Designer Improves Work-Life Balance with PeoplePerHour.com

John Whalvin (35) took the plunge into freelancing after 10 years in Advertising, Marketing and Graphic/Website Design agencies. He has worked in Graphics and Website Design since leaving university in 1997, being part of marketing teams for large international blue-chip companies, advertising agencies as well as small local design firms servicing the local community.

He is one of over 670 skilled designers registered on PeoplePerHour.com available to bid for work on a per hour or projects basis.

John has no regrets about making the leap into freelance work, saying “I had a number of reasons to make the move, both work and personal. From a work point of view I can provide the customers with the service that I believe the work deserves, at a cost that I deem fair.”
“In the design field I believe that if you produce great design and not just value the customer, but involve them in the process, then everyone wins and the customers are also far more likely to repeat.”
But it’s not just the personal satisfaction and obvious pride in his work. John says, “My personal life has improved greatly, from having breakfast as a family to being able to make time for simple things like taking our daughter to feed the ducks, or taking an hour out of the week to take her to swimming lessons. I am also less stressed as being the master of my own destiny. I can manage my time better which benefits my marriage and our joint happiness.”

“As with any transition there is worry involved. I was lucky enough to have a few clients come on board almost exactly at the time of change over. After 10 years in the business I had gradually made the right contacts, which I was able to call upon to help generate initial security”

“PeoplePerHour.com is also highly beneficial. There is no guarantee to get every job that you bid for, but there is a chance as long as you are honest, fair and realistic about the service you are offering. They have a great rating system, so service buyers get an idea about what you can offer and a good indication from past buyers to the quality of the work done.”

“Over the last 10 years I gained a lot of beneficial experience, but also saw a lot of mistakes. I took all these on board and bear them in mind with every job I undertake and so far the reaction from all my clients is very positive.”

He advocates preparing to go freelance gradually. “Get the business experience and contacts first. Just because you set up a company does not mean you will get work.

“Open the Yellow Pages and look up your chosen industry and you will have an idea how many competitors you have. And that is just locally.

Having some sort of hook or USP (unique selling point) is a must. I deal with and build company brands every day. If you do not get that right and position yourself correctly from the beginning, you are only creating a hill to climb.

“Tread carefully, take your time, write a business plan and seek out not just good advice but the right advice and if you are not sure, find a second opinion.”

“PeoplePerHour.com has been instrumental in my transition from working for an employer to working for myself. Sourcing potential leads can be difficult no matter how good the service you supply is, PeoplePerHour.com break down that wall so you are on a level playing field with everyone else and with an abundance of work to bid for. It all comes down to honest responsible quoting and if done right, PeoplePerHour.com reward you with a great ranking system, furthering your bidding power. All in all a great service and highly recommended.”


FACT FILE:
Founded in 2007 by two Cambridge graduates: Xenios Thrasyvoulou and Simos Kitiris, PeoplePerHour.com are targeting an estimated £5 billion opportunity. That’s based on the Federation of Small Business (FSB) figures for 2006 showing the total annual spend on part-time, agency workers and casual labour in the UK across all businesses was £70 billion a year. 4.4 million small businesses in the UK are currently growing by 10% annually and account for 35% of the UK workforce, but only 44% of the small business workforce is in full-time employment.

The company has already attracted £350,000 of seed investment from prominent angel investors and is in discussions with a number of VCs.

PeoplePerHour.com practises what it preaches. Their team consists of developers in India, designers in the US, a virtual assistant, PR agent and bookkeeper – all from the site.
The typical buyer runs a small business (usually less than 20 people).

No sectoral bias: companies seem to vary from boutique financial firms, Internet companies, property and PR agencies. See PeoplePerHour.com in action on http://www.peopleperhour.com