Self-employed people

[Blossom]

What's one thing you wish you'd known or done before starting out as self-employed?

 

[ian]

Well, not strictly self-employed; I'm employed by my own businesses, but I wish I had set in place a routine of ensuring I took regular breaks; all too easy to work all day and then have no energy for anything else in the evening. I have a lot of personal improvements to make, haven't had a holiday away since 2007!

 

[keys]

Working long hours is not enough, and can be counter-productive. Success comes from best use of time. Focus efforts on products /services /customers that show a good return - financially and some job satisfaction. Stay ahead with accounts and chasing payments, cashflow is vital.

 

[ian]

"Entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours a week, to avoid working 40 hours a week." - Lori Greiner

 

[martin-s]

Take care not to take on clients who are a bad fit - either because of culture or price. They are a drain on your business and they'll slow down your growth.

 

[Adam H]

Take care not to take on clients who are a bad fit - either because of culture or price. They are a drain on your business and they'll slow down your growth.

Absolutely agree with that, I've taken on some shockers over the years which ended up costing me small fortunes. Having the luxury of picking and choosing is a god send.........but in the early days, you'd take on anything and everything just to get on the ladder.

 

[RobM]

Am I the only one who can't think of anything? I'd have done everything exactly the same. 'You never get rich working for anyone else' is the only life lesson that stuck with me through my teens until my last job when I was 19. That was 25 years ago

 

[dee]

I'm at the other end of the scale. Having spend the last 20 odd years in a job I love, but not being motivated by money, ive now got two kids and a mortgage and realised I should probably think about it !

Doing this because I enjoy it primarily ( Web/tech in general not just domains) and hopefully will be lucractive if i learn and work hard. Juggling both at the mo. I want to get to the point where I can work from anywhere with a laptop.

As @RobM said

'You never get rich working for anyone else'

 

[Murray]

Am I the only one who can't think of anything?

Nope, I haven't commented because I honestly can't think of anything

 

[martin-s]

I'd probably add that (after several bad experiences) personality fit is now top of our list when recruiting for staff.

 

[Blossom]

All sounding positive, thanks for your responses guys!

Of course there's no real reason I'm asking

 

[domainseller200]

I just assumed you were asking for a friend...

 

[Admin]

I am also struggling to think of anything I would have done differently. I made a conscious decision early on to never empire build and not to take on staff, instead, as clients materialised and income grew I increased my charge out rate. I think that's a lot less difficult and stressful than taking on staff. One thing I wish I had done earlier is set up automated monthly invoicing!

 

[findtim]

17 years now fully self employed from the internet as a web developer.

i think doing a "stock take" on yourself would have been the best thing, and i now having a saying " know what you are bad at and pay someone else to do it"

i don't think we can be good at everything, but as self employs we think we can and its total rubbish.

do what you're good at, get a book keeper/accountant, if you produce well but can't sell then find someone who loves selling but can't produce !

don'ttttttttttttttttttt do partnerships, just make your money and pay people, if you can't afford that then the business isn't viable and face that NOW, not later.

the book " the E myth revisited " i think is a MUST read before leaving your job to go off solo.

i read it @ 4 years into my business, i immediately stopped working, change my strategy and it took 6 months......no income........then when i implemented the changes i lost 30% of my clients.
reality is i was going to lose them at some time anyway, but i bit the bullet, now the business is great and it works the way i want it to.

eg: my next door neighbour is a client, i built his website, i host it and i do his seasonal changes, he waves to me as he leaves the driveway or collects his mail if we cross paths.

EVERYTHING is done via email, change instructions, invoicing, updates EVERYTHING.

my client base covers from melbourne to cairns and west from that ( 4000klms+) i simply can not see clients, so @ 98% of my clients i have NEVER met.

thats why i changed from a "mate mate mate" relationship to a service provider, but a bloody good one

i also feel you need at least 1 years wage in the kitty before leaving a job to be self employed, if you are thinking about paying bills you are not thinking about building the business.

tim

 

[JMI]

I just assumed you were asking for a friend...

seeding and scraping for content.. please don't be so cynical

 

[wonder_lander]

My advice, for what it's worth is:
1) Back yourself, have faith in your own abilities
2) Get a good accountant, they'll save you their fees several times over in their advice. Mine provides freeagent as part of my monthly payment to them.
3) Keep healthy, both physically and mentally - https://www.acorndomains.co.uk/threads/working-alone-and-loneliness.105394/
4) Don't burn any bridges!