Work for Money, Design for Love: Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Starting and Running a Successful Design Business

Chapter 5. Work Direct or Be a Subcontractor?

Choices—you’ll need to make thousands of them. That’s something I didn’t really think about at the start of my self-employment. When I was employed by someone else, the majority of corporate decisions were made by my colleagues and superiors, and I focused on decisions around print and Web management. But now, everything comes back to me, from profit-making and balancing the books to marketing drives and public relations.

One decision has to be made again and again: I can either deal directly with clients (the people buying the actual design work) or with a studio or agency (the people who have been hired by the client and who regularly subcontract design work to design specialists).

There are positives ...