We caught up with Tony from Bungalistic and talked about his move into the Freelance market, his appreciation of all the cake here at The Guild and got some brilliant tips! Even if he does admit his fantastically dry and straight to the point sense of humour may lead to bad advise for kids!
As always we started with the big picture question! What’s your favourite Leonardo Di Caprio movie?
Fave Leo movie could be What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (though he’s more a side character) other than that I quite liked him in Catch me if you can!
Give us a run-down of how your business has grown with any major turning points or highlights
My business has grown a bit like a small child, steadily but also quite erratically. Most of the work has come via word of mouth and by all the lovely fellow Guilders who have either passed work on or recommended me to people getting in touch with them.
Freelance work happened by accident, I was made redundant around the same time the Guild was getting going, and since I knew people who had desks, and I’d loosely followed it’s development I gave it a try. Not sure I would’ve gotten this far without the help and support of everyone else in the office.
I’ve managed two and half years of self employment so far and would like to keep it going, I have a few regular clients who keep me going on a day to day basis and business is starting to ramp up again after a pretty slow spring/summer.
So, we have to ask what is your favourite thing about the Guild?
I think that was probably covered above but I do like the support and help of everyone else in the office and it’s nice to have ‘work mates’ even if you do just work for yourself. And also the Cake!
If a kid walked up to you, asking for life advice and you only had a few minutes to give it. What would it be?
Well that depends on my mood at the time;
maybe just “don’t listen to me I’m just a cynical old bloke“
OR
“don’t believe everything people tell you, listen to what people say but question it too, find what you like and follow it“
I’m not good with kids so my answer could also be much much worse in reality.
The big question is what’s next for your business?
Hmmm I have no idea, hopefully I’ll be able to pick up more regular work and just keep everything ticking over. I’ve no dreams of making it big or making millions, I just like to have a good balance of work and play. I’d quite like to streamline some of my processes to save myself some time, working for yourself involves a lot of faff and admin.
Try to explain coworking to someone who doesn’t know what it is
It’s a big room with people and cake. It’s also an office for people who don’t have an office or a ‘normal’ place of work. It’s a good place to meet similar people and new contacts and it’s also just an office so it helps get you in the mindset of work.
Finally what are your three top tips for business?
1. Do what you like and make it work for you, it takes time to find a good place in the World so take your time and explore new ideas.
2. Don’t sell yourself short, have confidence in what you do, if you believe in what you’re doing you’re off to a good start.
3. Listen to others who have been there before, it might not all apply to you but you never know. Also pass that knowledge on, help others if you can.