The Feast or Famine Cycle
Feast or famine is a cycle with which I am all too familiar. The oscillation between having plenty of resources and digging through couch cushions for spare change is a common experience for many freelancers and entrepreneurs. I told myself for a long time, ‘this is just the cost of working for myself. I have to sacrifice my sense of financial security in order to enjoy the freedom of being self-employed.’ I think I accepted this as truth because I saw so many other people around me experiencing the same thing, even designers and business owners that I would compare as more successful and/or experienced than myself were experiencing it. It just comes with the territory I would tell myself.
Eating Ramen Noodles Was Never Really Okay
Before I had a family, this would usually mean that I would spend a week or two eating Ramen Noodles and hitching rides or walking places. Now, with a wife and five young children, things are not quite as simple. Ramen is not going to cut it and we’ve gotta keep gas in the tank. Fortunately, we have padded ourselves in some ways to not have to take drastic measures during times of famine, but we still feel the anxiety and the inconsistency of it, and because of this we live and plan very tentatively.
The Lie We Believe
I believe that many feel, as I had for a long time, that this is just how it is. You’ll have good months and bad months. While I believe it’s true that client work can tend to come in waves, I don’t believe that our financial security has to necessarily be a reflection of this inconsistency.
Ideas For Changing the Mindset
I’ve decided to challenge this pattern in my own life and am going to try, not only shifting away from some of the behaviors that feed the feast or famine cycle, but the mindset that accompanies it. Here are some of my ideas:
-Celebrate, But Not Too Much
When that big project paycheck comes it feels wonderful. Suddenly we’re rich… we should go out and celebrate, I should buy myself that new tech I’ve been wanting, etc. The “feast-or-famine” mindset says ‘let’s celebrate while we have it because tomorrow it will be gone.’ Our income then becomes a reflection of the way we treat the money and vice verse. We lean into the curve. What if we evened-out our spending during “feast” times and didn’t outspend our actual budget? Maybe we’d find that we have something stored for those “famine” times.
This is not to say that we shouldn’t celebrate when we land a good client or project, but perhaps we can find better ways of expressing our gratitude and excitement that don’t require spending outside of our budget.
-Don’t Over Tighten the Belt
On the other side, we have a tendency to place a moratorium on spending when things are tight. This is meant for our good, but might be part of what causes us to swing too far the other way when the “feast” comes. Sometimes we’ve tightened the belt so much that we end up not allowing ourselves to get equipment we may need to finish a project. Sometimes we don’t afford ourselves the opportunity to get away as needed for clarity and inspiration, or we don’t afford ourselves some of the creature comforts that have become a part of our creative process. We should certainly be smart about how we spend our money when resources are limited, but I believe we can do so without again leaning into the curve.
-Work Personal Projects During “Down Time” as a Strategy for Getting New Clients
One of the work patterns I’ve seen from other freelancers is: market and get new clients, work on projects, market and get new clients, work on projects, etc. In this case the “feast” usually happens during the “working on projects” and the “famine” happens during the “market and get new clients.” I really don’t like making calls or marketing. I would rather the clients just come to me.
One of my strategies for doing this, while getting my income to a more consistent place, has to do with what I choose to do with my time between client projects. A few months ago I made a list of personal projects that I would like to work on. This list includes a couple of art series, one of which I am currently in the middle of producing, a pro-bono logo design for a good friend, and some other long term projects that I am slowly building. Currently I am in a “feast” season. I have a few well paying client projects and we are doing just fine with our budget. When these projects run out, if I don’t have another client project scheduled, I plan on diving into my personal projects.
Out of my art series I can make products that I can sell in an online store. I can post an in-depth case study of the pro-bono logo design which could potentially earn some interested clients. If the client for which I designed the pro-bono logo is really satisfied with my work, he may be happy to refer other potential clients to me. At the very least I can have something strong to show in my portfolio. My long term projects, including blogs, websites, etc. are always worth a reasonable investment of my time and will hopefully, eventually provide a steady income.
-Be Willing to Protect Your Passion
The right amount of financial constraint forces me to be creative and think outside the box. Too much financial constraint, however, can be paralyzing. It is important to be able to recognize the difference and take necessary measures to protect my passion against the defeating blows that money worries can deliver to my creativity. This might mean that I need to get a… gag– job. This is not a cop-out. This is not giving up. This is being smart and strategic about equipping my passion with what it needs to thrive. This is a tough one for me because I tend to run away from the idea of working for someone else, but I would do better to get over my distaste and consider objectively whether or not it’s something that my passion needs today.
-Find a Rhythm and Save Up a Pad
Over time, as I can measure my activity and see patterns in the influx of client work, I can get a sense of its rhythm and begin to establish a complimentary rhythm that allows me to save money. Ideally I’d like to have 6 months worth of income to serve as a padding against those “famine” times, not for security, but for strategy. I can then use this pad as a way of experiencing a more consistent stream of income, or as a means to take a break from client work and pursue a personal projects, or maybe even to take a vacation!
-Price for the Famine
This is another one that is tough for me, but I think absolutely necessary. I use the “value based pricing” approach with my clients, which means that the client pays for the value of the project, not a flat or hourly rate. For example, if a client projects that they will make an additional $100,000 annually because of my design solution, it’s not unreasonable for them to make a $20,000-$40,000 (or higher) investment to see that kind of return. Alternatively, if a client projects that they will make an additional $10,000 annually, $2,000-$4,000 should be a reasonable investment. Either of these examples are reasonable and acceptable, as long as I am making my baseline cost, which is my estimation of how long the project will take, multiplied by how much I need to make hourly to support myself and my family.
So for a 40 hour design project, my baseline is somewhere around $3500. If I have one of those $20,000-$40,000 projects, (disclaimer, haven’t actually had one of those yet) I’d be set, but if for the same amount of time commitment, I’m barely making my minimum, that’s going to possibly leave me in a lurch for the “famine” time. What if I doubled my baseline rate? What if I believed that my time was actually worth THAT much? The truth is, your client benefits from the clarity and creativity you experience when you are unhindered by money worries. Though you may not articulate that value to the client, it’s definitely worth considering for yourself.
A few questions to ask yourself are: If I double my rates will I lose more than 50% of my potential clients? What kind of clients might I be able to work with if I raised my rates? Can I raise my rates and find ways to protect my passion until the work catches up with me?
Say Goodbye to the Feast or Famine For Good
I hope this gets you thinking the way it gets me thinking. I’m excited to work these ideas into my process and hopefully one day soon, say goodbye to the “feast or famine” mindset for good. As always, if you have thoughts or suggestions about “feast or famine” please share them below. Everyone reading this benefits from a wider conversation on the topic. Thank you for reading and sharing in this journey!
Great post Ben, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jake!
I am in the “famine” phase of this cycle as I read this, and can’t wait to be on the other side again. Almost every time I’ve gone through this, it’s been my own fault. I know to get my deposit before I start a job, yet I “know he’s good for it” and get started anyway. Stupid things like this take their toll.
A lot of us, myself included, just don’t place enough value in what we do. It’s a hard mindset to change, but our clients won’t take us seriously until we take ourselves seriously.
That’s such a great point Erica! Another thing I meant to add (maybe I’ll go back and do it later) is to find ways to pad against “famine” in your process. For example, I’ve been charging a 50% deposit up front for a while, but I had been really bad about overbooking myself, so recently I decided I would schedule my clients out. To “reserve my services” they still need to pay the 50% deposit up front, then I schedule them into my next available slot. I still need to iron out the weak spots in my process where I’ve allowed a client to postpone the project. I also need to get over my fear and not allow clients to cut in line just because I need the money for that month.
Having recently been a very apologetic and accommodating designer, I can attest to the night and day difference it makes in your client’s perception of you as a professional when you assert yourself and stand by your values.
Thanks again for the comment!
Erica, as Ben’s wife I can say that this has definitely been a learning process for Ben. I still remember clients, back at the beginning of his freelance career, not paying a deposit or taking months to pay it. I remember having conversations like, “Do these clients just not understand that this is our livelihood.” I think there was actually one client who took so long to pay that Ben went to the company and demanded payment in person. What we learned from that: Those are not the kinds of clients you want to work for. AND our time is way too valuable to spend it on clients who don’t value it.
All that to say, this has definitely been a learning process. I think we learn the most from our mistakes, from what we do in the famine times. So that should give us hope.
I’ve always thought the term “starving artist” carried into graphic design. I have always thought it was the norm to go through feast and famine. It is hard to do that with a family but I can attest that it is nearly impossible to do it as a single mom with 3 kids. I say nearly because my 3 boys grew up playing cars under my desk and eating Ramen noodles. As a young designer I took the jobs I could get. But as a seasoned designer now I have learned go after the ones I want. I wish I had your advice back then! Keep up the good work.