2 thoughts on “Discuss your very first venture, and the way you felt getting paid!”
2005, shortly before graduation. I had a close friend who is older, and ran a one man marketing business. He was largely a broker, finding companies to carry out his client’s work, and pocketed the upcharges. He made a decent killing.
Unfortunately budgeting/costs/what to charge people is never covered in college and he’d always ask me “what do I charge for this”. That’s a very awkward position to be put in by someone who knows exactly what they’ve paid in the past. Well, I don’t know what to charge since I’ve never done it before. It got to the point where his wife told him to be a better mentor and to stop asking me how I did something in the past that I’ve never done…
I guessed $200 for a real estate logo design along with “For Sale” signs that go in front of houses. He replies with “you DO know that this sort of project can be worth up to $1,600?” I said “NO I didn’t know that… it’s my first time.”
Any who after a little back and forth, as a beginner in the field I made $700 out of it. He made a few hundred too being the middle man. It ended well and was a decent intro into the industry.
That situation let me know how much college didn’t focus on as far as the real world goes.
First one as a student was as a co-op summer student working on flyers for a major retailer, around 2nd year.
First one after graduation was working in publishing, as a full-time employee.
Didn’t do freelancing until later, only sporadically (like some between full-time jobs). But most of the freelancing I’ve done was pro bono for charities/volunteer.
2005, shortly before graduation. I had a close friend who is older, and ran a one man marketing business. He was largely a broker, finding companies to carry out his client’s work, and pocketed the upcharges. He made a decent killing.
Unfortunately budgeting/costs/what to charge people is never covered in college and he’d always ask me “what do I charge for this”. That’s a very awkward position to be put in by someone who knows exactly what they’ve paid in the past. Well, I don’t know what to charge since I’ve never done it before. It got to the point where his wife told him to be a better mentor and to stop asking me how I did something in the past that I’ve never done…
I guessed $200 for a real estate logo design along with “For Sale” signs that go in front of houses. He replies with “you DO know that this sort of project can be worth up to $1,600?” I said “NO I didn’t know that… it’s my first time.”
Any who after a little back and forth, as a beginner in the field I made $700 out of it. He made a few hundred too being the middle man. It ended well and was a decent intro into the industry.
That situation let me know how much college didn’t focus on as far as the real world goes.
My first ones were full-time/contract jobs.
First one as a student was as a co-op summer student working on flyers for a major retailer, around 2nd year.
First one after graduation was working in publishing, as a full-time employee.
Didn’t do freelancing until later, only sporadically (like some between full-time jobs). But most of the freelancing I’ve done was pro bono for charities/volunteer.