Having run my own business for the last two years and have experience creating and developing design for small businesses and individuals, I often find it’s the case that clients have never worked with an individual before and normally are used to working with companies. Which is not at all rare since companies do seem more professional than an individual working from a office at home. Hopefully this post will explore some of the benefits of working with a one person business or the commonly known description “freelancer” in the design industry.

Before I start this article I would like to point out that it’s not me in the picture. The sun does not shine behind me and grumpy silhouettes do not stand behind me and cross their arms. I also never wear white shirts (I prefer brown, grey or black!) but as the metaphor represents I do work on my own, separately from a company and I do generally do the same job as a team of people.

The one person business is often regarded as the singular description “freelancer” which technically is not wrong, but does conjure up images of the lazy freelancer working from a bedroom and spending a lot of there supposedly working time watching daytime TV and not necessarily doing the 9-5 working ritual that the rest of country partakes in.
The truth of the matter is really that many professional freelancers that do work from a home office, probably put in more working hours than they would like to admit.
These professionals are not hard to spot, they would normally at least have a home office or working space, business cards, online/off-line portfolio, company brochure and list of services as well as references or testimonials, but always do your homework and find out as much as you can before hiring them for a project.
(you can request to look at any of the above via email!)

So why would or should you hire a “freelancer” to do the work of a larger design agency?

Price.

This probably the main reason you are considering hiring a freelancer.
Freelancers often have very low overheads and rarely rent their office space, pay substantial amounts for advertising and have a great deal of expenses attributed to there day to business. As such they won’t need as many clients and capital to profit from their business as a design angency would. With these lower operating costs they can offer a lower price on their services in order to appeal to the marketplace. Get a quote from me and see how much you could save.

A singular interpretation of the design brief.

While this does not sound like a benefit, the design brief is written so an understanding can be made between client and worker. Since there is just one interpretation of the brief and there should be little confusion to the outcome that could happen if multiple members of staff are working on your brief.

Expertise.

Often a freelancer will specialise in a particular area of design that they focus on, For example I have a long background into design for the music industry and for underground bands. While a design firm quite often offers a variety of knowledge of all types of design work they may not be experts in individual industries and sectors.

Better communication

No sales team to talk to, no receptionist to leave messages with, no account manager who then needs to talk to the designer and then the junior designer, all to deal with the changes to your project. When you call me or email me, the phone call or email goes to me and only me. I can answer queries quickly even when I’m away from my office. I can makes changes to design work without having to receive the information from another member of staff.

Customer service

As the only person in the company I am also responsible for all the billing, invoicing and quoting can answer all quiries. You can also phone or email me at anytime between 9AM and 10PM
seven days a week and expect to get a response. A design agency typically runs like normal workplace with 9-5 hours.

Personal Relationship

With one person handling your project, you will quickly find working with them a familiar experience. Although I like to be as professional as possible with my clients and focus on the project, I do not see any harm in learning more about your client beyond the job at hand. It makes me feel more relaxed doing the work as I feel I have a better understanding of their personal background and needs.

To conclude…

There are some good reasons why firms with large budgets and demanding needs might choose to use a Design Agency, but sole traders and small to medium sized businesses will generally find it to be much more beneficial (and cheaper) to use the services of a freelancer like myself.