Going freelance. Should I drop the company name?

[David Roth weiss]

Will Shakespeare once wrote, “”What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

The bottom line is, having a company name is beneficial in some situations and your own name works better in other situations. Having the two entities give you a degree of flexibility that’s not possible otherwise, and you should use that to your advantage.

So, there’s no need to throw out your company, just use it selectively. I’ve been incorporated since 1983, and that indicates stability and credibility to anyone who bothers to investigate. However, when I freelance, I don’t typically sell the company, I sell myself, and I can choose to mention the company or not depending upon the nature of of the conversation with the client. I’ve not had many potential clients question that.

Meanwhile, your website should reflect your position as the primary creative force behind the company. It should not be made to appear as if there are a bunch of people on-call who can be called out to do work like a plumber in the Yellow Pages.

Make sense?

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

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[Walter Biscardi]

Keep the company name. I encourage all the freelancers who work with me to meet with CPA to set up an LLC here in Georgia as generally the taxes turn out better for them at the end of the year. So most of the folks I work with all have company names instead of just their own name.

You’ve already invested time and effort in the name so use it. I always use the company name whether it’s just myself being hired or the entire team.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Joel Bialek]

The flexibility does make sense. I just wanted to be sure of that before I set up a separate site for my freelance marketing.

As a follow-up financial question, do I need to then separate my freelance income from my business income for tax reasons, or can I report it all through the established business? With new studio relationships, I wouldn’t invoice from my company when freelancing, but is it a problem to lump all the income into my established business checking?

I just want to get this right early on.

Thanks very much for the input David.

Joel

salt & lite productions
syracuse, ny

[Walter Biscardi]

[Joel Bialek] “I’ve used the company name for all business for years, but I thought that if I send another studio to my “company” website, it would be sending the wrong message. I guess I need to tailor the site to a more personal representation? “

I don’t know, I haven’t run in to that issue. My website is definitely all about the company, but I get freelance queries all the time too. Especially for consulting which I seem to be doing a lot of these days.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Joel Bialek]

Thanks for the info Walter.

I’ve used the company name for all business for years, but I thought that if I send another studio to my “company” website, it would be sending the wrong message. I guess I need to tailor the site to a more personal representation?

I would love feedback on how to make my site communicate effectively to both clients and freelance opportunities. If anyone has a moment, just go to https://www.saltandlite.net

Much appreciated guys.

Joel

salt & lite productions
syracuse, ny

[Nick Griffin]

I think what Walter as well as David have been saying is correct so I’ll summarize and add a few of my ideas.

Bottom line, when you’re being hired as a freelancer there’s no way you want to come off as an alternative to the people who are hiring you. Mostly you don’t want their clients to think of you as being a way to go direct and eliminate the middleman. So behave accordingly. Don’t take clients away from anyone already giving you work. It’s simply good ethics and good business. BTW, this includes not giving business cards to the clients of those hiring you.

Second, for any number of good reasons you should run all income through a single entity, namely your sub-S corporation or LLC. If you receive checks made out to you endorse them over to the business. That will make getting legal and proper deductions on the equipment and software you use a much more straightforward process.

Get an accountant and do it right. (And just to save your next thread from starting, get someone who will set you up with Quickbooks. You can read all about it in earlier posts and, done properly with an accountant who isn’t looking for your nickels and dimes, it will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.)

Yes, you probably should set up one site where it’s your name and another where it’s the company name. So be one of two entities when approaching clients but only one when it comes to accounting and taxes.

[Joel Bialek]

Thanks to all you guys; Nick, Walter, and David.

Your time and responses are very much appreciated. I’m already a Quickbooks guy, so I’ve got that going for me. I’ve always been setup as a SP and not an LLC. I’ll poke around the forums for more details on that.

Thanks again for the advice.

Sincerely,

Joel Bialek

salt & lite productions
syracuse, ny

[Joel Bialek]

I completely agree. In the past, I’ve always redirected clients to whoever hired me originally.

Nick clarified what I was originally trying to put into words. I don’t want to give even the slightest impression that I’m looking to steal clients. I just want to do good work, and get paid doing what I love to do.

Joel

salt & lite productions
syracuse, ny

[Walter Biscardi]

[Nick Griffin] ” Mostly you don’t want their clients to think of you as being a way to go direct and eliminate the middleman. So behave accordingly. Don’t take clients away from anyone already giving you work. It’s simply good ethics and good business. BTW, this includes not giving business cards to the clients of those hiring you. “

Absolutely 100% correct. The moment you take or attempt to take a client, even if they approach you first, you will lose credibility in your area.

There are time when other editors will send clients to me when they cannot handle the work and I never allow that client to call me directly if they want to do another project in the future. They have to go through the original editor / company that set up the first contact.

Same if I go work on someone else’s gear as a freelancer. I do not allow the primary client to call me in for work if it bypasses the person for whom I did the work.

You have to be ethical to continue to work in this business. I deal with unethical people from time to time and when that happens, I don’t work with them again. Period.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[Walter Biscardi]

Just realized you’re in Syracuse. i graduated Class of ’90 from Newhouse. Great campus, fun school.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!