Resources For The Design Entrepreneur

Resources for the Design Entrepreneur Contract, legal, management, and financial resources for freelancers and entrepreneurs looking to more successfully manage their business.
	Sample Terms & Conditions for Contracts (local) Everyone seems to ask about these things, so I have made a pdf of some of the more important terms I include with all of my contracts, proposals and estimates.
	Financial Projection Worksheet (local) This Excel template will help you forcast your overhead and expenses for the coming year. Once filled out, this worksheet becomes the foundation of an excellent business plan by helping you formulate your income statement, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and anticipated budget. (Source: YH thread Career: Making a Design Firm Budget)
	Freelance Forms (local) This compilation of common business forms keeps getting reposted in legal threads on YH, so I might as well post it here, too. It is a good starting point.
	Forms & Sample Agreements (web) Forms & Sample Agreements provided by the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario.
	Legal Forms for Designers (web) Media Inspiration/Creative Public makes this comprehensive list of forms available in both ai and pdf format.
	AIGA Standard Form for Graphic Design (web) The AIGA Standard Form of Agreement for Graphic Design Services, General Edition, is intended to be used by graphic designers and their clients as the basis of agreement for a broad range of graphic design projects.
	Nolo: Independent Contractor (web) Awesome FREE resource from Nolo.com on Working as an Independent Contractor. They sell some kits in their law store which contain a lot of downloadable forms and advice, including a special kit for those contracting in creative arts.
	Nolo: Small Business (web) Another great FREE resource from Nolo.com on running your small business. They also have many kits for sale in their law store which might be beneficial to you.
	Nolo: WebForms (web) Nolo offers these nice fill-in-the blank legal documents, that can then be printed in Word. Not all may be applicable to you, but a good bookmark nonetheless.
	LawGirl.com (web) Although primarily targetted to entertainment law, there is a great deal of fantastic intellectual property legal advice here.
	Free Business Templates (web) Custom and Free Excel Templates. They continually add to their list of templates which currently includes: income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, depreciation, amortization, loan analysis, credit card tracker, expense reports, vehicle expenses, and budgeting templates.
	WallStreet Journal's StartUp Journal (web) Valuable business advice coming from The Wall Street Journal, as well as WSJ.com, industry experts and StartupJournal's editorial team.
	United States Patent & Trademark Office (web) If you truly are thinking about licensing and selling a precompiled codebase to multiple clients, you might also benefit from a trip to the United States Patent & Trademark Office website. They have an FAQ of sorts, as well.
Download this page as a complete archive (zip).
The preceding resource was compiled from the personal bookmarks of Ken Wallace. Ken Wallace is principal of Ken Wallace Design, founder of RedMill Software, Inc., and a Senior Developer for Nova Libra, Inc.
Last Update: 01.13.04