May 17, 201115 yr Hi everyone, I'd like to share my story and experience so far as a freelancer living and working in North London. I didn't go to University after leaving college - I studied Business and Accountancy at A-Level and went shortly after into working for an accountancy firm (this was before the word 'recession' had even hit people's lips). I worked there for 4 years straight, underpaid, undervalued and unappreciated working for damn near minimum wage. And quite honestly for the first three years I didn't mind because it was exciting and I was picking up vital business skills. The last year though, I'd had enough and I made the stupidest decision of my life and quit. I'd always been a computer nerd in every sense of the word. I knew VB.NET, HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP... I drew up a very realistic business plan and acquired some funds. I was capable to say the least. And I wasn't lazy - I figure if anything, these two traits would set me apart in this freelance world. WRONG! Over the past year I've come to discover that 'web designer' basically means 'charity case' to a LOT of people. The title simply doesn't denote a position of respect and responsibility. I didn't like the term 'junior' but at least I could accept it, it's what I was. I've networked exclusively in north and east London and found that, as most business owners here are foreign, they tend to employ web designers and developers within their social and cultural circles. Usually a family member or someone their family member knows, regardless of their experience or return. I've also noticed that 70% - 80% of business owners here in North London are impatient, impractical and perceive a freelancer looking for work as 'a cockroach looking for scraps'. Basically (right now at least) their doors are open to customers, NOT people looking for work. Another thing I've picked up on is, not so much that business owners don't understand the value a website can give to their business, but that they just don't care. This is what has surprised me the most. The absolute lack of interest and enthusiasm on business owners' behalves. I have also noticed that a lot of businesses here in north London (a shameful amount actually) are operating on a ridiculously small profit margin and are barely surviving. With the way things are, I can't really blame them for not wanting to pay for a website. Perhaps things are different in other parts. I've been looking about and it seems there is more outlook in places like Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, not so much because there is more work, but because living expenses are much cheaper. Is London simply not feasible anymore? Anyway, that's me in a nutshell. I'm just feeling extremely disillusioned and perhaps I'm looking for someone to cheer me up, to convince me there's hope here, that I'm not wasting my time and years. Anyone in London maybe? Hope you guys are doing okay!
May 17, 201115 yr First off you're not wasting your time and yes things are harder in London but sometimes it's worth it. I'd been living and working in East London my whole life until very recently (the last few months). The only reason i moved from London was not mainly due to costs, although this was part of the reason, but mainly due to quality of life. Staring out of my tiny room at crowded concrete was doing my head in (and i lived in quite a nice part near Epping forest) so i decided to swap the city for the country. After the financial disaster i found that work became easier to find and was almost dropped on my lap a lot of the time. Since i moved most of my work still comes from London. I guess what i'm trying to say is that if you persevere, and work real hard at networking and the skills, you will find the work. Good luck mate. Which bit of North London you in, i was in Leytonstone (East London)
May 17, 201115 yr Author First off you're not wasting your time and yes things are harder in London but sometimes it's worth it. I'd been living and working in East London my whole life until very recently (the last few months). The only reason i moved from London was not mainly due to costs, although this was part of the reason, but mainly due to quality of life. Staring out of my tiny room at crowded concrete was doing my head in (and i lived in quite a nice part near Epping forest) so i decided to swap the city for the country. After the financial disaster i found that work became easier to find and was almost dropped on my lap a lot of the time. Since i moved most of my work still comes from London. I guess what i'm trying to say is that if you persevere, and work real hard at networking and the skills, you will find the work. Good luck mate. Which bit of North London you in, i was in Leytonstone (East London) Hi there. Thanks for the heads up. I hope you're right. I'm in Edmonton. I was living for a while in Ilford and in East Barnet for a couple of months. East Barnet was nice.
May 17, 201115 yr Hi there. Thanks for the heads up. I hope you're right. I'm in Edmonton. I was living for a while in Ilford and in East Barnet for a couple of months. East Barnet was nice. I know Edmonton just across the reservoirs from my old borough. Yeah perceiver mate and it'll all work! Although i'm pretty stoked after moving out of London as the average price i was paying for a one bedroom flat in Leytonstone was £800 not including bills and now i rent a two bedroom house with a garden in a national park in Scotland (or will do in a week) and it only costs £500 and let's not get started on London council tax and cost of living!
May 17, 201115 yr I'm in Hertfordshire and work for a design studio, things are pretty good at the moment. You'll also find if you come across more as a studio rather than a freelancer I don't think you'll get taken for a ride so much by clients that think we're all charity cases.
May 17, 201115 yr You'll also find if you come across more as a studio rather than a freelancer I don't think you'll get taken for a ride so much by clients that think we're all charity cases. Absolutely! In my company it mainly is just me and the occasional illustrator freelancing but my clients do not have to know this.
May 17, 201115 yr Author I know Edmonton just across the reservoirs from my old borough. Yeah perceiver mate and it'll all work! Although i'm pretty stoked after moving out of London as the average price i was paying for a one bedroom flat in Leytonstone was £800 not including bills and now i rent a two bedroom house with a garden in a national park in Scotland (or will do in a week) and it only costs £500 and let's not get started on London council tax and cost of living! Sounds exactly like the sort of thing I strive for. But I don't know.. my issues with London are more deep rooted than just the high cost of living (which I can completely relate to) People here build glass walls around themselves. You know there's a character in there somewhere, perhaps even someone you could grow to be friends with. You just can't get in no matter how hard you try. Not really sure if that makes any sense to you.
May 17, 201115 yr Sounds exactly like the sort of thing I strive for. But I don't know.. my issues with London are more deep rooted than just the high cost of living (which I can completely relate to) People here build glass walls around themselves. You know there's a character in there somewhere, perhaps even someone you could grow to be friends with. You just can't get in no matter how hard you try. Not really sure if that makes any sense to you. If anything that means a lot more to me than just the cost of living! I personally suffer from agoraphobia which was made far worse by just being in London and is the main reason i stopped working in Covent Garden and started web developing. My main aim of moving to the countryside was to help my health rather than the money. Sick of having to watch my back every time i went out my house to go shop too.
May 17, 201115 yr Author I'm in Hertfordshire and work for a design studio, things are pretty good at the moment. You'll also find if you come across more as a studio rather than a freelancer I don't think you'll get taken for a ride so much by clients that think we're all charity cases. I've made sure to define myself as a business entity and not an individual, if there's anything I learnt from working in accountancy, it was that. But I still have to approach business owners as an individual before I can explain what I do and who I am. You have to be tremendously good salesman to make it work off the bat, and frankly I'm a terrible one.
May 17, 201115 yr Not sure if you've seen this before or not but it might be of help. All the business stuff I guess won't be much help if you've studied accountancy. But the 3rd part looks like it could be of some help. http://www.sitepoint.com/kits/web-design-business-kit/ #3 – Support: How To Stay In Business and Thrive! Many web designers and developers have the talent to start a successful business, but require guidance and direction for their venture to triumph. We’ll explore: What to consider before starting your business The realities of running a business Implementing processes and relationships to shape your business for success How to develop your business’s unique advantage and hone your sale skills. The key to excellent service for your clients - that stands above the competition. How to win the all-important first client I've not got it myself so not sure if it's totally useless or a decent buy. Maybe if someone has purcahsed it on the forum could shed some light?
May 17, 201115 yr Author If anything that means a lot more to me than just the cost of living!I personally suffer from agoraphobia which was made far worse by just being in London and is the main reason i stopped working in Covent Garden and started web developing. My main aim of moving to the countryside was to help my health rather than the money. Sick of having to watch my back every time i went out my house to go shop too. It's funny you say that because I quit my job after being diagnosed with unipolar depression (another contributing factor to the lifestyle change) and immediately after, I left the country and stayed in the Spanish countryside for three months to regain my balance and sort my life out (I lost 40 lbs and was coping a lot better with my social anxiety, and of course the break gave me ample time to rekindle my love for web design! ). It's only after I returned that I realized how much I'd like to live that life again.
May 17, 201115 yr I think the key is adapting to your target audience. If they are on low budgets, create a low budget solution such as templates, which you can reuse. If they are strapped for time, manage everything from the domain, to hosting, to content, to design for them so they need not worry. If you feel they don't care about a website, improve your sales/marketing skills and talk in terms they do understand i.e. an online shop will earn you £xxx extra a month! How about changing your angle? There's loads of agencies in London. Apply for a contract, get in touch with them for freelance overflow work. Or just create templates and themes and sell them. How about blogging? What businesses are you targeting for web design? I'm pretty sure you haven't exhausted all opportunities. London is where it's happening! I'm from London too
May 17, 201115 yr Author I think the key is adapting to your target audience. If they are on low budgets, create a low budget solution such as templates, which you can reuse. If they are strapped for time, manage everything from the domain, to hosting, to content, to design for them so they need not worry. If you feel they don't care about a website, improve your sales/marketing skills and talk in terms they do understand i.e. an online shop will earn you £xxx extra a month! How about changing your angle? There's loads of agencies in London. Apply for a contract, get in touch with them for freelance overflow work. Or just create templates and themes and sell them. How about blogging? What businesses are you targeting for web design? I'm pretty sure you haven't exhausted all opportunities. London is where it's happening! I'm from London too Nice to meet you My envisioned target are clients who need corporate database design and deployment, along with bespoke websites on the front end, however I'd have great difficulty getting clients for these projects because of lack of experience, lack of portfolio and lack of sales technique, so this is really a future goal rather than a tangible reality at the moment. At the moment, I'm working with several small startup restaurants who need both print advertising and an online presense - I think, especially in the restaurant industry, certain things such as brand magnetism and a small startup budget definitely negate the need for a website, so I find myself doing flyers, print ads, menus, things of that nature and working the clients towards the website itself. I don't really blogging. I tend to disagree a lot with people Edited May 17, 201115 yr by MaxPayne
June 19, 201115 yr I think LYKC hit it on the head there with his post. If your just setting up and targeting everyone who you think needs a website its never going to work for you! Your better off sitting down working out a target market and become the best at that, your experience as an accountant should help you here. Why not target all the accountancy firms in the UK? Then you have bookkeepers, freelance accounts and so on. Create a simple pack with prices for each type of client, if you believe your worth the money and can show that to the client you don't have to be cheap to get the work! Personally Id sit down with some pens and paper brain storm out your target market and USP (being an accountant you should be able to communicate with other accountants well i think) work out how much your family needs per month to live, how much that is a week and finally a day and hourly rate and DO NOT GO LOWER than that. If you need to bring in £1000 a month and you figure to land 4 jobs a month at £250 each great do it, but as soon as you start doing it for £100 a project you soon need 10 jobs a month and thats where most freelancers fail if you ask me! Look past the first job, as soon as that contract is signed get the next client in
June 23, 201115 yr Author I think LYKC hit it on the head there with his post. If your just setting up and targeting everyone who you think needs a website its never going to work for you! Your better off sitting down working out a target market and become the best at that, your experience as an accountant should help you here. Why not target all the accountancy firms in the UK? Then you have bookkeepers, freelance accounts and so on. Create a simple pack with prices for each type of client, if you believe your worth the money and can show that to the client you don't have to be cheap to get the work! Personally Id sit down with some pens and paper brain storm out your target market and USP (being an accountant you should be able to communicate with other accountants well i think) work out how much your family needs per month to live, how much that is a week and finally a day and hourly rate and DO NOT GO LOWER than that. If you need to bring in £1000 a month and you figure to land 4 jobs a month at £250 each great do it, but as soon as you start doing it for £100 a project you soon need 10 jobs a month and thats where most freelancers fail if you ask me! Look past the first job, as soon as that contract is signed get the next client in Hi there. It's not as simple as it would seem. If anything I'm a victim of overly planning everything I do, from my business activities to my personal ethic - life has a twisted way of ensuring that nothing ever works out according to that plan. I believe in an effective business plan but not where I find myself - still trying to ascertain whether this industry is viable. I have no grounding to be able to present myself as an authority on the subject, much as it interests me. Every day serves really as a testament to the fact that this industry is completely broken, deregulated and not suitable for someone trying to make a living in London. It's a sad truth and I have lost most of my ambition. I didn't even earn anything last month. Edited June 23, 201115 yr by MaxPayne
June 23, 201115 yr I see I'm not alone in such kind of predicament. But lately I was thinking. We're living in a cruel world where dog eats dog, and if you're good at something you gotta do everything and anything what it takes to get the job, using those skills. So why not to try a "business" model that big corporations use? It's simple, they force clients to buy their product or use their service, even though the presence of the force is somewhat invisible. An example how a coder can make money: by testing a security and integrity of already existing crappy websites, and those are plenty. So when the business owner is faced with a dilemma whether to patch the hole or leave it open what will he do?
June 24, 201115 yr @MaxPayne I feel your pain mate, you're venting your frustrations in the right place. Keep at it, you've had some serious bad luck by the sounds of it on the back of some talented endeavours and very much off your own accord in the pursuit of betterment and self worth. You sound like a passionate guy, and it's hard to not become disillusioned it's like you've spent your whole World living in a dog eat dog World playing that game and also biding your time when you needed to climbing the steps one by one. Approaching the steps of the business World it seems many are in the position because they were air-lifted to the top step, or maybe a glass elevator? Regardless mate, stick by your guns if you can offer value to a business / company and you keep applying for work you'll get there dude. Even if you gotta go back to accountancy / shop work in the mean time. Keep at it.
June 24, 201115 yr Hi there. It's not as simple as it would seem. If anything I'm a victim of overly planning everything I do, from my business activities to my personal ethic - life has a twisted way of ensuring that nothing ever works out according to that plan. I believe in an effective business plan but not where I find myself - still trying to ascertain whether this industry is viable. I have no grounding to be able to present myself as an authority on the subject, much as it interests me. Every day serves really as a testament to the fact that this industry is completely broken, deregulated and not suitable for someone trying to make a living in London. It's a sad truth and I have lost most of my ambition. I didn't even earn anything last month. Its worked for me over the past 10 years without any problems, I've never ever had any other source of income so I've had to make everything work or eating the following week, month etc would become a problem. I do understand your post mind, working or living in london while freelancing or being the "creative" industry is not where I would want to be right now...
June 24, 201115 yr Author Its worked for me over the past 10 years without any problems, I've never ever had any other source of income so I've had to make everything work or eating the following week, month etc would become a problem. I do understand your post mind, working or living in london while freelancing or being the "creative" industry is not where I would want to be right now... It's not a good time to begin working in this industry. For those who are relatively established, I can imagine that existing clientele and return customers allow for a financial buffer of sorts, ensuring that if things do go pear shaped, not all is lost. Unfortunately I have to start selling furniture.
June 24, 201115 yr I've just started back (well I start officially next month) after a 2 year break. August sees the launch of my income support project But this month I've brought in enough work to keep me going for the next 3 months at least I figure with more work possible on the way. Id add there is nothing wrong with working on the side if it means feeding your family! I've stacked selfs and worked the door when times where hard
June 24, 201115 yr I've just started back (well I start officially next month) after a 2 year break. August sees the launch of my income support project But this month I've brought in enough work to keep me going for the next 3 months at least I figure with more work possible on the way. Id add there is nothing wrong with working on the side if it means feeding your family! I've stacked selfs and worked the door when times where hard Solid advice but when you say "worked the door" i can't but help seeing a big panda at this door. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbbMHczsh
June 24, 201115 yr Being 6ft, benching 170kg and with a 4th dan in kyokushin and 3rd in traditional japanese jujitsu helps Cant view video to comment Just wait till I start uploading videos in my panda costume Edited June 24, 201115 yr by pandadoodle
June 24, 201115 yr Being 6ft, benching 170kg and with a 4th dan in kyokushin and 3rd in traditional japanese jujitsu helps Cant view video to comment you sound like a hero
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