While many freelance designers start out as soloists in the world of freelance design, it seems that many are now ending up in partnerships. Of course, as with anything else in life, there are pros and cons for both partnering up and staying solo. If you’re debating between the two, here are some of the positive points of both sides to consider.

Pros for Partnering Up:

You’re less lonely

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Loneliness can be a big issue for freelancers, and it can lead to career problems down the road. Lonely freelancers, especially those who are just out of college and are used to interacting the classroom or those who are out of the corporate world where they are used to working with others, can spend way too much time socializing online, which can lead to lowered productivity. Loneliness is less of an issue for some than for others, but if you are more social and struggle with feelings of loneliness, a partnership that gives you work-oriented social interaction may be for you.

You can take on more complex projects

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Obviously in a partnership, you can bring multiple skills to the table, which can allow you to take on more complicated projects. The key here is to find a partner who does not have the exact same strengths and areas of expertise that you do. Once you find a good fit where your partner can help fill in some of your own inadequacies and vice versa, though, you’ll find that you can both tackle increasingly more complicated – and hopefully well-paying – projects.

You can tackle more projects in general

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With a partner, you can also just take on more work in general without feeling like you’re getting pulled under. You can afford to take on more projects because you can split them between the two of you, which means that neither partner needs to have those weeks where he feels that he can do nothing but work. With a partner, you can afford to put in bids on interesting projects that come up, even if you’re in the middle of a big project already.

You get a little bit of protection like in the corporate world

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Also with a partnership, you can get some of the protection that is inherent in the corporate world. For instance, if you need to take maternity leave or just a week-long vacation, you can do so without putting your whole business on hold. As any freelancer knows, it’s a scary thing to put clients and potential jobs on hold even for a week or two at a time – let alone a month or more of maternity leave or other types of extended leave! – because you never know how long it will take to re-build your momentum. When you have a partner, you’ll be able to rely on someone else to keep things running smoothly in your absence.

Pros for Staying Solo:

You won’t have to deal with legal issues

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Working in a business partnership inevitably complicates the legal and tax issues that go along with being a freelancer. Paying your own taxes can get complicated enough, but figuring out how to split business profits and legally protect yourself in a business relationship is even more complex. If you do decide to opt into a partnership, make sure that you both get good legal advice and write down the most important points of your partnership, too!

You won’t have to back anyone else up

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When you’re a solo freelancer, you won’t have to worry about taking on extra work if your partner gets sick or needs to take a vacation. You’ll take on only work you know you can handle, and you won’t have to unexpectedly play back up for another designer, which means you end up with more control over your own schedule.

You have only yourself to answer to

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One of the biggest problems solo freelancers have with moving into a partnership is that they have to learn to trust the quality of work another person is going to provide. On the flip side, you don’t have to answer to anyone but yourself and your client for the quality of your own work. In a partnership, you could end up having your partner’s sloppy work reflect poorly on your business in general, or you could end up with a super-picky partner who nitpicks when you think it’s not necessary.

You won’t have to share control or profits

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Of course, one reason many soloists end up as freelancers in the first place is that they want more control and don’t want to have to share their profits with other people. In a solo freelance business, you get total control of your business and whatever money you make. In a partnership, you would have to share those profits and that control with someone else, which can be a difficult process to negotiate.

About the Author

Daniela Baker is a social media advocate with CreditDonkey. She reminds you, one of the biggest problems for transitioning from being a solo freelance designer to part of a freelance partnership is finances. Who will take care of which finances, and how will the finances be covered? Of course, you should always set up a legal contract that allows you to split these things up equally between the two of you. On a practical level, a shared business bank account or a small business credit card could both prove to be viable options. Just make sure that you are on the same page about finances, or you could end up with a partner who totally overspends on the business’s credit card and ends up leaving you with the bill!
Again, this all comes down to legal protection. Discuss together what the best financing option will be for the two of you, and then work it out into a contract. Whether this means having a credit card with a shared limit and shared bills or a bank account to which you both have access will depend on what works best for you and your partnership.