After nearly 19 years of agency life I have learned to play an instrument or two myself and by making the decision to go it alone, I am heading out to begin my solo career.
Like everyone who has been in this position before the practical things needed taking care of first:
- Explain it to the wife.
- Cancel random direct debits, I never knew I had.
- Buy a comfy home office chair.
- Consider the possibility this could all go terribly wrong.
Next, getting clients. But before I started knocking on doors, a certain amount of self assessment was required. I have been fortunate to work with some great brands across many disciplines, coming up with everything from pitch winning creative to final designs and artwork. I worked as part of a small team, so being resourceful and capable of figuring out problems was a daily requirement. The skills I’ve learned and honed, have made me more than capable to do this on my own, but what will potential client perceptions be, now I don’t work for an agency?
Lots of freelancers masquerade as an “agency”, refer to themselves online as the royal “we” or use terms like “our team”, our “studio”, ultimately pretending to be something they’re not. So why all the smoke and mirrors? More than ever, clients and agencies alike are looking for value whilst not jeopardizing the quality of work and good Freelancers offer the solution of cost effective talent for short or ongoing projects. So for me, the focus is on the positive, going alone as a freelancer will let me offer my knowledge and skills to brands and agencies, freely, quickly and at an affordable rate, not something I need to bend the truth about.
Who knows how this will work out. Hopefully, as before, I get the opportunity to be judged by the standard of my work and not the amount of staff I have or the expensive city center studio I work in. With the uncertainty of finding new clients it’s going to be a tough gig but one I can’t wait to play. Get in touch if you have a project that needs a creative who knows a tune or two.
Shaun Green
A One Man Band
