market your services under a name (it might be your first and last name, but it’s something folks know you as….like Jane Smith’s Web Design Service).
• You might be incorporated (a limited company with “Ltd.” or “Co.” as part of your business’s name) or not.
• You have a dedicated bank account for your company & your systems are becoming more organized
• Even if you began without business experience, you’re getting it….& fast!
• You aren’t afraid to raise your rates or have hard conversations with your brand design clients. You are a business owner, not their friend.
• You’re learning how to run your design business, close sales calls, handle conversations with clients, generate a steady stream of leads, & land high-ticket clients (not cheap ones!)
• You make decisions from the mindset of “Will this help my business?” versus “Do I personally have time to complete this freelance project?”
• Your mindset is all about running your business, organizing your systems, starting to hire contractors & employees, and generating a profit – not just revenue.

Entrepreneur

• You’ve tasted the growth possibility in your small business, or you’ve decided to enter an industry suddenly & in a big way.
• You’re willing to sign up for some risk to access bigger rewards.
• You aren’t just running the day-to-day operations of your business. You spend time coming up with new services, offers, partnership ideas, and business ideas.
• You are willing to outsource and hire people because you know it’s necessary to grow.
• You may not have natural “business owner” skills of organization & team management, but you know how to find the people who do.
• Your time is money & you spend your time more carefully than your cash. You know if you allocate your time to the right areas, more cash will flow
• You’re all about scaling and hiring! You may even be a “Serial entrepreneur” with business goals that span multiple industries beyond design

How to Move from Employee to Entrepreneur

Can you see yourself in these descriptions? Do you know where you are? Let’s assume you’re onboard with leaving the 9-to-5 grind behind. You want to be your own boss. You want the flexibility and the sky’s-the-limit possibilities.

 

The only question remaining is: how big will you go? You might wonder: do I have to choose? The answer is no!

 

You can start with one contract with one client, or a handful of part-time gigs with various clients, you can name your business, or not. You can set goals of six or seven-figures. The joy of going out on your own is that you get to decide the parameters.

 

Reality and hard work will take care of the rest 😉

 

Aventive Academy is all about helping freelance brand designers, web designers, and graphic designers become successful and profitable, so we have some recommendations to help you meet the challenges and your targets.

The key thing to remember is your mindset. If you want to go from employee to freelancer or contractor, you need to be willing to:

• accept some risk that your income will fluctuate
• stay organized, in order to provide the basics of customer service excellence
• cap your income at the maximum number of projects you can personally produce

 

If you want to move towards business ownership or entrepreneurship, a different mindset shift has to happen. You need to be willing to:

• learn about all parts of running a business, so you can make sure everything gets done
• learn how to delegate, so you can have a constant stream of clients & projects
• learn how to dream bigger & execute action plans over years, not months

 

Start where you want to, but know that jumping ahead means learning more in a short period. Jumping ahead is riskier. But the rewards are also higher, when you succeed.

 

If you want to progress in a practical way and grow organically through the stages, from side-gig contractor to full-time freelancer to small business owner with a team, we have some great freelance business courses for you!

 

The Profitable Designer Program is perfect for learning everything you need to know to go from employee through to business owner. We even teach you how to land high-ticket clients and then outsource the tasks that drain you in your design business, so you don’t get swamped under the pressures and responsibilities of running a business!

What Happens if You Plateau?

There’s an interesting phenomenon that happens sometimes. Circumstances will cry out to you for a change. It’s not so much about you dreaming, it’s about your environment demanding another mindset change.

 

Think about these scenarios:

• You’re bored stiff at work. You can’t handle feeling like you’re living in an episode of “The Office” for another day — or you’re going to combust!
• You picked up a side gig working under another branding agency or freelance graphic designer with too much work, and you’re feeling sad that the contract is finishing. Your emotions are saying, “But what’s next?”
• You have relied on an online platform to get you new clients, but the flow is sporadic, and your income isn’t steady enough.
• Happy clients are recommending you to others. You know you need to get organized to run your growing client business outside of the limitations of the platform.
• You have a business name, you send clients invoices, you chart the path for project completion, but it’s all a bit chaotic. You’d get more organized if you had time, but your days are flying by with too much to do.
• Your business is flowing smoothly, with a great team running with their responsibilities. You have a happy client base and a flow of new project leads. But you’re restless and wondering what’s next.

Your circumstances are telling you it’s time to up your game. Here’s what you need to do, before you decide the specifics of how to leave the plateau you’ve reached:

• Admit that the future is going to involve a greater amount of risk but it’s okay, because….
• You have success baked into what you’ve done so far, so you have confidence that….
• You can learn what you need to know to move to the next level

 

There’s your mindset shift. It’s about being willing to take on what your next paradigm brings. Of course, there will be dark nights ahead, too, but you’ll be able to look back at the plateau you launched from and know that, really, there wasn’t a decision to make, just action to take!

 

What Are You Waiting For?

Dithering will eat at your confidence. Don’t fritter away what you’ve already conquered successfully.

 

If you’ve learned a skill, put it to use. If you’ve successfully completed a project or two, or you’ve given good value to your employer, you can expand from there. Take the leap. Fly with us. We’ll show you how.

 

And, through determination, hard work, wisdom, planning, and skills development, you will:

• Enjoy freedom
• Schedule as you please
• Take the breaks you want to
• Work with the clients you love
• Enjoy your work
• Provide for your needs, your family, and your team
• Fill your deepest needs for meaning and purpose in your own unique way

 

What are you waiting for? Jump off the labor for money treadmill. Recognize your value. Join us on an adventure worth taking.

 

We’ll show you the way as you build your freelancing career, become a business owner, and think forward like an entrepreneur, but the view from the mountaintop will be all yours!