Prof Practice - GMTD Portfolio #3

Today myself and the producer of the Get Me The Designer team had a meeting with Pat Chapman, vice principle of Cleveland College of Art and Design. After discussion with our programme leader about our current state of affairs in setting up and running our own production company, he advised us to set up a meeting with Pat. We were looking for further information regarding how to conduct ourselves professionally when it comes to engaging with clients, and especially when it comes to invoicing them for our services. We understood that our knowledge of tax and inward/outbound cash flow statements was very limited, and we needed guidance from someone who was qualified. We scheduled a meeting with Pat for 1:00PM today, below are our findings; 

• Pat advised against forming a Limited Company, for now. At present a Limited Company would raise a host of issues for us financially. These include the start-up fees of a Limited Company, along with the hire of an accountant/book-keeper. 

• Instead we were advised to work under the name and identity of a Production Company, whilst also working as freelance individuals on the side. 

• This allows us to avoid working with a single client. Pat pointed out that this is a dangerous way to do business, as if your single client goes under then your only source of income disappears. 

Pat emailed over the alternative to this after the meeting, as he said that he would have to go away and do a bit of research to confirm what he was saying in the meeting. Below is a screenshot of the email from Pat, which outlines what we believe to be the correct course of action.

In this email Pat briefly touched upon tax returns, which was another area of focus which we discussed at length in the meeting. Pat gave us a brief overview of how tax works if we were both employed and/or self employed. We now understand that as freelance workers we must register our own tax returns, as well as one for the collective. We were informed that we can claim partial tax refunds on relevant purchases dating back to 2.5 years ago. This is useful information for us when it comes to purchasing equipment/software to be used by us as individuals or as members of a collective company. 

We came away from the meeting with Pat feeling as though we were in a much better position. Within ourselves we felt more confident making decisions based on our new-found knowledge of handling ourselves around clients, and how to approach forming the production company itself. Now we are in a position where we must solidify this deal we have with our potential clients by putting it into writing via legally binding contracts. We agreed that we must have a contracted agreement with our employers/business partners that we fully understand, and we must understand how to craft a contract to do business with potential clients. In the following weeks we will undergo further business meetings with both our business partners and Pat, who is keen to meet again and further our enquiry.