If you are an active member of a
networking group at some point somebody will ask the inevitable question; “I
want to give up my full time job and run my own business but I don’t know where
to start – does anybody have any advice?” I, along with many others, have
always tried to help, giving what advice we can based on our own experiences.
In an effort to help anyone considering following me down the path of self employment
this is how my journey started along with a few suggestions that I think are important.
I wasn’t one of those people who
hated their job; it was hard work and stressful but also challenging
and fulfilling at the same time and I’ve worked in a lot worse places. For me
it was a nagging sense of missing out on something and for a long time I
couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. In the early hours of a sleepless night after a
truly dreadful day at work I made a decision; I was worth more than this, to be
a cog that gets used up, worn out and spat into oblivion, just another statistic
with a long list of ‘what if’s’ and so the seed was planted.
Now I’m a planner – whether it’s
planting a flower bed, decorating a room or setting up a business the first
thing I do is reach for a pen and paper.
I know this isn’t everybody’s way but seriously this is the one thing
you really have to get used to doing, it will save a lot of effort, frustration
and heartache in the long run.
The first thing I did was sit
down and have a long talk with my husband, any decision I took would have a
massive impact on him – essentially we were going from a two wage family to a
single wage one. He might not be the world’s most romantic person but he’s very
calm and level headed and he just told me to go away and get some ideas
together and we’d take it from there and the rest is history as they say!
For me these points were
essential, others may be in different circumstance and they may not apply but
the aim of this blog is to help people get started with their own planning.
v This
is going to take time – there are an awful lot of things you have to put in
place before you start out, these steps really are essential, trust me you will
have so many new things hitting you when you first start out you simply won’t have time to set up as you
go along.
v Look
at your personal finances – get your bank statements for at least the last six
months out and go through them, write down what you spend your money on, divide
it into essential and non essential categories.
The essential list is your bottom line, non negotiable, somebody will
have to pay those every month. When I
first looked at mine I wasn’t in a position where I could give up my job and my
husband could cover my outgoings. So I stopped buying all those non essential
bits and pieces every month and started getting rid of things on my essentials
list. Store cards, credit cards,
magazine subscriptions, if I couldn’t pay them off completely I got the
balances down to where we could afford the monthly payments.
v You
will need a dedicated place to work, time is money in this game, if you can’t
have all of your equipment and supplies out or readily to hand or you will lose
a lot of valuable time packing and unpacking every day. You will also need to
make sure your family understand that this area is a ‘no go’ area: no dumping
of toys, no hijacking the computer to surf YouTube and absolutely no
‘borrowing’ of anything (My husband is a devil for borrowing my tools and not
putting them back).
v Talking
of family you will need to set some ground rules with them. I am not for one
minute suggesting that you totally ignore your family during ‘working hours’
but they are used to having Mum/Dad available whenever they want them. This was
one of the hardest things for me, making them understand that despite the fact
that I was sat at a workbench upstairs it
didn’t mean they could wander in at any given time for a little chat or
that I could come down and do ‘X’ ‘Y’ or ‘Z’ Now – Immediately!
v Most
people struggle to get meaningful sales for the first 3, 6, 12 months when they
set up – it takes time to build up a brand and you will spend many a day
thinking you are talking to yourself. So you need to plan (that word again) for
this, make sure you have all the equipment and materials you need to stockpile
products for sale when you set up – don’t get into that vicious circle where
you need money to produce a product but you have no product to sell to produce
money.
v Branding
is so, so important - it is your visual name and signature. It doesn’t need to
be complicated (or expensive) it just needs to be something that makes people
think of you when they see it. Go and visit all of the those lovely websites
that you like – why do you like them?, What is it that makes you want to look
at their products? This isn’t about what they are selling but about ‘HOW’ they
are selling it, it’s a great free resource so make the most of it. Find something you like and use
it to build your business.
I’m sure that there
are many other things that you need to consider but I hope that this post gives
you something to start with.
