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Starting a One-Person Business

Starting a small business is hard work even when you have others helping you, but starting and running a one person business on your own presents even more challenges.

Maybe you’re exhausted from working for someone else, and have always dreamed of starting your own business. But, before you jump ship, let me share some wise words: Starting and running a business alone isn’t for everyone. You need to put in a lot upfront (mostly consisting of time and some money) in order to reap the rewards in the future.

A U.S. census from 2010 indicated that there are more than 20 million one person businesses in the United States, accounting for more than three-fourths of all U.S. businesses.

One of the biggest attractions for starting your own one person business is being your own boss, and setting your own schedule – at least in theory. This ideally works best for singletons and small families, where the man or the woman can put in the necessary time into the business, while the other parent focuses more on the family.

Running the show solo requires ample amounts of determination, discipline, and fearlessness.  I’ll never forget when I started my first business, and at times just wanted to bury my head in the sand and ask, What did I get myself into?

If you think you’re up for the challenge, and got what it takes, here a few tips on starting your own one person business.

Starting a One Person Business

Choose a business that involves something you know about. The less time you need to spend learning the business, the more time you will have to run it. Keep the future in mind when starting up your business – Do you want to sell your business eventually, or do you just want a change of lifestyle?

Another idea to keep in mind is how much cash you might need. There are some who will tell you that you need an ample amount of cash to start-up, however I disagree with this thinking. If everyone needed large amounts of capital for start-up, nobody would be starting a businesses. And just in case you don’t believe me, read this article:  6 businesses you can start for under $200.

Focus on the Big Picture

Time is a solo entrepreneur’s biggest friend. A hawk-like focus on your most important functions as a business owner is essential. Rather than spending too much time doing administrative work, you should be focused on marketing your business and driving sales.

Most sole proprietors say that their biggest challenge is finding the time and resources to generate new business. Being a double solopreneur I know first hand that time is tight most of the time, and without focus on the big picture it’s very easy to get sidetracked.

When you’re starting out, you’re trying to build from the ground up, so you need to be clear on who your customers are, because you don’t have any time to waste on those who aren’t your customers.

In the beginning I kept things pretty simple in marketing. I used web presence through Twitter, and our home page to establish the company online.

Keep It Small

There years since starting one of my business, I still keep it small as a home based business. I converted my second bedroom into an office in which I do a lot of work from, this way it saves me time and money by not having to rent a facility.

I’m also employed full-time, and as much as I enjoy seeing my business grow, I’m not interested in it blowing up overnight. Slow, steady, and gradual growth is what I’m after, this way I’m able to handle the work load, and perform the task at hand in best of quality.

Keeping Focus

Being a solo-entrepreneur isn’t for the easily distracted. To manage your limited amount of time effectively, you have to be disciplined. I try to do specific tasks on specific days.  One day of the week I really focus on doing a lot of business development. Other days in the week are for the business planning and the numbers side. Another day is heavily focused on customer service issues.

Taking care of small details is crucial for business success. For example, if you’re starting a cleaning company, having antimicrobial shelving units from a trusted company such as Schaefershelving.com would be a good investment for future business growth and to maintain the quality of your work.

If you want to succeed as a business owner, you need to put your business first and foremost. There have been many times that I backed out of social gatherings simply because there were more important things to get done. Sacrifice is key to your success.

Final Thoughts

Realize that you are the most valuable part of your business and take care of yourself. Without you, your business would not be able to survive. I’m the first one in line for hard work in order to reap the benefits in the future, but every animal needs a break once in a while. Work hard to reach your goals, but remember to find some time for living life as well.

Cheers!
Eddie

Photo Credits (leonrw, marcamos)

6 FREE Ways To Promote Your Small Business Online

Starting a small business is tough no matter which way you slice it. Unless you have unlimited funds (and most don’t), stretching your dollar and finding alternative ways to promote your business is necessary without spending the big bucks. No matter how big or small your business may be, it needs some promotion. This is especially true for small business that are not under a franchiser umbrella.

Finding cost effective ways to promote your business can be challenging, so I wanted to share with you 6 FREE ways that I promoted my small business. These are tried, tested and true, and will work for your small business or home based business. Most importantly they are FREE, and won’t cost you a dime.

1. Social Media

Twitter is one of the greatest ways to promote, advertise, reach out to your clientele and spread the word about your small business. Social media isn’t just a tool to gain exposure—it has now become a must necessity for every small business to become part of for everyday use. The beauty of Twitter for example is that you can tie in with your Facebook business page, and your LinkedIn account as well. You can use all three social medians to reach out to clients, advertise, promote, and establish connections on a professional level with other small business owners.

2. Blogging

Having a blog is a great way to talk about your services, products, and what sets you appart from your competition.  A blog not only helps your small business gets its name out to the world, but its also a good way to gauge interest with potential followers through social media. The key with blogging is to keep your blog as up to date as possible. If you’re planning on developing a blog through your existing website or starting a new blog, and updating the blog once a week or month, it might be wise to save your self the time and avoid the whole blog idea totally.

3. Local Listings

Registering your business with Google Places allows it to be found more easily on Google searches and it shows up on Google Maps. All you have to do is fill out the form and register, then get your business verified through their confirmation process, which can be done either with a phone call or snail mail. Yahoo! also has a big database of businesses called Yahoo! Local. Finally, one of my favorite ways to advertise my business is through Yelp.

Here are the links to FREE advertising, and local listings:

Yelp – Yelp.ca

Google Places – Google.ca/places

Yahoo! – Yahoo! Local

4. SEO

Search engine optimization cannot be underestimated in the world of websites, social media, and blogging. There are many FREE online guides for the basics of SEO, and guides on how to do it effectively. Submitting your blog/website to search engines such as Google and Bing is a very good starting point. The best part of the submittal of your website/blog to search engines is that its FREE.

5. Online Press Release

A traditional press release can cost thousands of dollars through a PR agent, but it doesn’t have to cost that much. Instead, you can submit an online press release.

Anytime you have massive news that you want to spread the word about, a press release would be appropriate. You launch a new product or service, make sure you do a press release.

Every time your business does something newsworthy, don’t hesitate to shoot off a press release—maybe folks will pick up on it. They’re a powerful media tool to use to help generate publicity, and having free distribution of them is a bonus.

Two really good websites to do a quality press release:

PRLOG – Press Release Distribution

24-7 Press Release

6. Multimedia

YouTube provides a free way to distribute creative promotional videos, but in order to succeed you must put up content that people want to view and are relevant to your business. I haven’t done this as of yet, but I have a few video from a few cleaning jobs which I plan to post.

Also a Flickr profile can also help by giving you one place to compile all the photos for your business, and allows you to link back to your website.

Readers, can you suggest anymore FREE ways to promote a small business?

Eddie

6 Start-up Tips For New Entrepreneurs

How did you become an entrepreneur? Was it something you always wanted to do or did you have an ‘ah ha’ moment that propelled you into a new career path?

For my self was it was a comfort level I already knew existed. Having been employed full-time out of school for nearly five years, deep down I had an itch to become my own boss. That’s how I imagined it growing up as a kid with dreams of business ownership and the ability to create something out of nothing.

Despite the failure rates surrounding any start-up business, I wanted to give my business idea a go, and succeed while avoiding to become another negative statistic.

Almost four years later after the launch of my commercial cleaning business, the drive to continue being a business owner still exists within me, and the business its self is thriving. That’s why I wanted to take a minute today, and share with you 6 tips when starting your own small business.

1. Research Ahead

Research is typically dull and boring, but researching your market, competition, industry trends, target market is essential to inform you on what steps you need to take to make your business a success.

2. What makes your different?

Every industry has its big players, and the bottom feeders that get a bone thrown their way. In order for your business to succeed you need to have a clear idea about what problem your business is solving, and how are you going to do it differently than your predecessors

Ask your self: What am I going to do in order to do things better than my competition?

3. Listen & Accept Feedback

You’d be surprised at how many people have poor listening skills. They let their egos get in the way. Rather than being students of the business, they throw their half-ass knowledge out. You can be different though, by simply listening, asking and accepting feedback. Trust me, this is where you’ll learn a lot about your business and possibly about your self as well.

You’re probably thinking now; “This is so obvious.” However, you’d be surprised at how many new small business owners forget about basics like this.

4.Try to Have a Debt Free Start-up

Poor cash-flow is one of the biggest reasons why small businesses fail to make it to the next level. Failing to manage money properly in the early stages of your business can make the numbers hard to stack up. One sure way to avoid cash-flow pitfalls is to have a debt free start-up or with little debt as possible. Maxing out credit-cards will only make it harder down the road as the monthly bills keep on piling up. Eventually you’ll be paying everyone else, and have nothing left over for your self.

5. Outsource As You Need To

In the every early stages of your small business you’ll probably be the marketing person, accountant, advertising rep, sales rep and the general office clerk. Eventually business will start to pickup, and your skills will be more useful elsewhere. This is the point where you need to suck it up, accept it, and spend a little money by outsourcing certain tasks.

More importantly, you as the small business owner needs to recognize that you won’t be great at everything. So, why not pass it onto someone who’s more skilled and knowledgeable.

Develop a relationship with your accountant, graphic designer or your printer, treat them as a business colleague vs. an expense. Eventually through time and many business transactions, you’ll develop a relationship beyond a business, and these people will become someone you can bounce ideas off, and someone who’ll make recommendations for your business as well.

6. Test and More Test

Thousands of people right now are holding down full-time jobs while starting a small business. I was one of those people, and for the most part still am today. My day doesn’t end at 5. It instead continues sometimes well into the night. People who work like this are often referred to as the 5-9 shift, although in reality the hours are much longer.

The beautiful part of testing the 5-9 shift is that you don’t have to commit to your business full-time, still earn a living, and more importantly test whether your small business and being an entrepreneur is right for you.

Readers, can you suggest anymore tips for new entrepreneurs?

Eddie