Meet my First Client!

Business is booming. I just got my first consulting gig! My friend Kavon Johnson from Pratt Institute is trying to launch his own apparel company called The Distance and I have asked him if I could help him set up his business as long as I could blog about it. I want to walk everyone through the process of starting a company as its happening. I think that the journey is shrouded in mystery for everyone who hasn't done it and it can seem scary when what stands between you and your dream is a checklist of goals and no idea of where to start. So I thought that by taking on a client I'd not only have a partner to keep me accountable, but we'd have tangible real-world results by the end. I could start an actual company myself (and I intend to) but I thought that by doing case studies on other people's companies as well I could get a handle much quicker on what everybody needs and I don't need to rush coming up with a product for the sake of it.

    The Distance is a T-shirt company all about helping kids learn about science. For each shirt you buy a kid gets one too! The shirts are all about taking science concepts and interpreting them into sweet designs. My friend Kavon says it best: "People combine this idea of being smart and cool, there’s no need to separate the two, you can be both." 

So what does Kavon actually need help with? Well so far, he's got pretty much all the creative work done, leaving only the business aspects, which makes him the perfect case study. He's got his site pretty much up and running thanks to Squarespace and his design school background. What do we have left to do?  Throughout the next few weeks we will be tackling these issues and more:

1) Legally setting up your company and how not to get in trouble with the government
2) Understanding WTH goes on in a company (Bookkeeping/Accounting)

3) Manufacturing/ shipping a product

4) Setting up shop
5) Managing it all (running a live business) 

Some we've already figured out but I'd like to take you step by step what his options are and why he chose the action he did. For instance, he's already got his legal setup done thanks to a collaboration with a seasoned business vet he's good friends with. 
This is a huge learning experience for both of us, and it can be for you too if you're following along. Watch The Distance grow from an idea into a profitable business! I decided to start with accounting because I feel that is the one subject on that list I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about. It always seemed like a good idea to me to start with the hardest stuff first. 

Hey There

As a motion graphics designer, I love what I do. It's a dynamic job where every project is a  chance to try and make something that gives you a little flare of pride. Everyday, you believe you’re capable of more than the crap you made yesterday…

I like what I do for a living, but we all have other creative urges. If you're anything like me, you hold on to whatever talent you have and just follow them wherever they go. Usually these aren’t completely rational desires to an outsider. They rarely fit the job descriptions on Monster.com and they never seem to make total sense to anyone but you. But they’re there and they keep you hungry for a day when reality will back off and let you finally devote yourself to the important work. The creative work. 

To earn that freedom though, artists need to fend off villains like greasy landlords, nuclear force school loans and the shit-for-brains IRS. We need to make $$$. Unfortunately, like many designers I find myself needing business skills while having none. I've attempted to start companies to be a rich person instead, but I tried to start these businesses when I didn't know shit about business. I realized I would never get off the ground if I don’t learn how to fly the plane.

Over my years at Pratt Institute and beyond, I’ve met some of incredibly impressive people, and a lot of them happen to be designers. These are people who work their asses off, some literally losing their mind and body for their work. They do it out of love at first but that runs out around 2 in the morning. Most are doing it to be the best. Even after the anvil of schoolwork is lifted, some art students have side projects, where they take their talents and skills and use them to finally create things they personally think are important, whether its an app, a website, a clothing line or an entirely new invention altogether.

The idea of working on a project for “the fun of it” is a totally foreign concept to most people. For most, the work they do is something they never want to touch once they leave their office building. But designers aren’t like that. It’s the amazing side projects I’ve encountered amongst designers I’ve met that inspired me to really make this blog. I know they all have the talent they need to succeed, but often not the skill set to turn their ideas into products. The only thing stopping them from turning their side project into a side business is that they don’t know how. 

I don’t think that’s right. I’ve been in their shoes. That was me. So now I’m backtracking and making it my mission to not only learn wicked business skills but to teach anyone who wants to know. I'm aware that there’s a bit of a stigma among artists about doing commerce. To designers, business is often considered the opposite of everything they hold dear. It's what people do who have no passion, no creativity, no idea what they really want to do. It's for the corporate Shop-Vacs who suction up all the profits off the hard work and love of people like them. I get where the revulsion is coming from. But it’s really just a skill that can turn your designs into freedom if you learn some simple rules. 

I’m starting at absolute ground zero so I figured I'd be a good case study to prove that anybody can do it. Moreover, I think that by being a designer myself I can take what I learn, and translate the nightmarish depths of formal hoopla into universal truths that anyone should be able to understand. At its core, business is simply the language of money and power. If you can speak business you can make as much money as you want. And that is what is going to give you and me the freedom that is the promised land. Not working harder, not climbing the corporate ladder. The only tool that will truly set you as free as you choose is to enter the orient of business for yourselves and stop being scared of something that pulls the puppet strings of your life. 

This blog is a place for me to share what I learn as I embark on this journey. I want to start a conversation, not a monologue. Any questions or feedback you have, I'd love to hear it as ultimately this is all for you. Stay tuned for a breakdown of what’s coming up.