Odd title I admit, but I couldn’t really think of a snappy (or stupidly long) way of summing up this post. basically I have a decision to make, things in the wonderful search for full time employment have not been going well, except the amazing opportunity at Granton (for which I am extremely thankful).
This opportunity however has stirred an ancient creature from the dankest depths of the void that is my mind… for a long time I have wanted to work for myself, be self-employed, and now with the funding coming direct to me and having to sort out paying my NI and tax (for the following reasons: 1, to be legal. 2, so I have some pension. 3, this time on Job Seekers has exhausted my Ni credits) the possibility of setting myself up as self employed has become a possibility.
So, I am currently investigating the idea of working for myself. I know the pitfalls, I know teh pressures, I have friends, and family, who work for themselves and run businesses. I have seen them go through the good and the bad so I am fully aware of some of the risks. What I need to do is to make sure I want to even continue thinking about the idea. It could give me so many opportunities, it could be such an amazing (and hard) experience.
(NOTE - What follows is my current thinking and I would very much appreciate comments as to wither or not you, as my friends, and random people who visit this site, consider it is, or as is more likely; not, a viable idea.)
My main business would be focused at art and design, #offering the following services:
- poster designs
- photo manipulations (also for churches et al for “orders of services” etc)
- original artwork (my more abstract pieces mainly)
- stock artwork for presentations
- leaflets, order of services, invites, handouts, etc
As for costs, well that is where I am really stuck, I want to be able to offer this service to churches (the SA particular, for to be honest some of their posters etc. are really poor), so I cannot charge a horrendous amount but at the same time I need to charge enough. I calculated that as a rough figure to survive a month I need just less that £1000, that just covers rent, bills, living costs etc. Which as you can imagine means I need to generate more than £1000 in income per month… which will not be easy, if it all possible.
I have done some inital calculations and in a month it would work out at around £700, which sucks, and my costing does not even take account of printing costs… hmm.. I think I have managed to shoot down this idea myself, that is not to say that I will not keep thinking about it to see if I can make it work. I guess we shall see.
Still if anyone you want to comment please do. In the mean time I think I better keep looking at the job pages.
Laters.
(edited to remove money calculations)
I am Adam "Lurch Kimded" Howie, I kinda run this website, not very well but it is mine... all mine!!! (cue evil laugh) 
OK, a few things:
Firstly, I really like this idea. To be honest, I’ve been meaning to ask you about a few images… but I can’t remember what they are right now!
Given the international nature of the Army, and the wonder of the information-hyper-webway, you may be able to tap into an international market here.
There’s also the possibility of creating work and selling it through something like iStockPhoto, Logo Wars, or your own site – not everything has to be a one-off.
Why not try doing it as a sideline for a while and see whether there’s a market? Or whether you can build up a portfolio and client-base?
I was tempted to do it as a sideline but since I still have no prospects for a job any time soon its looking like I may have to look at perhaps starting it through the New Deal for Self Employment which may be an option since I’ve been unemployed so long.
I considered starting off on a wider scale (i.e. the net) but I think, for the moment, although I will use the web as a tool for gaining business and advertising I think actual sales may be something I expand into.
In the next few weeks, if the right doors open, I will be making enquiries as to wither or not there is a market, or at least enough of a market, for this to be viable.