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Transitioning from Corporate Life to Sole Proprietor: Things Forgotten

First let me say CONGRATULATIONS on your new business. You took a leap and left the big corporation to branch out on your own. How exciting. You probably took all the necessary precautions setting up the business legally, consulted with your accountant for financial advise, you even did your marketing homework ? AWESOME. Of course, you know your business so there is no learning curve. Or is there? Is there something you may have forgotten when making the transition?

Many business professionals take the leap with lots of fear. That?s why you consulted with all those professionals before you opened the doors. Now, its six months later and you notice things aren?t running very smoothly. It?s not because you don?t know your business. You do. It?s not because you don?t have customers. You do. It?s not because you forgot to take the necessary legal steps. You did. What you forgot to do was learn or relearn the basics.

What are the basics? Those are the transitional steps that you need to take when opening a new business. You need to know how the business operates inside and out. This means you need to know how to do every job in an average office. Do you remember how to run a multiple phone line? You probably do. However, I bet you didn?t realize you needed to establish a mail system, or new client intake process, or a working file system. Sounds pretty basic right? It?s actually not. The little things in the office can overwhelm the new business professional that never set up shop before, and knows little about what all those employees over at corporate actually did on daily basis.

Setting up the basics will make your office run efficiently! You need to establish systems that will work for you. Consider every job in the office. Consider what each employee (especially if you don?t hire an employee for that task) would do during the course of their day. Consider every step that needs to happen in your business from the start of each day to the end, from the start of working with a client to completion. This can be overwhelming and you may need to employ assistance with this process.

Who should you hire? You need to hire someone who possesses strong organizational skills, has experience developing systems for offices, has in the past themselves performed a wide variety of jobs within an office setting, and has an extensive skill set. The more specialized your business (e.g. Attorney, CPA, Engineer, Construction) is the more likely you?ll need to hire a professional within your industry to help you out. If you don?t retain an individual within your industry, at minimum, you need to hire a professional who possesses wide industry knowledge.

One hidden benefit in getting your office set up to run smoothly is MORE MONEY, MORE PROFIT. We have already established you have clients. Imagine with a smooth running office you can even more clients. Once established systems are in place you?ll see a remarkable difference in how your office operates. You might even see an increased profit margin.

Remember the basics are essential to keeping your business running smoothly! Don?t delay, get it done today.

Full post as published by Impartial Inc on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).