A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect

Chapter 3

Planning Your Business

You probably think that starting a company is too expensive, too complicated, or too risky. To be fair, there are expenses, complications, and risks that you will have to accept, but you are capable of handling these and other issues as they arise. This is part of the reason why I recommend that you begin this journey by writing out a business plan. You will eventually run into problems, and your business plan will help you keep your bearings.

Writing a business plan forces you to think about many aspects of running a business. A good business plan basically becomes a road map for you to follow. The more time you spend working on your business plan, the more detailed your map will become. Writing a successful business plan requires you to consider your needs, the types services your business will offer, who your clients will be, and external factors that may have an effect on your business. A good business plan makes you think about your constraints you'll have to work around and helps you identify a path to reaching your goals. While it might be tempting to jump in and start making money right away, taking the time to plan your business will improve the likelihood of your success.

According to the U.S. Small-business Administration, around 70 percent of new businesses that began in the year 2000 survived at least two years, and 51 percent survived five or more years. This data suggests that careful, methodical, strategic planning and hard work ...