Topic: Entrepreneurship ideas and experiences (Read 536 times)

Frankly, being an artist is very tough and making money as an artist is not that easy.

But can vouch for this case which you have mentioned and its right for all art related category. Especially if the artist is talented and experienced then, he/she can earn $200-$500/ per day easily according to his/her hourly rates. It depends on the complexity level too. Your friend is undoubtedly an experienced individual that's why he/she is earning $150 per day. it happens if someone is getting regular work from the same client on a monthly basis. I am guessing this because usually storyboard artist gets bulk work in one go or lengthy contract. Let 's say a minimum of a 2-3 month.

I am a freelancer as well since 2013-2014 ( 3d Game Artist/ Character Modeler) $150/day is a perfect amount if the project is long (condition apply: if you are from developing county). Because in developing countries, studios charges are around $200/day = 1 Artist. So for any individual freelancer, $150 is a right amount.

Otherwise, beginners situation is not very good. It's cutthroat competition when it comes to freelancing. I remember my initial months when I left my regular 8 to 5 job and started doing freelancing. Oh boy! believe me, that was tough. Seen very $&#^ up days. made tons of mistakes while choosing projects, clients, hourly rate, time management, etc

But after 3-4 years of experience in freelance, now i can somehow choose my clients on my terms if I want. Money is good too after all hard work one can easily earn $3k-4k ( I am from India and its very good amount for me). on the good month, you can earn 2-3x too if you plan accordingly like commision work.

Before starting a freelancing career one should definitely tick a few things according to my experience.

First Phase :
1. Control your emotions and don't take quick decisions
2. Backup is always good (financially)
3. Be ready to become your salesmen, manager, accountant and worker at the same time. you are alone on this, believe or not
 
Second Phase :

4. Know your Clients requirements
5. Check if client legit
6. Respect your work and time ( Chances are you will not so you will accept bad clients + low payment because you have to pay bills nothing you can do about that) that's why Point  
    2 is important ( go back to the first phase)
7. After making mistakes. learn from your mistakes and Move on because no one cares about it except you.
8. Never ever rely on a single client. No matter how big he/she is and how big their promises are.
9. Keep learning. raise your standard if you wanna stand out. you are finish that day when you stop learning.

Third Phase :

10. Know your worth
11. Make a good business relationship with clients
12. Learn to say No
13. Your work is your signature. Never forget that, so no cheat!
14. Don't rely on hard work alone, smart work is needed too
15. Again Backup is always good

with the right idea, passion and focus, one could thrive in any business endeavors irrespective of having a degree or not, the major element to succeed and stay relevant in business is INNOVATION. Discovering new enhanced ways to either package or service one's clients.

just recently I started watching Shark Tank and The Profit to become more motivated in business and revive my entrepreneurship. I suggest you watch it too. marketing is really a big part of building a successful business.

from your analytical view, you fail to highlight shortcomings and hurdles that these entreprenuers undergo before they hit limelight. Entrepreneurial successes are just a tip of the iceberg, the struggles, denials, rejections, dejections and so on are not seen. In all of this, an entrepreneurial mindset is the best anyone can ever wish to have, but one should understand and prepare oneself for the challenges ahead. The road to success is not smooth.

originally I used to think that our current level of advancement has made doing business easy and straight-forward but the truth is that the principle that has been working for 100 years is still at work right now. the principle is that you can get very successful in business by simply doing what every other person is doing you need to get creative, make decisions that are novel and try out new strategies it worked for ford, bill gate, warren buffet and it is still working for Elon Musk

Having a business is really a good idea to create income.  As of these days, having a business is easier compare before. Lots of people are doing their online business, posting their products and services in social media as part of their marketing strategies. Through this kind of media you can connect anywhere, everywhere.  The good thing is, you don't have to rent space to earn income, no permits to pay and most important is, you market is limitless.  Just make sure that you will always be honest and give your best to serve them.  Always gain your customers' trust.

You got a few good ideas in there. I sort out my ideas like this:

- Short term ideas: These are ideas to give cash-flow. Simple business ideas/gigs to produce income to allow me to work on the following categories.
- Medium term ideas: These are ideas that I see being run for a long term, but they aren't massive projects with high effort. Simply put, I can work on them for a good amount of time, launch and generate revenue.
- Long term ideas: These are the big ideas, the ones which take a lot to developer/implement, but are my primary focus.

I'd recommend categorizing your ideas such, and pick one from each category to work on (if you can in tandem)

This is a very good idea if everybody can bring ideas. We have some immigrants from Mozambique here in South Africa. They offer gardening services around our town, they have their own lawnmowers and walk from one job to the other. They do 3-4 lawns a day, two people on the job and they work fast. They even advertise on a local Facebook page. I know there will be a brand new debate because they are immigrants, but that's not the point. The point is if you really want to work and earn a living there is many ways.

When it comes to business, i suggest you read the book the art of war, there so much you can learn about tactics, strategies, marketing and some loopholes you dont want to cross your path with. Starting a small business can be hard, but all i can say it is better to start hard than not to start at all.

The beginning is always easy. With business, I think, if you provide good service and products, and with the right marketing strategy then people will buy and support your business. Word of mouth for me is still the best marketing strategy but good quality products and services and a positive and kind attitude from those behind the business also plays a key role in the success of any business.

Starting a business is so simple these days. It pretty much comes down to this: develop a skill that other people will pay for, and then use the internet to find those people. This concept can be applied to just about anything, and I think a lot of you guys don't realize how easy it is.

>have a friend from high school who paints houses, about $1k per job
>he gets one to two jobs per month, finding clients by word of mouth
>in only three or so days, set him up with a site and teach him about Facebook ads
>gets 10 clients from online ads within the first month and a half
This is a guy with no degree who paints houses, now he's looking at making $10k in less than two months. Now he's transitioning to hiring people to paint the houses while he sits back and gets clients.

>another friend with art degree
>hears that storyboard artists can get paid $150/day doing boards
>starts focusing exclusively on being a freelance storyboard artist, building up site and portfolio
>starts running ads on google/bing to get the ball rolling
>storyboarding is a low competition niche so his name was always one of the first to pop up in search
Now he's always booked. He doesn't even run ads anymore.

I could go on all day. With one of my online businesses, I deal with a lot of "psychics" and "tarot readers." These people literally provide an imaginary service. PayPal them $25 and they'll give you a "psychic reading" via e-mail. They find all of their clients just by being active on Instagram. Occasionally, they'll pay a larger Instagram account to shout them out. A lot of these people are insane and say all kinds of weird shit. Yet they've still figured out how to run their own business online.