Starting your own business is risky and scary, but hanging on to an office job you hate poses other problems. All the more so in today’s tough job market when it may be difficult to find any job – let alone one that suits you. The more eclectic your interests or skills, the more difficult your quest.
Although self-employment is a tempting alternative, proceed with
caution. It can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster, with higher
highs and lower lows than you’re probably used to. I went that route
after getting eight years of on-staff experience first. (See my post, “How To Make Money Without A Job.”)
Merritt Baer, a 2010 graduate of Harvard Law School, made the
transition much sooner. In today’s guest post she describes her recent
decision to open shop as a cyber strategy consultant.
Her month-by-month guide to preparing for the big step will interest
other millennials who are just starting out, as well as their baby
boomer parents, who may be trying to reinvent themselves after a career on an organization’s payroll.
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Some friends with day jobs envy my decision to start my own company.
Part of me can’t believe it. “Don’t you want your steady paychecks, your
workplace perks, your safe answer when an acquaintance asks what you’re
up to these days?” I ask. Then I think of the satisfaction I’ve had,
even in just a few months of being my own boss.
For the first two years after graduating from law school I worked in
Washington, D.C. – first as a judicial clerk and most recently as a
legislative fellow. As I concluded a year in that position, I
interviewed at traditional jobs, but was looking for a position that
leveraged more than one side of me: my cyber law and policy knowledge,
my love of emerging technologies and my entrepreneurial streak. I saw a
need for interdisciplinary work in cybertech. So several months ago I
started a cyber strategy consulting firm.
Anyone pondering self employment should first answer the question, “Why are you considering this?”
Don’t start a company because. . .
- You hate your boss. Instead, change the dynamics, or find another job with a different boss.
- You want to work less. You will end up working more, probably with more stress.
- You want to feel special. You may end up being swallowed by another venture anyway, and you should be open to that when it’s the right move.
Do start a company because. . .
- You have something to offer a client or customer, have a stable of them already, or can round up enough of them within three months of launching.
- You have skills or product ideas that aren’t being leveraged.
- You have enough savings to get by for at least nine months.
- You work harder when challenged, and aren’t afraid of risk.
I planned my transition for about a month, though I spent many months
pondering various options. For those who want to launch a business,
here’s a timeline to follow.
Six months before you quit.
Reevaluate your spending habits. Stop buying anything on impulse. Live within your means. (See “You Can Get Rich Pinching Pennies Like Warren Buffett.”)
Solidify references associated with current or recent employers. Buy
them lunch, ask if there are other projects you can work on together,
confide in them and make sure you have an ally when you need one.
Start talking to smart people. Ask for a five-minute conversation
with everyone who is doing interesting work, who has written smart
articles or whose job you would love to have. Be fearless and make the
request. Then accept all offers to introduce you to other interesting
people. Give those people an opportunity to talk about themselves. Meet
them at their convenience, on their turf; pay for the coffee; and write a
thank-you email. (See “How to Grow Your Network Without Really Trying.”)
Attend networking events — in moderation. The ROI of these events
varies wildly, and the value is likely strongest as a source of
community, rather than of future clients.
When networking, use what you’ve got. If you attended a university
with a strong alum network, tap into it. If you are in a profession with
professional associations that are strong, attend the next networking
event.
Once there, don’t try to meet everyone. Have a goal: forge a
meaningful connection with one person, even if that person isn’t
immediately relevant to your business. Continue this process
indefinitely, or until your billable rate is too high to justify
spending the time. (See “How To Work A Room Like You Own The Place.”)
Start publishing and appearing in your industry. Use every
opportunity within your current employer’s publication policy to build
your profile as a professional. Panels, conferences, op-eds and academic
papers all help build your brand. (See too, “10 Ways To Improve Your Google Rank.”)
Enjoy your corporate benefits. Schedule a doctor’s checkup and dental
cleaning. Soak up other perks, whether they include free Friday
lunches, gym discounts, corporate rates from your cell phone provider or
the nice window from your desk.
Two months before you quit.
Research your student
loan options if you have them. Ask your school’s loan officers for help.
You may want to switch to income-based repayment. Compare costs of
borrowing if you need to do so. Talk to a tax professional if you have
questions.
Explore health insurance options. It may not be as bad as you expect,
and now that Obamacare has gone into effect, there has to be an
insurance plan that covers you. My plan has a significant deductible for
hospital stays, but routine care is free, and it costs less than $100
per month.
Meanwhile, if you work at a big enough company that there is
an human resources department, you may want to ask for a confidential
appointment to discuss their policy for former employees. Bear in mind
that COBRA plans are often more expensive than buying insurance
outright.
Start building a website. If you don’t know how, teach yourself, ask a
friend, or use a tool like Wix or Weebly. Even if your current employer
doesn’t prevent you from deploying your personal site as branding, wait
until you are ready to take on clients or customers before you debut
the site to the world–it can provide momentum when you’re ready for it.
(See “How To Grandstand (Gracefully) On The Web.”)
Six weeks before you quit.
Consign those shoes,
sunglasses or jewelry that you never wear. Set aside the cash for a nice
dinner out when you’re feeling poor in a few months. (See “How To Turn Your Closet Into An eBay Gold Mine.”)
Decide whether to operate as a sole proprietorship or create a
business entity and file the necessary paperwork. If you don’t want to
file your own, there are sites that file your paperwork for you like Legalzoom and Incforfree. Even if you do that, save a few bucks by easily filing your own application for an Employee Identification Number with the Internal Revenue Service.
For lawyers, doctors and others with codes of professional
responsibility, do extra research on how you need to structure your
company and what the reporting requirements are. If you have questions,
there are ethics hotlines available for free. Google it.
Start saving receipts and keeping track of business expenses. It’s useful for tracking what you need to keep your business running, and you’ll use them for taxes later.
Network to get in touch with others who have started ventures. Ask them for coffee to talk about the experience. (Take everything with a grain of salt.) If you take notes by hand, transcribe the information later into Evernote. Read books by entrepreneurs. Observe what other people in your space are doing, and note their tips as well as what you think they’re doing wrong or missing.
Three weeks before you quit.
Find out your company’s policy on what work product you can take with you as example of your writing and skills. (See “Ten Things Your Boss Doesn’t Want You To Know.”)
Look around. Anything that you will wish you had done before leaving,
do now. Take your secretary to lunch, or your boss’s secretary to
lunch. Ask your brilliant-but-crazy colleague for her thoughts on
anything. Get everything you want from your current situation,
interpersonally and professionally.
Two weeks before you quit.
Give notice. Don’t worry
too much if your mother says you’re crazy, or if she doesn’t really
understand what your new company is going to do.
Work out every day. It helps dissipate the cortisol that builds up in
fight-or-flight response to stress, gives you a mood boost and helps
you sleep. (See, too, “12 Ways To Beat Insomnia And Sleep Better–No Matter What’s Keeping You Awake.”)
Discuss post-severance benefits with your current employer.
Put the finishing touches on your website. Deploy it, and share on social media. Order business cards.
Once you launch.
Enjoy the freedom to work when and where you work best. Sleep in if
you’re someone who works at night, but remember: now that you are your
own boss, time spent not working is only costing you. (See “How To Do More Work In Less Time.”)
Perfect your elevator pitch. “What is it that you are
working on?” people will ask. Write down a brief answer–you’ll draw upon
it often. You may have a few different versions depending on what kind
of client or customer you’re talking to, how much time you have (15
seconds at a cocktail reception, 5 minutes in a coffee meeting), and
what you’re hoping to get from the conversation. Everyone is a potential
client or customer.
Email your growing list of contacts. These are all the kind
folks with whom you’ve been having conversations. Make it personal and
inform them that you’ve decided to venture out on your own. Ask them to
keep you in mind for future projects. Think about how you can serve them.
Get your company records in order. This is crucial if you
have paid contracts coming in. Open a bank account, get a business
credit card for your company if you want to, or if ethics regulations
prescribe it. Focus on the work but maintain good, simple records. If in
the past you filed your own taxes, consider paying a tax pro at least
the first time to to be sure they are done right, especially now that
you may be considering new deductions, like for a home office.
Continue networking. Keep requesting conversations with
professionals in your field–now even more often since you have the
freedom to conduct them during the day. These are meetings with
prospective clients or customers. Don’t be shy about mentioning ways you
could add value to their business.
Carry business cards. Bring them everywhere but don’t force them on anyone.
Keep in touch. Maintain contact with your former coworkers,
including your boss. Presumably it has some relevance to what you’re
doing now, and yes, they too are prospective clients or customers.
Set your rates. They should be in line with your industry,
so poke around a little. Another way to figure: calculate your rent +
basic credit card bill for the month (including health care premium and
groceries, not including expensive wine on Saturday night), and divide
by billable hours. Remember that a 7-hour billable day is at least a
10-hour workday.
If you know a project will take you longer than the client assumed,
don’t be afraid to ask for a higher budget than you are first given–a
client isn’t going to walk away just because you asked. Never overbill
hours, but consider doing project-based quotes if that suits the work.
It is fair to ask about speaker fees, conference attendance costs and
honorariums, though there’s a decent chance the answer will be “no.”
Investment spend. Accept that you will likely do some work for free if it provides good exposure or experience, if you support the cause, or if it might lead to paid work.
When you do unpaid work, communicate to the client that you are
choosing to donate services. Write up an invoice that lists your hourly
rate and shows that it was comped. This reminds the pro bono client that
your time is monetized, and shows consistency if they become a paying
client down the road.
Set and re-evaluate goals. Would you love to work for a
particular client or company? Think about who you know or what you’ve
done that has some connection, and start somewhere. Work on long-term
and short-term goals. Reality check yourself. This nugget of wisdom
comes from my brother Peter: “What you’re doing today doesn’t have to be
your dream job, but it should in some way get you closer to it.”
Finally, be kind. Reputation lasts and your personal brand is your most valuable asset.
#Πηγή:
A Six-Month Game Plan For Starting Your Own Business, By Merritt Baer
Deborah L. Jacobs, Forbes Staff
I cover personal finance for baby boomers,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2013/10/23/a-six-month-game-plan-for-starting-your-own-business/?utm_campaign=forbestwittersf&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialPersonal Finance | 10/23/2013 @ 11:12AM |36,222 views
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