I’m quite sure you’re not getting into business to be M.I.A. from all of your family gatherings or to be that one whose face is always planted in their phone, or even worse, running around like a chicken with their head cut off,
…right?
While you will have to put in some work in the beginning, at some point your role may change, or progress into something that looks a little different.
So today, let’s talk about how this whole business thing is really gonna play out in the long term.
At some point in your operations, you’ll either be working in your business or on your business.
Here’s what I mean by that.
You’ll either be fulfilling service requests by actually performing client work like: creating posts, setting appointments, sending emails, design work, research, or whatever you’ve been hired to do.
Or you’ll be running the business by keeping up with bills, bookkeeping, invoicing, handling concerns, managing contractors who are doing the client work and everything else that it takes to keep the company running.
Don’t get me wrong, in the beginning you’ll be doing all of this.
But in terms of growth, once you pass a certain number of clients, and depending on your duties, you may start to experience some burnout trying to keep up with it all on your own.
Now you could very well only take on the number of clients that you’re comfortable with managing while running the business and then keep 100% of your money in your pocket.
But if you want to really grow and live comfortably without too much stress and headache, there may come a time when you have to pick one side or the other.
So let’s chat about that.
Think to yourself what it is that you actually enjoy?
Is it the idea of having the business and what the success of it brings, or do you actually just love the work itself and being able to get paid doing it?
I know a lot of people build businesses around their hobby so this could very well be the case.
Once you can decide on that, where your role will end up should be pretty clear.
If it’s just the idea of the business, then consider the side of running it.
Decide on what services will be offered, how they’ll be delivered, the processes, the on-boarding, the invoicing, the customer service and all of that jazz.
Then decide how you will bring on the people who will actually fulfill the work and report to you.
You’ll basically be getting the clients, signing contracts and then managing the workers and the flow of assignments…basically subcontracting the work out, but closely.
Form a little team.
You may even want to bring on someone for sales to help get clients as well.
If that’s what you’re good at and where you can flourish, consider charting that path and allowing all of your steps to lead up to that, running a business and being the boss.
In my course about how to start a home-based business, I dedicate an entire lesson to bringing your attention to outsourcing.
I speak about why you may want to, questions you can ask and where to look for good help.
Now if you’re on the other end, let’s say you’re a branding strategist, graphic designer, web builder or something creative that requires you to do the actual work.
And let’s say you love doing that thing and this is the base of your business, you may want to stick with doing the actual work.
So your role may look a little something like this moving forward…
At some point, you’ll want to focus more on “doing work” and less time finding clients.
We all know social media is a huge driving force is generating leads.
You may want to hire a social media manager or assistant for some basic consistency and outreach.
You may need someone who can create graphics for you, schedule your posts, do some engagements or maybe even send emails and write blog posts.
It depends on what your marketing strategy is.
You may hire a closer to take phone calls and get you sales, or make calls to bring you leads that you close on your own.
You may also hire a bookkeeper and an accountant one day.
I think you get the idea here.
Like I said, starting out, you’ll most likely do all of these things so that you can keep some money in your pocket while you grow and build up your business.
Or you could even plan your business to where you come right into it choosing a side, if you’re more financially comfortable.
But I want you to be aware that to grow, these things need to be considered somewhere on the horizon.
As you get started and you’re building your business plan, your road map or even your vision for your company, don’t forget to consider your long-term goal so that you can plan accordingly and make moves accordingly.
Maybe create SOP’s (or standard operating procedures) as you work so that you’re already prepared when someone else comes on board and you can train them easily.
Also understand what the laws are with employees vs contractors, taxes, how to pay them, how many hours one can work before they’re considered an employee and what those requirements mean for you as the owner.
It’s your business, your baby, so it’s all up to you.
Will you work “in” your business or “on” your business, feel free to share with me, I’d love to know what’s on your mind or what you’re already doing.
On that note, that’s all I have for you today.
As always, I’m wishing you the best on this work from home journey.
Stay blessed ya’ll!
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