How could I get it so wrong?
Nearly nine months ago, I made the monumental decision to set up my own business. Having just had my second child (he was 8 months old at the time) I decided that working in a stressful, full-time job and being at someone else’s beck and call was all too much. How much simpler life would be working for myself – or so I thought!!
Being a qualified chartered accountant gave me the option to set up my own practice. I thought I’d dabble with a few clients for a couple of years before taking things seriously. My life would be stress free, I’d have far more time to spend with my family and I’d be a “yummy mummy” for the first time in my life. However it didn’t take long for my best laid plans to take a very different turn.
Whilst having children without doubt changes your life beyond recognition (you can get away with minimal change with one child, but two is an entirely different ballgame), it doesn’t change your expectations and desires to succeed. I soon realised that being a lady who lunches was not for me (quite apart from the fact that I no longer had the money to pay for lunch!!).
I now work just as hard as I ever did in my full-time employment but do not receive the very comforting, guaranteed pay cheque at the end of the month (in fact the outgoings of your average accountant are quite shocking – and I’m not looking for sympathy!). I also get just as frustrated and bogged down in red-tape as any other small business owner.
But what about the upsides? They are many and varied. There is without doubt nothing like being in charge of your own destiny. I enjoy making the decisions (although I’ve made some corkers in the first six months!!) and I love all the new things I’m learning. The sense of achievement when seeing something through to its conclusion is enormous. And the flexibility to your working hours gives great benefits – OK, I’m working later in the evenings than I have before but I also get to spend more time with my kids.
I don’t think there is anything special about my particular journey to being self-employed or my experiences in my business’s early days. However my own set of circumstances does mean that I can readily understand the problems and issues facing others embarking on the same course of action. This has helped when dealing with start up clients and has enabled me to give advice well outside the remit of accountancy (I’m never backward about sharing my cock-ups with people!).
Working for yourself – there’s nothing like it. But go into it open-eyed rather than wide-eyed and innocent!!!
March 7th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Ah! Nice blog.
Which child listens to the voice of experience? Perhaps we should all learn the benefits of (mini) failure(s) and go searching for it (open-eyed) all the faster, rather than trying to bypass it’s learning effects!
March 8th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
having worked with 3 start-ups i can honestly say you do not know what you are letting yourself in for the first time.
There are great rewards, but don’t expect anything less than hard work, long hours, mistakes, frustrations, cash flow problems and so on.
If of course you hit on the one-in-a-million product that flies out the door from day one - enjoy it while it lasts
March 18th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Before BusinessXchange (was there ever such a time?) I was a business trainer and for a while I coached business start ups. After a particulary frustrating day when I could have said I told you so for the upteenth time it occurred to me that whilst you can lead a horse to water there is no way that you can make it drink until the time is right for him.
The ah ha moments are theirs and theirs alone and they come when they discover it for themselves. Now as a trainer, I could often construct activities that will encourage a moment of insight but it is much more difficult to give people experiences from which they can learn in ‘real life’.
If anyone has any good examples they can share with us that would be great.
Laura
March 18th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Be careful who you trust.
The reason I am on the 3rd start up is not business failures:
the first one came to end because my ‘business partner’ had a different approach to honesty, communication and transparency. I knew them and we got on well. The business was also their idea!!! When I reflect though, there were signs that maybe they were not trustworthy. My enthusiasm blinded me to this.
the second one was reliant on a government tax scheme that ended - no product/consultancy to sell. I trusted the government to see through their own intiative. BIG mistake. HCI is not the first time they have changed their minds and scrapped a scheme with massive impact on the industry involved.
the third one is now doing very well.
You need to be sure you can trust the people you work with - this should include employees as well as partners. If you find it difficult to trust but want to start the business, have an escape plan or get a shareholders/partnership agreement. This would cover eventualities that could cause problems. Once they happen it can be difficult to get all parties to agree a solution. Get an agreement whilst you are happy with each other and able to cooperate and agree a sensible solution should things go wrong.
It can seem strange to get an agreement (almost like having a pre-nuptial agreement) but it can save massive headaches later on. Don’t presume your business will be a success. There are too many factors that you cannot control. Plan for success and plan for failure - hopefully you’ll only ever use the former plan.
Wayne
March 21st, 2007 at 4:25 pm
The trust equation is an important issue. Some issues with regard to underpinning values are highlighted in my Blog on personal values in Business.
http://thehiddenedge.blogwessex.com/2007/03/21/personal-values/