Who am i? - Who are they?

If i'm honest, my understanding of business' and how they work is a little vague, which is why I am very happy to be learning this now in preperation for the third year. It definitely gives me chance to get my head around things, and of course gain some contacts.

As I stand now, I like to think I have good skills in the following;

• Typography
• Layouts
• Photography
• Print
• Software (Adobe)
• Packaging

This is also what I am currently interested in persuing when I graduate, but whether it works like that I don't know. From what I understand, there's two ways you can go about things, gain skills which people are looking for, or find people who are looking for the skills you already have, which nowadays seems to be hard.

When I think about what I'm going to do when I finish, I'd like to think that I could be a freelance Graphic Designer, however, I know I would benefit myself more by going into a business first and learning how it operates. I will, however, always be doing some freelance work on the side.

So, I thought i'd use the four P's to get me going.

Product
Graphic Design. More specifically typography and editorial layouts. This, however, will be dependant on what the client wants.

Place
UK, Preferably in South Yorkshire. Although, I have been thinking about moving to Australia, where a few members of family are, it would be a completely different strategy over there i'm guessing? Thats something I would need to look into.

If I was to work as a freelance Graphic Designer, I would keep my studio at home, in order to save money on rent and traveling costs.

Promotion
As a freelance Graphic Designer, I would promote myself through business cards, online portfolios, and mainly just getting in touch with clients and remaining in contact with them. Hopefully I would become more of a established Graphic Designer, and begin getting promotion through word of mouth. As fred would say, "Your only as good as your last job".

Price
Enough to cover my lifestyle which is about £20,000 per year. I'm not entirely sure on how things are priced, but if I were to go into a business i'd like to be earning around £30,000 to start off, and then whatever I can get through freelance work.

Plan of action.
I plan to make a list of companies around the Leeds area (within reach) and start ringing/visiting them, find out the sort of skills they are looking for, the type of pay they are offering, and get a general idea of what's out there.