marktea
New Member
Hello from Liverpool, hope you're all good :icon_smile:
Not posted here much since I joined but have a situation at the moment and I guess I'd like to know what people think, and to hear from any others who have been in a similar situation, and the outcome and how you dealt with it.
To give a bit of background, I've recently gone self employed. At the moment I'm in the process of registering as a sole trader and working as a freelance graphic designer. The two clients I'm working for right now are companies run by the same person who is a "friend" I've known for years (there's a lot of background story, I helped him set up a business years ago and he would have literally folded without my help), but in a lot of ways he's not a good person to work with. I've been doing casual bits for them for a couple of years and always knew what he could be like. Recently he's offered me full time work but on a self employed/freelance basis (which also involves a fair bit of commuting between Liverpool and Manchester) which is why I'm setting myself up officially. I have gained other clients and bits of work along the way but none with a constant work flow or who will generate a solid income. Yet.
Anyway, I'm a month into working with these two companies and very dissatisfied with them as clients. It was arranged I'd report to a certain person for each company for briefings, feedback etc. but this is being overridden by the "friend" in question when we agreed this wasn't the way it was going to happen - I made sure we agreed this at the start because I know he has a very erratic, disorganised management style, along with a tempramental/unreasonable streak. I keep reminding them I need written briefs and solid deadlines for each project (ie. an officially agreed document to refer back to, some direction in black and white, insurance policy between designer and client etc) as they haven't had the best track record for delivering me a clear brief in the past. So far this hasn't happened, they are delivering requirements verbally and moving the goal posts around constantly, as well as forgetting what they have asked me to do. I have constantly asked and asked for briefs, all they do is fob me off with 'we haven't got a problem with that' then do nothing.
Of course, with no brief and often little information or direction, things go wrong and I get the blame. They also expect me to go 'above and beyond' - I agreed at the start when they needed help I'd put the hours in with a bit of notice but he (the friend/business owner guy) decided all of a sudden at 4.45 on Friday afternoon that he needed to move a deadline forwards and said could I stay over because the work I was doing was getting 'too long winded', then when I couldn't (had arrangements) he started being unreasonable. They're piling on the work and pressure with a total disregard for the time it's possible to complete it in.
It's got to the point where I feel like they are a bunch of idiots and I should never have started working for them. They are really taking the p!$$ and treating me with a complete lack of respect. It's never going to develop into a proper, professional client-designer relationship, I've tried to steer it that way but it's not happening. I need to get out of there :icon_Wall:
They constantly feed me tales of 'Oh we have work coming soon you'll be really excited about' and promise this and that, but a month in and I still need to see any of the terms we agreed on being implemented.
I just feel like walking away from it all. I didn't work all those (quite enjoyable) years at uni to be in a position where I dislike my job and had to tolerate clients being rude to me and treating me with lack of respect - this is supposedly a friend too! It's sucking all my enjoyment out of the design process and stressing me out.
I guess my biggest problem is I don't have any other solid clients. Currently weighing up the pros and cons of sacking it all off later this week but not having another source of income yet, it's a big one :icon_Wall:
Guess this is half rant half question really lol, just interested to hear from others who feel my pain or can offer some sound advice to a frustrated designer :icon_cheers:
Not posted here much since I joined but have a situation at the moment and I guess I'd like to know what people think, and to hear from any others who have been in a similar situation, and the outcome and how you dealt with it.
To give a bit of background, I've recently gone self employed. At the moment I'm in the process of registering as a sole trader and working as a freelance graphic designer. The two clients I'm working for right now are companies run by the same person who is a "friend" I've known for years (there's a lot of background story, I helped him set up a business years ago and he would have literally folded without my help), but in a lot of ways he's not a good person to work with. I've been doing casual bits for them for a couple of years and always knew what he could be like. Recently he's offered me full time work but on a self employed/freelance basis (which also involves a fair bit of commuting between Liverpool and Manchester) which is why I'm setting myself up officially. I have gained other clients and bits of work along the way but none with a constant work flow or who will generate a solid income. Yet.
Anyway, I'm a month into working with these two companies and very dissatisfied with them as clients. It was arranged I'd report to a certain person for each company for briefings, feedback etc. but this is being overridden by the "friend" in question when we agreed this wasn't the way it was going to happen - I made sure we agreed this at the start because I know he has a very erratic, disorganised management style, along with a tempramental/unreasonable streak. I keep reminding them I need written briefs and solid deadlines for each project (ie. an officially agreed document to refer back to, some direction in black and white, insurance policy between designer and client etc) as they haven't had the best track record for delivering me a clear brief in the past. So far this hasn't happened, they are delivering requirements verbally and moving the goal posts around constantly, as well as forgetting what they have asked me to do. I have constantly asked and asked for briefs, all they do is fob me off with 'we haven't got a problem with that' then do nothing.
Of course, with no brief and often little information or direction, things go wrong and I get the blame. They also expect me to go 'above and beyond' - I agreed at the start when they needed help I'd put the hours in with a bit of notice but he (the friend/business owner guy) decided all of a sudden at 4.45 on Friday afternoon that he needed to move a deadline forwards and said could I stay over because the work I was doing was getting 'too long winded', then when I couldn't (had arrangements) he started being unreasonable. They're piling on the work and pressure with a total disregard for the time it's possible to complete it in.
It's got to the point where I feel like they are a bunch of idiots and I should never have started working for them. They are really taking the p!$$ and treating me with a complete lack of respect. It's never going to develop into a proper, professional client-designer relationship, I've tried to steer it that way but it's not happening. I need to get out of there :icon_Wall:
They constantly feed me tales of 'Oh we have work coming soon you'll be really excited about' and promise this and that, but a month in and I still need to see any of the terms we agreed on being implemented.
I just feel like walking away from it all. I didn't work all those (quite enjoyable) years at uni to be in a position where I dislike my job and had to tolerate clients being rude to me and treating me with lack of respect - this is supposedly a friend too! It's sucking all my enjoyment out of the design process and stressing me out.
I guess my biggest problem is I don't have any other solid clients. Currently weighing up the pros and cons of sacking it all off later this week but not having another source of income yet, it's a big one :icon_Wall:
Guess this is half rant half question really lol, just interested to hear from others who feel my pain or can offer some sound advice to a frustrated designer :icon_cheers:
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