starting a webdesign company?

Question

My friend has been in the interactive web industry for years and has been Art Director for an extremely well-received web-advertising company. He has been doing freelance work for the last few months and is thinking about starting his own company.

He's worked with large clients like Luxor in Vegas, Johnny Rockets, Anchor Blue, Easton Bats and many more but his problem now is that he insists he cannot approach those clients anymore since the work he did for them was through the agency for which he was working at the time.

Yet how can his idea for starting a company really launch without any huge client names that can be advertised?

He has so much credibility to his name, yet he cannot access it since those large clients he worked with are technically the "property" of the agency. How should he advertise himself?

He is extremely talented: http://www.duhoyi.com/

i'd appreciate answers from users who fully understand the dilema. a company in the web/ advertising world has two options for success. one is to get started early and the second is to have well-known clients. thats the only way to really be able to come across as a credible resource.

to put that much time, effort, and not to mention money into a start-up business is not logical unless there is already a willing audience to cater to.

Answer 1

Get it, start it. Just do it, and go through with it.

He should set up a website for his new company/biz or whatever... and on that site show the templates of what he's worked on (there is no owner ship of the code/scripting, anyone who's tooken a course on HTML alone should know that much, so he's welcome to reproduce the dang code DUH).
That alone is credablility enough.

Heck, my site doesn't even look great (too busy with other clients sites and school work LOL). And I still got business. I don't always design it on my own, I let my clients decide what they want and how they want it and I just put it up there for www browsers to read.

My biz site is:
http://www.duelwave.com

and one of my clients is:
http://www.triangleeventpros.com

P.S.
THERE is a WILLING Audience...
People need web help LOL.
And starting a biz doesn't really take much $$$ at all (If you have the time in return to suplament it).

::: Peace :::

Answer 2

I'm unsure but the confidential information/names has to be hard to leave off a resume'.

I have a Girlfriend - She is also into Web design/ has a degree. She either just (1-month or so ago) got laid off or she walked. Long story and her business really. I'm not sure now. She is looking to get her own business started and use to work for the US NAVY in Cali...Perhaps they could share some thoughts and work together on this??? I'm the Financial Adviser to her as well as Sales/Marketing Director. I'm getting all her business cards etc. word out.

Answer 3

Hey...while He would be unable to ask the people he has worked for in the past to switch to his new company, why couldn't he ask for letters of recommendation from his past clients...I doubt they would object to this.

He should compile a visual portfolio as well as a virtual one and put the letters of recommendation with his visual portfolio (hard copy examples of his work) and have this ready to present.

Another idea would be to have his work on a web space with the letters/testimonials available for viewing.

They is nothing ethically wrong with compiling recommendations which give him credit for work he has personally done for clients. Asking for a letter of recommendation and asking them to switch to his independent venture are two separate issues.

I wish him the best...way to go!

Answer 4

you do not quite opt to piss off the former organization and be categorised as someone who steals the customer base from previous employers, so keeping off contacting previous shoppers is unquestionably a sturdy theory. counting on how massive the metropolitan area is the position he's placed, discover out a thanks to bypass about it will be to community. enable anybody else keep in mind that he's starting up his own corporation, and who's familiar with, possibly there are some disaffected clientele of his previous organization, who'd have the flexibility to leap the deliver themselves. community and attempt to attend the market activities the position the shoppers would dangle out, like interior of sight small corporation institutions or chamber of commerce conferences.