How a Designer Went from Salesman to Entrepreneur via 99designs

THISLOOKSGREAT on 99 designs Official Contests Won 2013 2012 2011 2010 $1,380 $1,080 $800 $600 $475 $0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec O contest approach o Burst Mode date joined official winnings Oct 20, 201O $30,055 Barin Cristian Doru thislooksgreat' O 2 hours on average per design 24 $ $23,450 made in follow-up work years old years designing $715 average prize won 2 $53,505 578 total entries submitted made with cars bought 99designs Ps 1154 PSD files created ROM poon nepnesentation Romania, Official Contest History years in the gym of myself Bucharest Additional Information 333 me contests entered 12.6% winning ratio 42 This is a token of appreciation for 99designs, and it's the least I contests won could do. This platform has changed both my life and the outcome of my businesses, and even though l'm focusing on numbers, the impact far exceeds money. Thank you, 99designs! Statistics for Won Contests Before 99designs: I was a door-to-door sales agent, selling women's cosmetics. Pay was commission-based. Average income: $200/month. :-( I was living with my parents, my older brother & sister, and 2 cats. I had no knowledge in Photoshop and little experience with Joomla - things weren't looking up. 19 comments Discovering 99designs: I discovered 99designs by chance. I saw it as a big opportunity and I was hoping to win at least one $475 contest per month. I began studying every tutorial I could find, and sure enough my skills grew. During that time, I was heavily into self-development which motivated me. In late 2010, just after a month of being on 99designs, I won my Time Repartition per Contest first contest: $1240. This was an enormous amount of money for me. It gave me wings! So in the beginning of 2011, I started designing like a mad man. 10% Understanding the brief With my eamings plus a loan, I started a bakery shop with a friend. In a few months, I had 2 bakery shops and 2 distribution points in the schools around them. During the summer of 2011, sales were low so I cranked up my design work, and through 99designs I was able to support my business – otherwise it Finding inspiration 20% would have gone down, no question. Grind work 40% We started ReduceriAzi.ro, a daily deals website, from nothing. In 6 months we managed to get it into the top 10 daily deal websites in Romania (out of almost 100). It was a success even Outsmarting the competition 25% though financially times were hard, so 99designs was, again, the solution. Long story short, I worked in bursts. So when I needed money, I designed. A lot. The rest of the time I took care of my businesses. 5% Composing a message for the client I couldn't have achieved these things without 99. Currently I: • have a life skill I can depend on • moved out of my parents home into a nice apartment • bought a Lexus GS450 hybrid, a Ford Focus for my girlfriend, & have over $10,000 saved up in the bank • created a tutorial on Udemy.com called "Learn How To Make Money with Photoshop" where I teach others how they can do the same thing I did. Tips for Designers Even though l'm tempted to romanticize things, l'd like to share this single piece of advice: work harder than anybody! Nothing beats hard work. Thank you, 99designs! www.thislooksgreat.net twitter.com/thislooksgreat Credit to designmodo.com for the calendar and wallet lcons. Credit to nellorangepeel.com for the Twitter Icon. Made on June, 06, 2013 35 other ent 8 ehtries