I am an Exhibition Stand and Interior Designer and am going to London soon to see Chelsea flower show and an exhibition at Earls Court. The only reason I am going is because I gain inspiration for my work by watching it each year. (don't even like gardening lol) I also need to see other exhibition stands to see what is happening in the world of exhibitions and again get inspiration.

Trouble is should this be a chargeable self assessment expense? I believe it should be but then anyone could state that a holiday in Morrocco was an inspirational trip!

Help! Many thanks
Claire

Only because I gained a new client last year and was going to put my fee's up anyway... Thanks for the advice 🙂

In April I am going to up my fee's for one of my clients who are particularly successful (even in the recession!). I currently charge £22 per hour for drawings and cad work and was going to charge £25. How much does everyone else up by, is £3 too little?

Thanks 🙂

I was the same as you when I started out. Try reading this book its most helpful.

Brilliant Networking: What the Best Networkers Know, Say and Do
by Steven D'Souza

Hope that helps. And remember rejection is normal, keep at them and you might just get some work.

Hi,

I'm a freelance Interior and Exhibition Designer and when I started out the advice I received was to charge between £20 - £30. Start low and then if you get more work than you need you can aim higher.

Look at what your competitors would charge and also bear in mind how much another company would charge you out at. I was charged out at £500 a day by one company once, so if you are working direct with companies offering graphics services then you'll likely still be undercutting bigger companies.

Hope that helps. As other posts said remember no sick pay, holiday etc...
Claire

I have been charged £880 for a year and 3 months. They prepared my income and expenditure account, did tax computations in order to submit my self assesment tax return. It works out at £700 a year - is that about right?