Self-Initiated Business — Don’t Ask, Don’t Get
This is the first of a new series of monthly articles that Triple Double will be sharing. We will be asking, discussing and answering the things people really want to know about design and business.
The articles will compliment talks we give on the same subjects. The first talk was this week at General Assembly in London — so a big thanks goes out to the team there for making that possible. GA asked me to come in and talk about this subject so that’s exactly what I did.
WHY am I doing this?
Designers talk about themselves and their work far too much, I’ve gone to countless talks, presentations and lectures in the hope of understanding about a designer’s process or something currently on their mind, but leave with information I can simply find online.
It’s boring and too many do it.
Instead designers should be understanding and talking to people about what they actually want to know — I’ll be doing just that. I’m not here to tell you what to do with each of the subjects covered, but to use principles (based on experiences) I’ve personally, and the Triple Double team, have learnt along the way — giving insight and answering real questions that people have.
The series of talks and articles are called #pickandroll.
‘Pick and roll’ in basketball is an offensive play in which a player sets a screen (pick) for a teammate handling the ball and then slips behind the defender (rolls) to accept a pass.
In other words, the defending player is concentrating so much on the player handling the ball, they forget to focus on the real problem — the other player slipping behind them towards the basket with an opportunity to score.
Designers should be drawing focus back to what’s important — not themselves. So let’s get to it…
As a designer running a business, I’m constantly developing self-initiated projects and business — understanding and championing the value it brings.
I have one simple rule: If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
I’m British and asking to get is a very un-British thing to do. We’d rather wait in a queue, instead of trying to skip it. Happy to give away our last chip instead of saying no. At Triple Double, our every day experiences of business and design help us to create principles and a different approach — one that gets straight to point, helping our teams, clients and fans along the way.
Our self-initiated projects and business are no different. We believe ‘self-initiation’ can be split into two areas — a mindset as well as a process.
The ‘Self-Initiation’ Mindset
Simply put, starting your own projects and generating business makes you happy. That’s a mindset — even when you’re having a bad day. And in some form, that’s why you got into design in the first place right? Happiness, buzzing, whatever you want to call it — is a feeling that’s important because you’ll give your team, client or investor the same feeling — and this is valuable.
So leave your 9–5 mindset at the door, whether you’re running your own business or not, and replace it with a ‘can-do’ attitude — both in positive and negative circumstances. Think ‘self-initiated’ with everything you do. That piece of software you need to learn, the dream client you want to pitch to or mentoring a fellow team member. Change the approach from ‘this is another task(!)’ to ‘how can I improve this?’.
The energy you’ll give to people will be so important. You might not notice it yourself (as you’re a self-initiating pro), but for everyone else, it’s going to be a big help. We’ve all had to work at some point with a team member that drags the process, product or solution down — not because they’re having a bad day, but simply because they operate 9–5.
What I’m not saying here is to work endless hours, as I’m big believer in setting work boundaries for everyone involved. But within your working day, how can you go above and beyond with small simple wins?
That’s value — and people like doing business with people who add value.
“But Paul, I do work for a 9–5 company, I’m the Executive Strategic Vice CFOEOEO, but our culture is not set up for a mindset you’re proposing?!”
Think about it, why do you think clients get excited about their um ‘Mobile, native, responsibly-sourced citymatching quinoa collaborative service’? It’s because they have the same mindset. So match and enhance theirs with yours. That’s how you can start redefining your company’s culture.
When Michael Jordan first trained with the Chicago Bulls, all his new team mates had to raise their game. He brought an attitude, tenacity and skill that had never been seen before. Sure it took some time for his team mates to match it–but with 5 championships later…and the rest is history.
Essentially, your clients are asking you to help them with their self initiated project so whether you’re responsible for hiring people to work with you or you’re someone trying to get in on the quinoa health storm. Use self initiation as a mindset.
Now that you’ve got the mindset locked down, it puts you into a strong position to ask questions such as…
“Can I have more time?”
“Can I have more £$€?”
“Can I do another project with you?”
“I’d like to offer you a retainer.”
As you read those questions, does it fill you with dread, anxiety and awkwardness (Brits–I’m looking at you)? Well let’s ask this, what is the worst that can happen?
…NO
…NO NO
…NO NO NO
Three big NOs would be slightly strange, but really, that’s it–nothing worse. If you’re asking your client about retainers and everyone else isn’t because their too scared to, who do you think is going to leave a better impression? With your mindset in hand, the door may close on one opportunity, but then you can focus your attention on people who do want what you’re asking them.
When you have a mindset like that and you’re asking certain questions, this makes you the expert. Experts don’t chance their hand, they have a certain set of skills, experiences and insights to ask the questions just like these at the right time. And we’re not talking here whether you have the skills to actually do the job, that’s another article.
Client: “…Yes, I’d like you to do this as well…”
You: “Sure I can.” (types how to into Google)
You: “Why don’t we try this instead?”
Client: “That sounds like a great idea.” (types into Google what that is)
This combination of simple acts and approach can save time, save money or improve your solution. Whatever you’re working on, designer or not, taking the initiative and creating things ultimately helps people and defines you as an expert.
Remember our responsibly-sourced quinoa client? Well they’re an expert in their field and you’re an expert in your field–so the project now has two experts. That’s a very good place to start.
The ‘Self-Initiation’ Process
The second part of this subject is based around principles to actually create and maintain self-initiated business–the process. I’m exploring this part from one party to the other, a designer to a client for the example–it can of course work both ways.
So…typically an individual designer or company’s project/client pipeline might look like the following:
1. You work for clients — you’re bread and butter work, why your clients love working with you.
2. You work on non-client projects–sometimes you want to break away from client work to focus on screen-printing posters.
3. You propose work to clients–the difficult one because the two above take up a lot of your time. A lot of clients come to you via recommendations, and you don’t complain about this.
Of course this isn’t everyone’s structure, but typically you’re focussed on what’s in front of you (hopefully you’re already giving your bread and butter clients the self-initiation mindset though). So how do we start balance this out?
Go on the offensive. Become LeBron James.
If you don’t follow basketball, and haven’t gathered yet that I’m a huge basketball fan and player AND don’t know who LeBron James is, then that’s OK. But put it this way, the guy above looking near to your browser bar a few months ago did the impossible at the 2016 NBA playoff finals. His Cleveland Cavaliers team were 3–1 down to the Golden State Warriors and faced certain elimination.
LeBron took it upon himself to self-initiate a change within himself and his team mates, bringing the title back to Cleveland with a historic 4–3 series win. There are rumours about what he said to his team after losing the 4th game, but whatever was said — that’s what going on the offensive means. So become the leader that your team, client or investor is looking for. Nothing more, nothing less.
Find the right team.
Next, assemble your players for your project: individuals, other companies, 99 different investors if you wish — just make sure they also bring the same mindset to the table so no value is ever in question. Triple Double deliberately works in small teams including the client, who plays an active key role–the 6th man if you wish. We do this to keep everyone motivated, to make the best solutions.
Small teams wear many hats, or LeBron sweatbands, take initiative — and we’re happy paying people who bring that value. They’re worth what they cost.
People are more important than ideas.
I think others forget this sometimes. Everyone’s skills are obviously needed, but without the right team, you can’t make the right idea. This has never worked and never will.
Speak to people who want to listen.
You’ve got the right team and together you’re bringing skills, raw talent and an amazing idea to the table. But how do you get everything in front of the right people? It’s not as easy as it sounds.
Market conditions can change, investors will drop out and clients are going to try and change the game with 997 feedback changes–only just after the first meeting.
Speak to people who value your input, and that includes how you listen to their needs.
Did I suggest listening?
Designers are so focussed on talking about their great idea, that they might be missing their team mates or clients suggestion to make things even better. Only by shutting your mouth and opening your ears are you going to take things up to LeBron James’ level.
In other words, listen and speak with your fans. Your fans are united by a common cause — irrelevant of their age, gender, race or whether they run a quinoa field business.
They buy into your WHY, HOW and WHAT (another article) as much as they do with what you can create visually. They will be honest and tell you when something’s not working and this is so valuable. Your self-initiated project or business can’t progress without them. Just like your existing bread and butter clients can’t progress without you.
Your fans are willing to give you money if your vision matches theirs.
Not just clients or investors, but everyday people on Kickstarter for example. If you’re a designer who is already listening to what people need, then that shouldn’t come as a surprise.
So let’s take a look again on how you could approach your pipeline…
1. You propose work to clients–you lead, assemble amazing teams and focus on clients that really would benefit from you. You define who you work with.
2. You work for these clients — you’re new bread and butter work, but this has been generated by you. And yes, this why your clients love working with you.
3. You work on non-client projects–your posters are given as gifts to all your happy clients.
Get it out there.
Self initiated projects can take 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, 1 year+. There isn’t a set time limit — and no one other than yourself can tell you if it’s right or wrong. But your next step should be to get your project out there. Whether you’re PRing it, posting the code to GitHub or simply sharing with a test audience, don’t hold onto it for too long–fans can get impatient.
Done is better than perfect.
Perfect doesn’t exist–otherwise the Jordan XI would of been the last sneaker created by the Jordan Brand. (I’m talking about playing basketball in–but let the arguments begin)
Develop. Test. Improve.
Notice how ‘complete’ or ‘finish’ isn’t in there? Your other client work may not always allow for that process, deadlines loom for example. But when you’re starting something yourself, those three words should be your go to. This doesn’t just have to be about projects either.
Remember the scary retainer question…try out different ways of approaching it with people you love to work with, improve how you do it. And repeat.
WHY are YOU generating self-initiated projects/business?
Finally, decide on what you want to achieve with self-initiated business. If that seems overwhelming, remember your team and fans can help you with that.
Triple Double does it to learn and improve. We do it to learn from others. If we learn and improve, we help our team, our clients and our bank balance.
That’s value for everyone involved.
I’m not here to tell you how to run your projects. But everything I’ve explained should show that self-initiation is a mindset AND process.
To summarise…
Are you on the defensive?
Waiting for that perfect moment? Waiting for the perfect team? The perfect project?
Or are you on the offensive?
Improving the current moment? Creating the perfect team? Pursuing the perfect project?
Get in touch and tell me which one you are.
The next Triple Double #pickandroll talk and article will happen in October so stay tuned for that. Remember this is all about what people just like you want to know, so…
What current problem of yours would you like to ask Triple Double?
Be specific, honest and brave — and we’ll answer your questions during the series.
Any other feedback on how we can make this better for you is always appreciated as well. Thank you for reading and hit the ❤ if you liked this.
