5 Things Every New Freelance Designer Needs to Know Before Getting Started

Baby Abbey during my first year of freelancing

Nine years ago, I had a tough decision to make as a recent design school graduate: Should I take the traditional agency route, or should I leap into freelancing and start my own design business? I chose the entrepreneurial path, and while I don't regret that decision, there's so much I wish someone had told me before I took that first step.

As I look back on nearly a decade of running my design business, there are five crucial things that would have saved me countless headaches, financial mistakes, and sleepless nights. And since we don’t gatekeep around here, I’m going to share them with you ⤵

Undercharging is a Trap

When I was about to graduate, I asked my design professor what I should charge for my services. His advice – charge hourly and aim for around $30 an hour (which was industry standard for a junior designer at the time). So for my very first client, I charged around $300 USD for a full brand identity. Looking back, this was way too low. But at the time, it seemed totally reasonable to me. And it led me to continue undercharging for years, holding my business back in ways that I didn’t even really understand. Until eventually I realized that my business wasn’t profitable and hourly pricing was to blame.

Hourly pricing tied my worth directly to time spent, completely ignoring the value I was creating for clients. I wasn't considering my talent, experience, or the impact my work would have on their business. Worse yet, I was barely making a living wage while working myself into the ground.

The real problem wasn't just the low rate – it was how difficult it became to raise my prices once I'd established myself as the "cheap option." Clients expected those rock-bottom rates, and I felt trapped in a cycle of undervaluing my work.

What I wish I'd known: Pricing as a freelancer is about strategy and profitability, not just math. And I needed to see the bigger picture to really understand that my value was rooted in more than just the time that it takes me to design something.

Communication Can Make or Break a Project

My early client communication strategy was embarrassingly simple: send over a PDF of my work with "Hey, what do you think about this?" and wait for their response. When they said no, I'd just create something else without asking why or explaining my reasoning. I was basically a pixel pusher who let my clients run the show, no questions asked.

This approach led to some tough projects where clients were quick to reject concepts and I had no tools to guide them toward better decisions. I wasn't being hired for my expertise as a designer – I was just completing tasks.

The transformation came when I learned that sometimes great design isn't enough. No matter how brilliant your work is, if you can't present it effectively and guide clients through your process, projects can fail. I had to learn how to extract helpful feedback, ask the right questions, and intentionally guide my clients the right solutions.

My first business cards for my design studio.

You Spend Money to Make Money

Design school taught me how to create beautiful work, but it failed to prepare me for running a business. I was clueless about business registration, taxes, expenses, and financial planning. In my mind, being a good business owner just meant having as few expenses as possible.

So I stubbornly kept doing tasks that I wasn’t very good at instead of outsourcing them. I tried to figure things out on my own instead of investing in resources to help me get the answers that I needed faster. But after a few years, I realized that doing it all on my own just to save money was actually causing me to lose moneyl.

The reality: Running a design business means understanding that money flows both ways. Sometimes you need to invest strategically to grow.

Contracts. Always.

I was nervous to send contracts to my first clients, especially if they were people I knew personally. Did I really need a contract for a family friend? Spoiler alert: YES, you absolutely do.

I learned this lesson the hard way when clients tried to get work for free or demanded refunds after I'd already completed the work. You never expect a client to take advantage of you, but it happens.

What changed everything: Understanding that contracts protect both parties, not just me. A good contract sets clear expectations and prevents misunderstandings. And if a client isn’t ok with signing my contract, it’s going to be a “No” from me.

Getting Clients Takes Time (Maybe A Lot of Time)

Finding clients was my biggest shock. It took me months to land my first real project and over a year to book projects consistently. Nobody prepared me for how difficult marketing would be or how much rejection I'd face. In the beginning, I was just throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck.

The brutal truth: Client attraction is hard work that requires strategy, persistence, and thick skin. Even after nine years, I still face rejection sometimes. The key is having systems in place for attracting the right clients and processes that convert interest into bookings.

Final Takeaways

If you're just starting out, you don't have to learn everything the hard way like I did. Seek out mentors, join designer communities, and invest in learning the things that you don’t feel confident in. Don't let pricing fears, communication gaps, or business blind spots hold you back from building the design career you deserve.