A business could be defined as a company that provides a service or sells products: and has a staff who fulfil all the functions of the company including sales, admin, delivery, accounts etc. Leaving you to manage the business, to be ‘hands off’ so that if you are not available due to holidays or absence for another reason, the business keeps running … and at the end of the month, you take an income, and can take the profits at the end of the year. Also, this business entity should have a value, so that in a number of years, you have the option to sell it or take investment. Within this process, you may select and undertake the activities that are most beneficial to the business, such as involvement with marketing or dealing with selected clients. A business may have only one employee, ( apart from the owner ) But the plan should be to engage more as the business grows.
A ‘Self employed Job’ is what it says. You are doing what you were doing when you worked for someone else, but you now work for yourself. Instead of this being a good option , apart from the independence, the role gets more difficult and you are now responsible for marketing, finances, accounting and tax returns, stock of supplies etc etc … and if you decide to take holidays, or time off for any other reason , the income stops ! People assume that because the previous employer got regular business and employed you , that if you went independent, the same customers would follow you ….. This rarely happens, and calls come in to the Business Hub from people who have gone independent: ”how do I get more clients ?” And we have to advise that it takes time and money, to find new clients, like starting a new business.
Some of the professional people we meet have come out of big companies, for a range of reasons, with the expectation of continuing to work in the same areas maybe with the same clients. And, earn the same or more money. This very rarely works unless he or she is very ‘business minded’, ‘Business Minded’ includes understanding that, to gain new clients, usually takes market research, marketing, selling, and time and money. And maybe a creative sales approach to win the first contracts.
And finally, they must be prepared to learn the requirements of the new environment. Experience tells us that people coming from well paid jobs, maybe with expense accounts, may come and ask for advice. But when the answers are not what they want to hear, go away because ‘they know better ‘!! Or, they may be very successful in their professional capacity, but have no experience of finding and winning clients.
This happened recently. A guy who had built a very successful service business and was looking to expand, came and asked for advice. He expected in a one hour meeting that he would be given the magic ingredients to the way forward: from someone who had 30 years experience in the particular area. He declared that he had not been given the ‘right information’, and walked away. If he had listened and taken the advice, he could have grown the business at twice the speed he was planning.
So working for yourself in a ’self employed job’ has many benefits and satisfactions, but better to drive the work forward to create a ‘business’.
To make it happen, whatever stage the job or business is at, create a working Business Plan, taking advice from possibly 2 or 3 experienced people.
STARTUP ASSIST UK July 2021
www.startupassist.uk