Business Plan | enDesign Studios

Designing: Everything you dream of and perhaps more!

March 21st, 2009

When you first decided to become a designer, illustrator, or writer, you probably had visions of communicating with your creative muse, producing art that would inspire generations to come. At some point, however, reality intrudes and you realize that the purer the art you produce, the more difficult it may become to make a living. If you’re like most of us, the pressure of food, clothing, material desire, and family can propel your career in a far different and far more commercial direction than you have imaged.

Today Security is what you make it!

Creative individuals have never been particularly security conscious. After all, we have always lived in a world that rewards talent more than seniority, and working for agencies has meant frequent job changes. Nonetheless, many of us appreciated what little security agencies offered, and some of us looked enviously at the stability that seemed to be a part of working for large manufacturing or services organizations. If the opportunity presented itself, some of us even opted to join organizations with more job security, although if often meant personal and creative trade-offs. Well, today security should be of much, much less importance in evaluating the relative merits of working for you versus working for an agency or corporations.

If you search your conscience, you’ll probably find that you are happiest when you were working freely. That’s because you were able to proceed at your own pace, in your own way, without the intervention of someone else’s arbitrary procedures and rules. As an entrepreneur you’ll continue to work under arbitrary rules and procedures, but you’ll be the arbiter!

Take advantage of the opportunities

It’s a natural reaction given all the scary economic headlines to second guess launching out on your own! But, slowdowns don’t have to be barriers to starting new enterprises, experts say. After all, Bill Gates and Paul Allen didn’t wait for the recession to pass before launching Microsoft in 1975. And plenty of would-be entrepreneurs aren’t waiting for today’s economy to improve either: Of the approximately 3,000 job seekers—mostly managers and executives—surveyed by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 7.2 percent said they were starting their own business in the first quarter of 2008. Last year’s annual average was 8.1 percent. “The bottom line is anytime is the right time [to launch a venture] if the opportunity is correct and if you as the entrepreneur have correctly assessed and shaped the opportunity,” says Dennis Ceru, who teaches graduate courses in entrepreneurship and business strategy at Boston University and Babson College.

According to Career Planner.com, “designers are expected to grow 10 percent, about as fast as average for all occupations from 2006 to 2016, as demand for graphic design continues to increase from advertisers, publishers, and computer design firms. Some of this increase is expected to stem from the expansion of the video entertainment market, including television, movies, video, and made-for-Internet outlets.

Moreover, designers with Web site design and animation experience will especially be needed as demand increases for design projects for interactive media—Web sites, video games, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and other technology. Demand for graphic designers also will increase as advertising firms create print and Web marketing and promotional materials for a growing number of products and services.

In addition, Technical writing, blogging, and other writing for interactive media that provide readers with nearly real-time information will provide opportunities for writers. Print magazines and other periodicals increasingly are developing market niches, appealing to readers with special interests, and making Internet-only content available on their websites. Businesses and organizations are developing newsletters and websites, and more companies are publishing materials directly for the Internet. Online publications and services are growing in number and sophistication, spurring the demand for writers and editors, especially those with Web experience.”

Everything you dream of and perhaps more!

As a Designer/Freelancer you are in an excellent position to take advantage of the above trends. You are in the right place at the right time in history!!

Wishing you much success!

Ms. E
CEO
enDesign Studios, LLC
http://www.endesignstudios.com

Notes
[2002]Cameron S. Foote, The Business Side of Creativity, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.