BRANDING | PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Why I Turned Down My First Earning
Knowing my worth was the best decision I made.
You don’t believe me, do you? It’s true. I refused to take the money for my first project and no, it has got nothing to do with my generosity. Infact, it was about knowing my worth and the value of my work.
Wow, I’ve started becoming a rhyme master, haven’t I? Anyways, back to the story.
It was the earliest phase of my business where I was still just cold calling people and facing rejections. My inner circle and the people I met on a daily basis knew that I had started a design business.
One day, I was at the gym and just getting ready to head home when I heard the managers talking about their logo. Apparently, they had tried getting their logo made from different people but were unsatisfied with the outcome.
One of the managers spotted and beckoned me. Although, it was just a logo, my heart started racing at the thought of finally getting my first design project. A thousand scenarios were going through my mind, the happy faces of my founding team floating in front of my eyes.
Manager: Usman you’re a designer, right?
Me: Yes, I do know how to design.
Manager: We want a logo for our gym flyers and have contacted at least a dozen printers by now and wasted money on them. I think we need a designer for this. Can you help us?
Me: Of course. As a member here, I already know your story and vision so I will be able to come up with something within this week.
Manager: Great then, we’ll be looking forward to the design.
“Phew, that was easy” was what my heart was thinking but my mind had already started constructing an image for the logo.
I went to my university’s library (this is the story where I have talked about how I started) and located my founding team there. We got so excited that we started celebrating then and there and were kicked out of the library.
But nothing mattered at that time because we had finally scored our first project; our efforts were finally paying off. We had decided that we would not start working right away. We would reward ourselves and then start work the next day.
But none of us could contain ourselves so we started, sitting on the stairs in one of the buildings of our university.
We researched, gathered inspiration, took notes, and brainstormed until 9 pm which was the closing time. We had to be kicked out because we just didn’t want to stop.
Getting kicked out of two spots at the same place in the same day. Wow, it’s kind of embarrassing now that I’m sharing with you but hey, I was just starting out!
So, anyways, the logo took us a week to create and when it was done, I took it to the manager of my gym. Guess what he said about it?
Yes, he loved it. And then comes the main part. The part that encouraged me to write this story.
The manager asked me about the price. I know you’re thinking why price didn’t come into the picture before he gave me the task.
I had told him that I will only charge him if he likes the logo because I had nothing to show him, nothing to compare the price with. I had decided to work with this mindset until I had built a decent portfolio.
I told him that the price of the logo would be $50. He was dumbstruck to say the least. He literally didn’t say a word for two minutes.
I will convey your message to the owner.
Was all he said.
That night, I was just about to sleep when my phone rang. It was the owner of the gym.
Him: How can you charge such a pathetic amount for a simple logo? Are you out of your mind?
Me: Sir, it took me a lot of time and effort. I believe in providing value which is why I have only quoted the price because you liked it. Imagine if I had quoted this price if you didn’t like it.
Him: Oh, stop it. You don’t know what you are doing. You are just an arrogant startup owner who thinks he’s the best. I could have gotten this logo made in $5.
Me: With all due respect sir, you were the one who came to me and said you couldn’t find a good logo. The software I use alone is $100 a year, not to mention the effort, research and time this logo has taken. I know what I am charging because I know the worth and value of my work.
Him: I will only give you $10 for this logo, not a cent more than that.
And he hung up. The next day, when I went to the gym I was called in his office. He tried to give me a $10 bill to which I said,
Consider it a donation from my startup to your gym. If I accept this money, I would be degrading myself, my team, my effort and worth and that is not acceptable to me. And by the way, the $5 logo you were talking about? I can make a template-based logo like that too but it’s against my morals and my vision.
Saying that, I left. I lied to my team and my mother about the payment and showed them my saved pocket money instead.
Now that I am in the price bracket of $50000 to $80000, whenever I or any of my teammates feel skeptical, we reflect back to this story.
If I had started accepting low payments, my work would not have been respected and I would never have experienced the exponential worth I am enjoying now. I would have been stuck in a hole of low payments.
My name is Muhammad Usman, and I am the founder & creative director of a brand design agency by the name of Alif-Ya Studio located in Pakistan. My aim is to help not only the creatives but also the businesses that want to become design-driven and escalate their sales. If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help out in the comment section. :)
