Nicola Francis has wanted to be her own boss for as long as she can remember. After years working in web design and app development at agencies and large companies – including Microsoft – she decided the time was right and founded Purple Square Design.

As well as facing all the challenges of being a startup founder, Nicola was also dealing with the added pressure of being her family’s breadwinner. But her app and web design business has thrived thanks to her practical approach and sharp eye for the tools of the trade. We caught up with Nicola to find out how she turned her entrepreneurial vision into reality.

What made you want to start your own business?

Honestly, I think it was money. I wanted to make a lot of money and the only way I could see myself doing it was by having control. Lots of people asked me, especially when I decided to leave a well-paid full-time job, “Aren't you worried you're not going to be making enough money every month?”

My answer was that when you're your own boss, the sky's the limit. Why focus on not making as much, when actually you're no longer limited to an amount every month? That's what's really driven me to be my own boss – I wanted the freedom to do what I wanted, learn what I wanted and make as much money as I could without anyone stopping me.

Where does the name Purple Square Design come from?

It kind of evolved. I wanted something generic because the ultimate goal is to grow and hire employees, so I didn't want to use my name. Subconsciously, purple conveys quality, so that worked nicely! Originally I was hoping to go down the route of something like Purple Pixel, to symbolise my digital work, but that was already taken. I chose Purple Square because a square suggests pixels.

How did you find the transition from full-time to freelance?

I had a highly paid job at the time and my husband's a stay-at-home dad, so I was the sole earner. I was going to be relied on to cover the mortgage, support the family and had to just risk it all. I'd managed to save up around six months’ worth of household payments while I was working full-time, so I was quite relaxed knowing I had half a year for it to be successful, and if it didn't work I could just go back to a full-time job.

That move is quite a major one, though. What was the most important lesson you learnt along the way?

I just wanted to just get on and do the job, but that can turn around and bite you. There's nothing to stop the client just adding on more and more until, before you know it, you've done a job for £50 that could have been worth £1,000.

I learnt the importance of spending the time to get together the tools and put together the documentation, because it really does help in the long run.

Were there any specific tools that helped you?

For my accounts I use Wave [a free online tool that you can link to your bank account and run invoices through]. It automatically chases someone if payment is late, so you haven't got that extra admin on top. I also use Toggl, a piece of timekeeping software where you can set your billable rates and project times. That's free too.

Then there's Harvest, a project management tool where you can assign time to a project and plot it onto a calendar, which really helps when people ask about my availability. You can see straight away when you can fit something in, which means you're not working all hours trying to fit in deadlines.

You must’ve worked on dozens of projects by now. What's the most exciting one?

One I'm working on now is really interesting. It's an app pitched at local government in the UK. If people see someone leaving rubbish where they shouldn’t be or something similar, they take a photo and the app stamps it with the location and sends it to the council to get it sorted.

I really like it because it's a community-minded app that will make people's lives better, rather than a generic piece of app or web design.

How do you switch off from work?

Because this all came from a hobby, I never really switch off. I can sit for hours looking at other types of websites, from different frameworks to new types of design. Technically that could be classed as working, but really it's no different to somebody who's into humorous novels sitting reading those all day.

And what do you outside of work – or your hobby – to de-stress?

I just go out with the family. Leave everything at home, don't take the work with me, and ignore it all. Spend time with the kids. You've got no chance to even think about work when they're about!

Nicola Francis is based in our Reading, UK office. Find out more about her business online at www.purplesquaredesign.co.uk.



Top tips from Nicola:

1. Build yourself a professional brand. This is even more important if you’re a one-man band – it gives customers the confidence that they can trust you with their money.
2. Research the tools that will help you straight away. For accounting, for example, go for something that takes the stress out of producing and keeping track of invoices.
3. Have a good set of documentation in place. Your terms and conditions and documentation will evolve, but you need that solid basis first.