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January 18: 10 questions for Nathan Pitman

A few months back, fellow UK designer Nathan Pitman interviewed me (and others) about "going it alone" as a freelancer. He was asking because he himself was on the verge of leaving his job and starting out on his own. Now that he's started Nine Four I turned the tables and asked him the same 10 questions, to find out how it's going so far.

1: Why?
So what was it that made you decide to 'go it alone'?

It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, I've always aspired to running an agency of my own. About 15 people would do it (and an Aston Martin DB9). The initial driving force? I wasn't entirely happy in my previous job, I needed more of a challenge. Just a month or so prior to this my parents had given me a sum of cash which my wife and I decided we'd use as security to enable us to start the business.

2: Ch ch ch ch changes
How did you prepare for the change in employment, did you 'do it proper like' and write a formal business plan before you started?

Well I planned to do it that way but my wife gave birth to our second daughter (Isla), I handed my notice in and started working on my first job within the space of a week. A couple of weeks in I did write a 'mission statement'. That's better than nothing isn't it?

3: First day
On your first day did you do a shed load of work or just play PlayStation?

On my first 'real' day I did a shedload of work yes. I don't think I've ever had a chance to play any PlayStation, although I did take some time off at Christmas and enjoy a bit of Burnout 4 (Vroooom!).

4: Rates
If you charge by the hour, how did you decide on your hourly rate? Did you pluck a figure from the air or work out a rate based on the salary you required?

Having been in the industry for over 8 years I've worked with a fair few freelancers and also worked in a fair few agencies, so I had a pretty good feel for what I could charge for the quality of work which I'd be delivering. My first mistake was probably that I didn't factor in time/cost to cover account and project management. Fortunatley because I track how much time I spend on each job and then evaluate that against the allocated time I realised within one job that there was some disparity. Rather than add management time as a separate item I use a sliding scale for my hourly rate. Clients who require more management are at the upper end of the scale, whilst those which are easy to work with tend to qualify for a bit of a discount, therefore encouraging more work from them.

5: Selling yourself
What about marketing then... do you advertise your services in local rags, wear a short skirt and tout yourself on street corners or just rely on word of mouth?

Well, when I first set out I planned to be pretty pro-active about marketing. I wanted to make a real point of pushing the brand and the message at every opportunity. You soon realise that this is a full time job in it's own right... I've not even had the time to get my own website sorted yet, that's poor (Mental note: Must do something about my website).

I guess right now most of my business is word of mouth, although I have a pretty neat set up with a couple of local businesses who are selling my services on as their own. So I have some 'virtual' sales people out there working for me.

6: Structure
How does your average work day pan out? For example do you have specific times during which you respond to prospects and clients, read blogs and eat biscuits, or do you just go with the flow?

Generally I check my email for anything which requires urgent attention, read a few industry based newsletters I get each day, peruse a few fave blogs (almost forgot) and then get busy. Sometimes if I'm feeling unproductive I eat biscuits, liquorice or drink more coffee that I really need to, or failing that I'll write some pointless entry for my blog.

7: Work and play
Does working freelance actually give you more free time for yourself and/or your family? Or in reality and do you actually spend every waking hour sat at the computer trying to make sure that you can pay the bills each month?

Well, I had kinda hoped that it would, but in reality I think I work more hours now then I ever have in my life! Although saying that I do have the flexibility to finish work at 5pm, have dinner with the family and spend some quality time with the kids before settling back to work at about 7-8pm. Usually I hit the sack at about 10-12pm. At weekends I don't do any work, ever. It's a rule. Weekends are 100% family time.

8: When disaster strikes
What's the one single biggest disaster that you've had to face, and how did you deal with it?

Recently I had a bit of miscommunication with a client regarding the functionality they were expecting as a result of some changes I was making to their website. I decided to just resolve the issue with no charge, at first I thought it was going to take me days to remedy the situation, but in reality it only took me a few hours of frantic PHP. Phew!

9: The future (is bright hopefully)
Being self employed you must have some ambition... where do you want your business to be in ten years time?

Like I said already... I'd love to have 15 or so employees, a relaxed and flexible working environment that focuses on creativity and encourage employees to work to live and not live to work.

Most importantly though, I want Nine Four to still be delivering business led digital solutions for clients, enabling them to do better business and helping them to become leaders in their respective markets.

10: Tip please
And finally, what single tip would you give to someone who is considering going freelance to help make the leap into the unknown that little less daunting?

To make bold decisions and charge clients what you're worth you need some security behind you. If you need to, spend a year saving like crazy or talk openly with family and friends about your ambitions, you never know who might be willing to help out.

Posted by Paul.

Comments

I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about. Fantastic.

Nathan Pitman
January 18, 2006 10:22 AM

Inspirational! Truly.
Thank you - both of you!

Anton
January 19, 2006 5:03 AM

Hi...good interview...may i re run this, giving you complete credit on it, 'course, on my blog. A lot of job seekers read it and this kind of interview is always interesting.

thanks,

GL HOFFMAN, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

gl hoffman
December 16, 2006 2:27 PM

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