Quite possibly the most spot on article about being a designer that has ever been written

A former SCAD classmate and fellow agency owner just posted this article from Fast Company Design: 12 Things They Don't Teach You In School About Being A Designer. After eight years running studioSavvy/Bayonet I'm certain that every item on this list is 100% accurate. I'm bookmarking it here the next time I'm asked for advice from someone considering starting an agency. 

 
  1. The more successful you get, the less design work you'll do.
  2. No matter how skilled you get or how big your agency grows, you'll still get frustrating feedback and difficult clients and projects.
  3. Your costs scale as your business scales
  4. You will be doing at least three people's jobs at once, so you better love what you're doing.
  5. You are not charging enough.
  6. You'll be constantly earning client trust, over and over, so get good at it.
  7. There will be extreme highs and lows.
  8. You will hire good people (I hope); you will help them grow and improve; they will eventually leave.
  9. You will have to chase down a deadbeat client.
  10. You will spend money.
  11. You need to be an extremely good communicator.
  12. Those processes you made fun of at your last job? You’ll end up implementing at least a few similar ones.
ExperienceCarrie InkSage Advice, Design Finds, Reading ListsComment