Welcome to Saturday Business chat. Today I have the great pleasure of introducing Sian Edwards, a friend and fellow home-worker who lives locally to me. If you do work from home, it’s great to have local people around who you can meet for a coffee and a chat when work and time permit. Sian also told me about proz.com, which is a great resource if you’re a translator or, like me, you do localisation, as it puts you in touch with customers all over the world.

It always makes me happy to see how much my interviewees love their work, and here’s another person who does! Let’s meet Sian …

What’s your business called? When did you set it up?

I trade under my own name and have been a freelance translator since 2006. I worked in various roles at three different translation agencies before taking the plunge.

What made you decide to set up your own business?

I wanted the flexibility to fit my work around my family life.

What made you decide to go into this particular business area?

I have always enjoyed translation, ever since I was a student. I enjoy it so much that it hardly feels like work! So it was an obvious step for me.

Had you run your own business before?
No.

How did you do it? Did you launch full-time, start off with a part-time or full-time job to keep you going … ?

I jumped in at the deep end. I’ve been a full-time freelancer from the start. But I did have a lot of work from my former colleagues already lined up.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

Don’t rely on just one or two clients. I lost my major client after a few months and, although I was able to replace them fairly quickly, I could have done without the panic!

What would you go back and tell your newly entrepreneurial self?

Get some business cards printed, go out and network! Don’t sit in front of the computer by yourself all day. It will be good for your state of mind and you might even get some work out of it.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

I wish I’d made the effort to find out more about accounting and tax when I started. Some kind of course or workshop would have been a good idea. The transition to paying six months of income tax in advance came as a particular shock.

What are you glad you did?

I’m glad I was bold. It’s not in my nature at all, as I’m quite a shy, introverted person, so approaching people I knew in the industry in the hope that they would send me work felt a bit cheeky. But it worked and gave me a much-needed boost at the start.

What’s your top business tip?

Don’t be afraid to say no. If you don’t have the time to do a good job, it’s better that you don’t do it at all.

How has it gone since you started? Have you grown, diversified or stayed the same?

The amount of work offered to me has gone up and up. At the same time the type of work I do has become more specialised.

Where do you see yourself and your business in a year’s time?

The same, but with a tidier office!

Ah, yes: the double tax thing (which I blogged about when it hit me). I found it so helpful to do my course at the beginning of my freelance life (see my post about setting up your own business for links) and don’t know how I’d have coped without it. Good luck with that tidy office, Sian!

Sian can be contacted via her profile on www.proz.com. She does German to English translation.

If you’ve enjoyed this interview, please see more freelancer chat, the index to all the interviewees, and information on how you can have your business featured.

Welcome to Saturday Business chat.Today’s Freelancer is Tammy Ditmore from eDitmore Editorial Services, who I know through a network of editorial professionals we both belong to. Tammy’s one of our newer businesses, having been going for around 18 months (this time round), and is one of our freelancers based in the US – but as you can see, we all have similar issues and learning curves, wherever in the world we might be!

Tammy has some interesting things to say about the difference between being a freelancer and running a business, and also about the resources that are out there for both business people in general and editors in particular.

What’s your business called?

eDitmore Editorial Services.

When did you set it up?

January 2011.

What made you decide to set up your own business?

I had been working as the managing editor of an academic journal for more than five years, but the situation had become very stagnant and I wanted something different. I wanted to edit more and manage less. I applied for several editing and/or writing jobs in my area and got nowhere—I couldn’t even get an interview. I finally decided it was time to return to freelance editing, which I had done before I started at the journal. But when I freelanced before, I never thought of it as a business; I just took whatever work happened to come my way. This time I wanted to be more official. So I established a name, created a website, and set myself up legally as a “sole proprietorship”.

What made you decide to go into this particular business area?

I have been involved in editing in one way or another for about 30 years. I graduated from college with a journalism degree and spent more than 10 years in various editor roles at several daily newspapers. I left newspapers when my oldest son was a baby and wound up working from home as a freelance editor, proofreader and writer while my kids were young. Then I took the academic journal position, and learned more about running a business. By the time I started my business, I had editing or writing experience in a number of styles and publications.

Had you run your own business before?

Although I had worked as a freelance editor for a number of years, I had not thought of myself during those years as running a business. I did not have a business name; I did not market or advertise; and I never thought of myself as a businesswoman. When I decided to leave my position with the academic journal, I knew I needed to do things differently. I wanted to see my work—and I wanted other people to see this—as my business, not just something I was doing until I could get a real job.

How did you do it? Did you launch full-time, start off with a part-time or full-time job to keep you going … ?

While I was still at the journal, I made my business plans and did the preliminary work, like getting a logo and a website. By the time I left that job, I had one contract that I knew would keep me very busy for a few weeks and would provide some steady work throughout the year. I was lucky; I could take some risks because my husband’s job was very safe and I didn’t have to worry about insurance benefits since our family was insured through him. That made it less risky for me to step away from the steady paycheck.

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

I wish I had known how many resources were available to help get me started, such as editing classes and training, list-serves and discussion groups, online invoicing, etc. I did not need to reinvent so many things—it was all out there but I didn’t know where to look for it.

What would you go back and tell your newly entrepreneurial self?

“You don’t have to go it alone,” and, “You know more than you think you do”.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

I wish I had taken more time off between finishing my journal job and really plunging into work on my own. I think it would have been good to take some editing classes and just spend some time thinking about what I wanted to do and how. I expected to have slow spells in my first few months where I could focus on such things, but I never really did.

What are you glad you did?

I’m glad that I paid to have a logo designed around my business name and that I was able to get a professional to design my website. Both turned out better than I had envisioned and are definitely memorable.

What’s your top business tip?

It’s not a very original one—I would say you should network. Join professional organizations in your field; volunteer for specific roles; and tell everyone you know about your business. Some of my best and most unexpected business has come from very unlikely places.

How has it gone since you started? Have you grown, diversified or stayed the same?

Much better than I had expected. I almost doubled the income goal I had set for myself for the first year, and I have turned away work on several occasions. Even more important to me, I have been able to work on a wide variety of publications and manuscripts for a variety of publishers, authors, and students. In a little more than a year, I have worked on books and articles about Puritan theology, international counter-terrorism tactics, Christian ethics, Facebook advertising, the original Saint Nicholas, and successful car dealers, and I have just started editing my first novel. Also, I am truly enjoying learning more about today’s rapidly changing publishing world and how to market and run my business. I have started to think more like a businesswoman in addition to thinking like an editor.

Where do you see yourself and your business in a year’s time?

I am considering some steps now to raise my business profile and visibility, so I hope that by this time next year more people will know about eDitmore Editorial Services.

I know what Tammy means about expecting a slow spell between finishing the day job and launching the business – I thought that about Jan/Feb 2012, but went straight into full-time busy-ness. Still, it’s good to be busy! And I wish Tammy all success through this next important year for her business. Read her 2013 update here.

Tammy’s website is at www.editmore.com and you can of course contact her by email. She’s based in Califormia.

If you’ve enjoyed this interview, please see more freelancer chat, the index to all the interviewees, and information on how you can have your business featured.

Welcome to Saturday Business chat. In a first for the series, we’ve got a brother-sister combination! Last week I featured Annabelle Beckwith, and now it’s the turn of her equally talented brother, Tone Hitchcock, of Anthony Hitchcock Art & Design. I met Tone at about the time I met Anna, so he would have been 16 or so at the time. I heard about his work through Anna over the years, went to an opening night of some wonderful paintings he had exhibited, and met up with him a few months ago when he came to “visit” the fibreglass gorilla he’d made that was on display in Digbeth Coach Station. Models he’s made appear on the TV and in films, and it’s great to watch the inventive and marvellous things he produces. Let’s find out how he got started …

What’s your business called? When did you set it up?

Anthony Hitchcock Art & Design. I know, it’s not the snappiest of titles, but it does what it says on the tin. I’ve been doing this since 1997, sometimes part-time, now mostly full time. Unofficially, it’s “Purveyor of Props, Paintings and Peculiarities”.

What made you decide to set up your own business?

I decided to set up for myself as I’d spent most of my time at Uni doing artwork and playing in various bands anyway, rather than concentrating on my English degree. Pretty much the only person I could find willing to employ me when I graduated was me, so it seemed like a good idea.

What made you decide to go into this particular business area?

Art has always been my first love; I’ve been selling paintings since I was 14. I started commercially by doing illustrations and caricatures; it snowballed from there.

Had you run your own business before?

A friend of mine and I at school had run a t-shirt printing business from our study, if that counts … [Liz: yes, of course it does!]

How did you do it? Did you launch full-time, start off with a part-time or full-time job to keep you going … ?

I’ve had a couple of full-time stints at this, and, as I said, I am now pretty much full-time again, but for a long time, I had various part-time jobs as well to keep me ticking over. I’ve worked in a few different shops, done kitchen and bathroom design, worked in a warehouse, done stock control for the Roman Baths shops; whatever it took, really!

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

I wish someone had told me to concentrate on prop and modelmaking 15 years ago!

What would you go back and tell your newly entrepreneurial self?

I would like to go back and tell myself not to lose faith; it’s never easy trying to make a living artistically, but when it does start to come together, it makes the hard times fade away, and it all becomes worthwhile.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

I took a sculpting course in late ’97, whereas before I’d mainly concentrated on 2D artwork. It felt really natural to me, but I was already committed to trying to make a go of it with paintings. I remember wondering if I should make the switch to 3D work instead, but I decided against it. I don’t generally dwell on “what if?” contemplation, but still … in this case, it might have got me further along sooner.

What are you glad you did?

To be honest, even all the rubbishy part-time roles I’ve had have given me something useful, even if it was just experience. Heck, even my wasted youth making Lightsabers out of old bits of Hoover tube has come in useful, as it gave me the perfect skillbase for making the collapsible armature for my latest commission!

What’s your top business tip?

DON’T GIVE UP! And also, tailor what you do to the market. As an artist, it is quite tempting to throw a bit of a hissy fit, and go “But this is my muse! People must appreciate it and buy my work!”

Well, I love melancholy landscapes and bleak atmospheres, but apparently the general art-buying public isn’t keen enough on them to pay for my living. Talent doesn’t guarantee you a career – the old adage about success coming from 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration is true.

How has it gone since you started? Have you grown, diversified or stayed the same?

Following on nicely from the last question, my success rate increased exponentially as soon as I started being less precious about what I do, and started listening more to what other people advised (particularly my wife, but don’t tell her that or she’ll become insufferable).

I’ve always made models as a bit of a sideline, hence the lightsabers, but I’d never really taken it seriously. Three years ago, I made a Wookiee mask for a friend’s birthday, and everyone that saw it asked why I wasn’t doing prop and modelwork all the time. As the only answer I could come up with was a rather sheepish “errr…”, I started scouting around for that kind of work, which lead me on to freelancing at Codsteaks Prop and Model Workshop in Bristol. It’s gone on from there.

Where do you see yourself and your business in a year’s time?

This time next year, Rodders, we’ll be miwionaires … or at least, doing model and prop work more consistently so that Bryony, my wife, can lessen the amount of hours she works.

What a talented pair of siblings Anna and Tone are. And what a lot of different areas of inspiration they offer to other freelancers and entrepreneurs. Never give up, learn from your mistakes, do what you have to in order to sustain your business idea … things we can all learn, whether we train people or make eels for a living! Oh, look – I’ve interviewed their cousin, Sam, too!

Tone’s 2013 update is here!

This is one website that you MUST go and look at, for all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures and beautiful paintings: find Anthony Hitchcock Art & Design at www.tonyhitchcock.co.uk. You can, of course, email Tone or call him on 07929 272 513, especially if you’d like to commission a painting or sculpture. Or an eel.

If you’ve enjoyed this interview, please see more freelancer chat, the index to all the interviewees, and information on how you can have your business featured.