{Hindsight glasses via Peppermill Projects-visit the link to get a free pair of your own!}
August was a pretty big month for me – after starting my own business a year ago and running it while also working full-time, I’ve finally resigned from my safe 9-5 job.
It’s taken a lot of talking, thinking, worrying, budgeting, planning, and fretting, and also a lot of dreaming, to get here.
But now I’ve finally made the decision I am so excited.
I’ve written a business plan, I’ve done cash forecasts, budgets, projected sales, cost of sales, market research, but most importantly…..
I’ve set-up a little office in our spare room. Yippee!
It boasts:
- a second-hand ‘beech effect’ desk (not quite the solid oak one with secret drawers I’d imagined)
- an office chair donated by my mum (I had to evict the spider who’d moved into the space under the seat)
- a desk lamp from my brother-in-law (new bulb? Check)
- and a photo of me and my boys (husband and three-year-old).
But enough about me and my small business adventure – while I’ve been navigating my way through the jungle of self-employment, I’ve learned a few things along the way – things that will hopefully help you avoid some of the pitfalls I’ve stumbled into.
So here are my top 5 things I wish I’d known when I started my own business a year ago:
1. People want it to work out for you
I kept my own business to myself for the first six months, as I didn’t want friends and colleagues judging me or having expectations. If it all went wrong they’d never know.
I quietly started building up an online presence, set-up my website, made contact with potential clients and networked til my throat hurt (and the letters on my keyboard faded).
But when I started telling friends and colleagues that I was starting had my own business, they were incredibly supportive. They gave me referrals of possible clients, they told me about resources available to business owners, and what really helped me have faith in myself was their assumption that it would work out.
2. No-one is ever going to give you permission
Deciding to give up your day job to focus on your own business is not a decision to be taken lightly.
Can you really afford it? How will you stay motivated? What about your pension? Can you really make it work? How will you cope with the loneliness of home-working?
But, just like starting a diet, doing the ironing, or writing a business plan (or is that just me?), there is always a reason not to do it.
I’ll wait until:
- my little one starts school
- we’ve saved up more money
- I have 50 clients
- my husband/dad/best friend says it’s okay
But there will always be a reason not to take the risk of losing the monthly pay cheque from your employer.
You just need enough reasons to want to take it.
3. You don’t need loads of stuff
Quick back-story: My little boy was born 6 weeks premature. We weren’t exactly prepared for his early appearance so didn’t have all the baby gear and equipment we’d planned to buy (not even a name…. He was Baby Thornton for three days).
While we were in hospital my hubby and I went through Mothercare’s Ultra Shopping Planner and ordered everything they told us we’d “definitely need”.
Three years later, we haven’t used half that stuff. We needed a few outfits, a couple of blankets and the pushchair…
But the top and tail bowl? Nope. The baby hair brush? Nappy bin? Baby carrier? No.
In my office at work I have access to a world of stationery and desk accessories – but what I use most is the computer, my coffee cup, pad and pen, so that’s what I’ve bought for my office at home.
The other stuff can wait – although my noticeboard’s coming with me when I leave…. along with my picture of Johnny Depp.
4. Get organised and have a system
Before the business started to grow, I thought I was an organised person.
I’ve recently realised that this is not the case.
I send invoices to clients, but don’t keep track of whether they actually pay me (yes, I know, I know). And if some money appears in my account, who’s it from? I pay in the cheques but don’t record who they’re from*.
Basically my accounts are a mess, and I’m only a few months in. When I come to do my first tax return I’m going to have a nervous breakdown.
So I now have a system – I keep a hard copy of invoices sent, then I write on them when money’s received, recording whether it was cheque or into my account. I also have a spreadsheet where I write down money invoiced, money received, and money spent. I do online banking to check-up on where I am with the business accounts.
This is pretty obvious stuff, but my administration skills are shocking, so I’ve had to go back to basics and put a proper system in place.
* PS Don’t tell any of my clients this – if they know how disorganised I can be, they may try and get away with not paying me….
5. You can do it
The biggest barrier to me leaving my nice secure job and jumping head-first into the unknown was me.
My own self-doubt and ‘what-if’ nightmares. Then I read something that made me think twice:
Imagine you’re 85 years-old looking back at this exact moment. How would you feel if you hadn’t taken the plunge? How would you feel if you had, but it hadn’t worked out? Which is worse?
That made me realise that I couldn’t live with the ‘what-ifs’ of not giving it a go.
So here I am, at my beech-effect desk at my office at home, with an empty spider’s web under my chair, a picture of Johnny Depp on my wall, and all you lovely Oh My Handmade readers out there somewhere.
And I wouldn’t be anywhere else.
What about you? What lessons have you learned along the way? Share them in the comments below.
