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I have just finished my Degree in BTech in Electronics& Communications few months back and i am a enthusiastic Web designer so after my Degree in B Tech i started do a freelancing web designing .

Now I have 20 Clients and Agreed to Pay me Monthly / Yearly Web Site Maintenance Cost and they are forcing me to go for a Contract With Company so that they want to get Tax Benefits for their Expenses on My Design Work.

I have 5 Internet Marketing based Business Companies as my Clients and currently they are offering good remediation which much more than what a fresh B Tech candidate gets if he joins any IT / Electronics Company. so personally I am very happy .

But , My family member and friends are forcing me to stop what i am doing asking me to look for any job and they shown some examples of failed Entrepreneurs who lost everything in their life . I

ts catch 22 situation for me as i struck in the middle of road and dont know what to do .. as this effecting me mentally i could not concentrate on my work as a result my production , quality in the work decreasing ,getting warning mails from my clients about inconsistent in attending their needs in recent days. and i also one major client in this time.

I know its more about Psychological issue but it also with the real world . so i am asking people / professional / New Entrepreneurs to give thier opinion on the WEB design Industry and its Importance and Possible growth in the future as whole. and joining any job eventhough i am earning well .... i Know all the risks and responsibility which i might face in the future and guys please help by sharing your experience ,Knowledge with me

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4 Answers

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I would recommend going with the full-time steady job and keeping a small amount of the other (1 or 2 clients maybe) just to keep your skills current on the side. I owned my own web design business 10 years ago (for 6 months) and I was very fired up at the time. But I was too green. Now I say I don't know enough to do that because I am more experienced - and wiser.

But wait! that's step 1. I would then use the steady job to gain valuable experience for at least a year or two and then start looking at striking out on your own and following your dream. See you can still have both! Just a little patience is needed ;)

Experience is just one of those things that's hard to recognize before you have it and impossible to teach.

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You will get varied responses on this, but I tend to lean towards the more self sufficient route as you will still be forging relationships with clients so at anytime you can work on getting a full time job with your clients. With that said, if you want more stability and want to move away from the entrepreneurial world then you will have the benefit of less responsibility as far as book keeping and company management which will give you more time to enjoy life.

Ultimately if you enjoy running a business as much as you enjoy doing the actual work, then I'd say keep the clients and ignore the full time job.

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"opinion on the WEB design Industry"?

Well... seems like there's an awful lot of websites out there! Seems the smaller the business the usually lousier they are!

Why can't you just continue and make a living? You have 20 clients in five months. Have you learned what services to focus on? Can't you go month by month and set/meet goals to satisfy everyone?

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But it makes no sense- your statements:

But , My family member and friends are forcing me to stop what i am doing asking me to look for any job and they shown some examples of failed Entrepreneurs who lost everything in their life . I

Ok, get over that one. Web design is not starting a business, it is like freelancing, and tons of those around. Loosing all as entrepeneur is from starting a business that is untested often, but you seem to be past that.

Now I have 20 Clients and Agreed to Pay me Monthly / Yearly Web Site Maintenance Cost and they are forcing me to go for a Contract With Company so that they want to get Tax Benefits for their Expenses on My Design Work.

No, they are not. They likely force you to be a business - no a company. What do you mean with freelancing? Freelancers must also register as a business so they can write tax invoices - no need to incorporate, tons of sole proietorships around. Can it be that your definition of freeelancing is "get money, dont pay taxes"? Seen that too often - but no, you want to do that as a business, register with the authorities, then your customers also can educt your invoices if you are not a corporation.

That said, 20 clients should be at least 3000 USD a month to be called worthwhile. That is already a aseline of 36.000 SUD - granted, that is peanuts money, but then, it is a start and yo ucan add larger work on top of that.

I would give it a try. You already have a pretty good baseline established.

to give thier opinion on the WEB design Industry

Two words: IT SUCKS. Lots of students with illegally copied softtware trying to copete with estalbished people paying for their stuff. Many people thinking as their son can do it they dont want to pay a lot. Probabl the worst paid area of IT besides first level support. Small site suck - people dont understand they have to pay well for a good service.

Life is a LOT easier as IT professional freelancer for large businesses ;) Database programme etc. - you get long term contracts, large budget deals and people have zero problem paying a decent hourly rate. Plus most of those "i can design a website, too" students dont / have enterprise grade infrastructure ;)

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thanks for your valuable suggestion. and on your comment 'get money, dont pay taxes"? ..no i have no intention to hide my earnings from taxes .. i am looking to register a sole proprietorship firm and like to offer tax benefits to my clients ... – panindra Aug 22 '11 at 7:04
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Well, not tax beenfit ;) It is more like - if you ar not a business, wha you do is illegal. As you can not writei nboices, clients can not put it into their accounting. I fial to see the t"tax benefit" here, mot like "proper bookkeeping". It is a conditio sine qua non - a condition without it you can not. – NetTecture Aug 22 '11 at 7:30

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