And you do that for FREE?! You are not alone if you are confused about the possibilities the world of designing holds. And if you want to monetize your skill. Well, you have come to the right place. Starting a business can be exciting and overwhelming. You are constantly running in a circle of pushing yourself and doubting your abilities. Whether full-time or part-time, a little hustle that is your passion does not hurt anyone. Trust me on this.
Your first step into manifesting your own business (sounds exciting, right?) is to stay motivated and committed to your end goal! Keep positively reinforcing yourself to give a boost of motivation and encouragement when the going gets tough. Many people struggle with starting their business and making it a success because they lack commitment and motivation. If you think you are fully committed and can take up any challenge, then you have got the hardest part already done. Graphic designing is a highly competitive business, just because you landed some clients and got appreciation from your friend is not enough. Designing has a vast scope, you can explore your options and see what suits you the best. You either go for a full-fledged graphic design company or start with the basics of Logo design service. Logo design in itself is a profitable business if done with the right skills and approach. And one of the cool things is you do not necessarily need a degree to prove your talent.
Surround yourself with inspiration
There is no shortcut to success, but the first step to starting any task and completing it successfully is the right motivation. Once you have the right mindset, things will fit into place automatically. Develop a routine and set fixed hours in a day to work on your own business. Every time when you struggle, ask yourself ‘Why’ you started it in the first place. Starting a business can be an exhilarating process, you can fuel your motivation by networking with the right people who are in the business and take lessons from their journey. Inspiration is everywhere; watch TedTalk videos on graphic design, read books about graphic designing, look into the life of famous graphic designers, go through blogs and talk to the right support system.
Learn the fundamentals
If you continue with the impression that you know all you are bound to struggle, lack the motivation to continue, and worst-case; fail. Until now, you utilized your self-taught skills to work here and there. But for you to get the right and long-term clientele and your business to be successful; you need to learn the fundamentals. Graphic designing is a broad industry there are a lot of avenues to explore. You need to figure out the skill you have and the skill the business needs to flourish. According to a recent study, the current market of graphic designers is worth $15 Billion in the United States alone and Logo designing and branding take up to $3 Billion of that market on its own. So, in order to leverage the market, learn and expand your skill. There are multiple options to learn skills if you are short on time; you can find online courses both paid and free, learn from graphic designing courses from YouTube, or if you can take out time take courses from experts.
Make your portfolio
Once you have your fundamentals straight and your skills updated. It is time to build your portfolio: research about the industry you want to potentially make clientele in, see what the designers are doing and how you can contribute, and stand out for your potential clients to reach you. The most important thing to start on the right foot is to; design.design.design. Explore your skills and tools as much as you can. Make the portfolio that your clients can review. You can showcase your portfolio to attract clients too on online platforms such as Behance, Dribbble, Deviant art, etc.
Find the clients
The cool thing about graphic designing is that you do not necessarily need office space, and you can do it from the comfort of your own home or anywhere in the world. Once your portfolio is ready, make the competitive packages for your potential market. Do you want to target the big fishes i.e., big brands, or cater to the designing needs of entrepreneurs? Develop your plan and budget accordingly. Now the big question is where do you find the clients? There are numerous freelance job sites and online marketplace where you can find multiple clients. Once you get the client, do not be too hasty with your designs. Understand the agenda of the clients and deliver according to their requirements. A satisfied client will bring more work and even more clients to you.
Open your heart to the feedback
It is exciting to start new but as cliché, as it may sound smooth seas do not make skilled sailors. Likewise, you will get feedback, criticism, and sometimes even disgruntled clients who want revisions over revisions. Don’t get paralyzed by it, keep your work fun and remember your passion when the going gets tough.