It can be a tough task to start your own business, regardless of the area you want to major in. it is even more challenging for a full time freelance animator at dormzi or any other organization, as you will need to juggle multiple roles – you are an accountant, communications expert, artist, and marketer, in addition to remaining a human being that is decent to work with. All these roles can make it seem impossible to run an animation business at first.
If you need some extra help, here are some useful tips to help you manage the business:
Automate your social media and email replies as much as possible, and set a time to reply
Aim to spend some time every day to update and read your social media feeds and responding to emails. It does not need to take up much time though; as 30 minutes to an hour is enough for both morning and evening.
It is easy to get distracted by doing these tasks, so you can help your productivity by turning off your notifications. In addition, ensure you create even more efficiency to take care of the times you are offline by automating your emails – you can do this through services such as Boomerang to handle Gmail. This will allow you to also do other things away from your computer as well.
Setting a working cycle and sticking to it
Even though you are setting aside some time to check on your emails, it is still essential to check the time you spend working. To make it more effective, set some time to handle your work at full concentration, and follow this up with a break where you are not doing anything related to your work – even answering work emails. You can use the break to do something else that will replenish your creativity – such as watching some useful videos.
Regardless of the length of time you dedicate to work and all the breaks, find a schedule that works for you. For instance, you can set 1 hour for continuous working, followed by a 20 minute break and then going back to work. Along with this, keep a tracking system of your time so that you can know how long a project takes for you to complete on average. This will also help you price your future projects.
Keep a spreadsheet of your income and expenses, and update it often
One of the useful ways to manage your animation business is to keep track of expenses and incomes you get, and there is software that you can use – such as Google Docs. Update it frequently so that you get a better idea of the money you currently have, as well as what you are anticipating to work with – like updating it once or twice a month.
As a useful tip to help you keep track of your financial state, keep one spreadsheet for donations you get, one for expenses, and one for income, as well as starting fresh ones at the start of a new year. Overall, this should allow you an easier time when you file your taxes, and also when keeping track of how your finances are doing.
Maintain a daily schedule
In order to increase your productivity, you need a list to keep your day in check – so make sure to have a set of 5 to 10 things that you MUST accomplish every day. Examples here include setting a daily target to reach 5 new clients, sharing 4 articles on social media, responding to 10 emails, and preparing a new blog post for the upcoming week.
Once you finish a task on the list, you can cross it out or put an X on it, and do the same on your calendar when you are done with the tasks of the day. You will soon feel proud of your progress when you begin to look back on it, and you will have greater motivation to make your business grow even more.
Making the workplace friendly for productivity
Always make it a priority to keep your workspace clean, as it helps you to concentrate better. If you need to, you can also decorate your desk and room as well, such as bringing in some plants, artwork, and so on.
Using these tips, we hope that you will accomplish more as you operate your animation business, even if you are a freelance animator.
