Breathe in... breath out... panic!!

[Ninja]

I'm trying my hardest to stay calm and not do anything stupid (famous last words), but something just happened. I participated in ALG's LoA experiment (but forgot to post a message in his thread ). I'm a little more than three years away from finishing college (the Dutch version, I'm not sure 'college' is the right translation actually), but don't want to get a job after I'm done. It's mainly a 'back-up' plan in case I do need to become a wage slave for a while.

I don't want to work for someone else, but myself! I want to start my own business, do freelance work, as long as I am my own boss. I'll still need to obey others (my clients), but when I do so, at least it will be for my own gain and not someone else's. I want to sell value, not time.
Anyway, I never said what exactely I wanted to do. I just visualized my goal and let the universe take care of it. And I think that just happened.
I was chatting with someone I met this morning on a forum. We were talking about websites and other things, and it was an interesting conversation. I turned off my computer when it was time for dinner and when I turned it back on and checked the forum, I saw that he had send me a PM, asking me out of the blue if I was interested in building his small business a website.

Uhm, whoa...! Not so fast, Universe!

My stomach nearly turned as I began to imagine all kinds of horror scenarios and what-ifs. What should I ask? How do I handle this when it comes to taxes? Should I draft a contract? What should that contract look like? What if he doesn't pay? I'm a bit rusty when it comes to HTML... what if it's too difficult? What if I can't pull it off? What if I get too frustrated? Do I even have the time for this project at all?! What if.....?

I was about to reply and turn him down, when I remembered something I read on another website: when the universe offers you a chance, you don't take a rain check. And that any problems will work themselves out.

I haven't responded yet, and I figure I can sleep on it at least for tonight and let it sink in. But I have this constant feeling of fear that I'm not ready, that this could lead to even bigger projects and that I'll end up way in over my head. What should I do? Turn down the offer and wait until I feel like I've done adequate research on how to handle this and bigger offers that might follow (I don't want to be caught off-guard)? Or should I just go for it and trust the LoA that any info I need will find its way to me?

I have the feeling this is the start of something bigger and that once I accept the offer, the ball will continue to roll and there will be no stopping it... or starting over a second time if I fail. What do I do?!

Sigh...

[Erki]

Outsource the website from me.

[Ninja]

Originally Posted by Erki

Outsource the website from me.

Nice try

[Ninja]

Okay, I decided to contact him and accept the project.

I slept on it and now it doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore. I was just a bit overwhelmed yesterday and caught off guard. But I'm just going to dive in and see what happens! *sweats bulllets*

[Erki]

Whichever road you take, remember, have fun with it.

[001]

Go for it! This is the universe shouting at you, "Yes, you can have what you want! You can be your own boss and follow your dreams. Here, here, I've gotten someone who wants you to do a website to get you started. Thanks for you wish, here I am granting it, enjoy!" Take the job and have fun. Don't worry about everything else; the worst that could happen (and it probably won't happen) is that you make the site and don't get paid... in which case you still have a sample you can show future clients! Good luck!

[Enrim]

Good for you! I am a web designer too and I have some experience dealing with clients, taking payments, making the right decisions in terms of design, keeping the client happy, and many many other things. So, I would suggest to you to take 50% downpayment from him before you start, so you don't go unpaid. Also, it helps to have a very structured way of working and explaining the steps you go through to your client. One of the biggest issues of doing web design is that once you are seemingly completely done with the site, the client keeps requesting seemingly minor changes, but often times those changes just grow into a giant snowball of work that you are not getting paid for anymore, and is keeping you from living your life. This way, sometimes projects that are supposed to take a month of work end up taking 6 months, if not longer. One of the ways of solving this is to charge by the hour.

And all of the experience comes... well with experience, and every time you work on a project you will get better and better. You will be amazed, or at least I was, still am.

I just read my post again, and it doesn't look too optimistic, but I hope you didn't get discouraged. Being a web designer is great - you can do everything on your own and not depend on anyone. It is a creative job that also pays well - not the combination you can find in the creative field a lot of the time.

Anyway, I don't even know if you need any of these pointers, but I figured I'd share some of my knowledge. So if you have any questions regarding web design and client management don't hesitate to contact me, I will be happy to help.