From the course: Freelancing and Consulting in User Experience

Setting up a business structure

From the course: Freelancing and Consulting in User Experience

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Setting up a business structure

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- So you may be an employee at a company right now and life is reasonably good. Work is fine, your colleagues are friendly, and your salary is reasonable. But fine or reasonable isn't enough, and you've made the decision that it's time to leave your job. The first thing that you need to do after deciding to go off on your own is to set up your infrastructure. This can be pretty easily done in stealth mode if you want. Setting up your infrastructure involves coming up with a business name. Is your goal to start as a freelancer and then grow your business? Perhaps you want to consider a name that can grow with you. Consider whether you want UX or User Experience or Consulting in your business name, or something more generic, such as Tech or Strategy. Or you could go more specific, such as including Interaction Design or User Research in your business name. In my case, however, I chose my last name, Lepson, plus Tech as a suffix. My goal was not to have a business that could expand significantly. And I've been happy with my freelance role, even while having a limited number of staff and subcontractors as work needs have required. You will also likely want to try and make sure that your business name is unique so you avoid both confusion in the marketplace as well as avoid potential legal issues later on. Once you have your name, at least in the United States, you'll need to determine a legal business structure, such as LLC or Corporation, and get a tax ID number. A tax accountant who deals with small businesses can help you decide which structure is best for you. Again, in the United States, you'll also need to determine how you'll obtain different types of personal insurance such as health, disability, or life insurance. And for work purposes perhaps general liability or errors and omissions insurance. If you're not in the United States, know that these things will vary tremendously by country.

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