5 (or 10) Years Times?

[mrleesimpson]

Where does everyone expect to be in 5 or 10 years time in terms of their business/career?

The reason I say 5 or 10 is that I personally think that 10 years is too far to plan.

 

[Dave1975]

Hi Lee,

That's a big question, as you say hard to answer for 10 years, but for 5 years I would have like to have really established myself as a design business in the local area with a good mix of local clients and personal projects. I'm working hard on web projects to try and secure some residual income which will hopefully give me some more freedom in choosing my work by the clients I enjoy working with. I enjoy the freedom freelancing gives me, and if I'm still freelancing in 5 years and making ends meet I think I'll be happy

I think Mike Dempsey sums it up in this quote from a recent interview with Design Week

If you are a young designer with a passion for your vocation, you want to work on beautiful jobs, no matter how uneconomic. Eventually, you get an assistant, and before you know it you have an army of staff and need cash to pay them. So you start looking for larger jobs, and to get those jobs means lots of extra tedium - redefining briefs, strategy documents, procurement procedures and so on. Most of it is common sense to experienced designers, but, as time goes on, those smaller, sparky jobs fall by the wayside.

Now I have Studio Dempsey, just me and Stephanie, my assistant. It is small, beautiful and full of happiness. I will only work on projects I believe in, with people I like.

What are your aims and objectives?
Does anyone have specific business goals?

Greg

 

[Calibre Designs]

Started out as a freelancer after leaving a secure, well paid job. What a leap that was.

Slowly harnessing my own client base, portfolio and network, I have built something really great.

Have set up with a business partner and a team of what I consider as exceptional designers which has enabled us to go for larger projects. It has also allowed us to encompass new creative areas such as new media, video production and animation.

Believing that you are not following the trend but to stand out from your competitors is important.

Looking ahead at a 5 year plan, we should have at least tripled in size and to get the business to run itself.

Its very hard to build a get out clause which every serious business should have. Design has always been my passion so to sell something that I have built from scratch is unimaginable.

Kay