Some time ago I decided to take up new challenges and next week I am going freelance and starting my small business. I am leaving my company with which I will keep good relationship and where I met some truly great people. However, I feel it is time for me to continue chasing my dreams.
I have been working for years for different companies and besides my day job I handled multiple freelance projects. It worked for quite some time but it wasn’t sustainable in the long term. At one point, the amount of work exceeded my free time and energy and after I nearly burned out I realized it’s time to make a change. Luckily, I met some wonderful people and have truly fantastic projects, some of which you could’ve seen on my dribbble stream. I’m eager to continue working on the current projects and to start a couple of new exciting ones. Most of the future projects will be team work – some of my colleagues designers will work closely with me in various aspects of design process.
My moleskin is full of article ideas which I haven’t had time to tackle but I plan to fix this in the near future. After all, I neglected this blog completely for the last 10 months! I will write about UI/interaction design principles and practical things I learned, thoughts on design research & usability testing and observations about being an in-house UX person.
One of the goals is to redesign my portfolio
This site will also need some work and the focus will be on my portfolio. Currently it says nothing about design processes and decisions I’ve taken on projects so I find it more or less useless. Also it lacks most of the recent work. Each project in portfolio will consist of a short case study and sreenshots that will reveal more details.
It will probably be hard, but more important is that it will be fun, and I am determined to do something really good. We’ll see how it goes.
Big decision but sounds right, godspeed!
Good luck!
Good luck, Janko!
wish you all the best.
A decision to make. I agree it would be fun and great time having your own business. Starting one is good way to success. =)
I really think that we (always) need more entrepreneurs with talent like you, so good luck and success!
in Italy we use to say: "in bocca al lupo!", which is a colorful way to mean "good luck". that’s it.
Best of luck to you Janko. I don’t a have a doubt in my mind, that you will be successfull!
Thanks everyone for the good wishes!
Good luck!
way to go janko! best of luck!
Hi! Yeah it’s big decision. Even I’m confused about same decision since past 1year. It’s hard to leave current job which pays you good amount of money regular basis compared to running own IT business which doesn’t give guarantee about anything. But above all, it’s more about passion. Wish you all the best on this.
I’d like to share my story to hopefully help/inspire you:
I’ve been a freelancer for 4 years. My first two years I had trouble making ends meat as I wasn’t experienced enough on the business side of things. I also didn’t have strategic partners in various fields to help me out when I needed it. So I went back to working for "the man".
The second time I attempted freelancing was when I got layed off in the recession. This time I already had all my partners/contacts in place and had a good understanding of the business side of things (marketing, sales, accounting etc). With those skills I was able to work part time doing freelance work and make double what I did working for "the man".
In my opinion: preparation, taking your time and good networking(other people) is the key to success.
Good luck.
Thanks everyone!
Nick, thanks for your thoughts. Factors you mentioned are indeed important, hope everything works well for you!
Alright Janko! I look forward to reading about your new experience as well =)
I commend you on your decision, Janko! Freelancing can be difficult at times but it’s well worth it in my opinion.
Thanks! I will write about this new endeavor definitely!
I never seen this kind of blogengine enabled site. You did a great design.
best of luck. i truly believe this will bring great change for you :) and keep us updated form time to time on your new experiences as you grow up as an independent artist/designer/developer :)
Congratulations. I wish you well, and I know you have excellent skills!
Thanks everyone!
All the best man…..
Sounds cool :)
Good luck to you
Will be holding thumbs for you :)
Best of luck Janko, I hope the business is going well!
The very best of luck to you. How’s it going, I know it’s only a few months but how have you found starting your own small business?
Janko, i wish you all the luck with your new adverntures, keep us updated!
Business must be booming ;)
Hope to hear of your experience soon!
Good luck Janko ..