Really?
How does that work?
They always want to know how I got started, how I find time, how I find clients, and many times they will say things like, "Wow, it must be so nice to be your own boss." or, "I've always had this idea to do {fill in the blank}". Many of them have a romantic notion of what a "business of one" entails. There are definitely a lot of really great things about working for myself but those things could easily be overshadowed by the not so great stuff. I'm responsible for all the book keeping and budgets etc. and even although I'm only one person, I still outsource all of my graphic design and web development. I've built relationships with professionals that I can trust with my outsourcing needs. This is all great but I have to be careful to document all of those jobs well so that people get paid what they are owed.... and so that my records are accurate come tax time! I also have to bring in all of my own work so, while I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off two weeks ago, now I'm not quite as busy and really need to focus on generating new business.
My husband has often said that some people just have that "entrepreneurial spirit". The desire to eat, drink, sleep, breathe their business. Many of them fail several times over before they succeed.
Us? Not so much. We like heading to the mountains at 3pm every Friday to ski for the weekend.
Me? I like being here when my kids get home from school. Just today I was able to head over to school and watch Henry's presentation on the Goliath Bird-Eating Tarantula, and trust me, it was not to be missed!
I'm a "business of one" simply because it works best for me and for our family. I definitely do not want to be slaving away 24/7 but I could easily end up doing that if I did not have BOTH on my side. Back Of The House has my back, so to speak. They take care of all of the back of the house operations like book keeping and monthly financial reports that keep me focused. I have a personal adviser that takes the time to talk to me about my goals and answer any questions I may have. In fact, I would not be surprised if I got a friendly call or email later today because I just made a payment that will take my account balance scary low and the money transfer I made from Paypal probably won't have cleared yet .... (cash flow is a whole post on its own that we can save for another day) she will likely want to be sure that I know I am running out of money and will remind me to deposit the stack of checks sitting right in front of me!
The challenges of running a "business of one" can be overwhelming and let's be honest, those of us who choose to go out on our own are making a lifestyle choice. With that choice comes responsibility, and recognizing where to outsource is absolutely critical to the success of any "business of one". Right now the biggest relief for me is not having to worry about the day to day accounting because I know that my BOTH adviser has my back!
Are you a "business of one" or thinking about starting one? Why not visit Bothpro.com? Give them a call and let them answer any questions you might have.
*This is a sponsored post. The opinions are mine based on my experiences.
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1 Response to "Successful "Businesses of One" Outsource"Oh how blessed you are to be available to your kids. I am very slowly moving from a full time job to a business on one because I hate it when I'm too stressed out, too busy, or too tired to be present for my 3 babies. I know what you do has it's challenges but you obviously do a superb job at it. Keep going, Fiona. You're an inspiration.
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