2: Taking the Leap - A Marketer's Guide to Going Solo

Thinking of leaving your job and going full-time into your marketing business?

I dive into the crucial steps for transitioning from employment to self-employment, drawing from my 23+ years as a business growth coach and marketing consultant. 

Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or an established marketer considering a solo venture, this episode provides guidance on navigating the challenges and seizing the opportunities of self-employment. Listen in as I lay out a clear path for marketers ready to take the leap into running your own business.

RESOURCE
Download a complimentary copy of the Best Year Ever workbook and journal at https://bizplan.takewingcoaching.com/bestyearever

CONNECT
Instagram - https://instagram.com/gailnott
LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/gailnott
Facebook - https://facebook/coachgailnott
Web - https://www.takewingcoaching.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Marketers Take Wing. The challenges and the setbacks, the lessons learned from failures, and the joy of overcoming obstacles. This podcast is a celebration of the marketer's journey. The highs, the lows, and everything in between. If you are a marketer looking for inspiration, or you just enjoy a good story about business growth and personal development, This podcast is for you.

[00:00:23] I'm Gail Nott, I'm a business growth coach, a marketing consultant and co founder of Take Wing Coaching.

[00:00:29] In this episode , we're talking about the seven steps to start your business, but I'm also going to share my real experiences as being self employed for the last 23 plus years, as well as experiences I've seen with my clients as a business coach. So let's get started. First step,

[00:00:46] write a business plan.

[00:00:48] I know every business course has that as a first step, but I'm curious to how many business owners actually do it. Do you do it?

[00:00:56] Most of my clients do not have a written business plan when they first [00:01:00] start working with me.

[00:01:00] Maybe they wrote one in their first year in business , but it's usually more of an outline. It's never filled out and it's not something they look at every day. Or even every week or month or year. if you're not looking to get outside funding, you don't necessarily need a full business plan that you would use with SBA to get SBA loan. Small business administration loan. However, having at least a one page, is a great way to have your ideas on paper, to see where you want to go and to be able to keep you focused and on track.

[00:01:38] A lot of entrepreneurs have a lot of ideas. . If you are an especially creative person, you probably have a million ideas, but we only have so much time. So a business plan with some set goals,

[00:01:50] maybe one to five goals for the whole year will be more than enough for you to focus on.

[00:01:56] Some specifics to put in your business plan include your [00:02:00] why or purpose statement, the three to five year vision you have for your business, where you see yourself, let's say, three years from now.

[00:02:08] Your mission and the mission statement would be what you do, who do you do it for, and what's the benefit they get from working with you. Your target market or your ideal clients, and you can define that both in demographics as well as psychographics or how they think.

[00:02:26] And your long term goals.

[00:02:29] Know that may sound like a lot, but it will really help you stay focused throughout the year and not feel scattered when there's so many opportunities and options that are out there.

[00:02:39] If you'd like a free workbook you can use, just look in the description to download the best year ever workbook and that will help you create this plan.

[00:02:48] Next you'll want to do financial planning and saving.

[00:02:52] Before making the leap to full time self employment, you'll want to make sure that you're financially stable so that [00:03:00] in case something happens, you can still support yourself.

[00:03:04] You want to make sure you have enough savings to cover your business as well as your personal expenses.

[00:03:10] Now the amount of that and for how long is going to be definitely up to you and your risk tolerance. Some people say to have enough to cover three months, but in this climate where it can take half a year or more to get a new job, you may want to consider longer.

[00:03:27] This financial cushion is essential so when things are tight, you do not feel stressed.

[00:03:34] it also gives you the freedom to pick the ideal clients you want to work with. If you are desperate for money, you may take any client and it may not be worth it. Especially if you take on a client that doesn't value you, your time, or your expertise.

[00:03:51] When I first started freelancing, I moved back in with my parents. I was about 22 years old.

[00:03:56] And I didn't always have my freelancing jobs lined [00:04:00] up so that I always had steady work. Sometimes there would be no money coming in, in between those jobs. Until I had steady income, I felt more comfortable living at home, and they also invited me to move back, which was nice. I know not everyone has that privilege and opportunity, but if that is an option, it might be something you want to look into.

[00:04:20] I know not everyone has that privilege and opportunity. If you are thinking of becoming self employed sooner than later, you may want to look at reducing your personal expenses, whether it's moving to a smaller place, a city that costs less, having roommates, or moving in with friends and family,

[00:04:40] the sooner you can save the money, the sooner you can possibly make the leap.

[00:04:44] You can tell yourself if I get so many clients and I can support myself, but it does take time to build that steady base of clients

[00:04:52] Until you're able to track your data of how long it takes for you to get a client, what that client's [00:05:00] worth, what the client lifetime value is, what's your closing ratio, you're not really able to realistically project how much you're going to be making.

[00:05:09] You can also talk to your financial planner or your accountant to help you with your financial planning.

[00:05:14] The third step is your legal and administrative setup.

[00:05:18] Most sole proprietors start off with just Being a sole proprietor.

[00:05:23] However, it could be to your advantage to set up a limited liability corporation or LLC so that you have the separation between your business and your personal life. This is where a good attorney and a great accountant can be great resources for you.

[00:05:39] Yes, that is an investment, but you can find people who specialize in working with solopreneurs or small business owners, and they generally have smaller plans so that they can work with you on an affordable basis.

[00:05:52] You can ask them if you should become an LLC, what are the advantages, is it worth it?

[00:05:57] Working with a tax preparer like a [00:06:00] CPA or a road agent can help you with tax planning, And you can learn what you can write off and be tax free and what you can't write off.

[00:06:10] You'll also wanna find out if you need any insurance.

[00:06:13] Do you need liability insurance for the type of work you do?

[00:06:16] Do you need errors and omissions insurance? If you make a mistake in your work, will it financially affect your client?

[00:06:25] That might be something to look at as well.

[00:06:27] You'll also want to look into health insurance for yourself.

[00:06:31] That's something I think I got lucky with. I did not always have health insurance. I got very lucky that I never got into a major accident or was majorly sick because if I had to be admitted to a hospital

[00:06:44] I probably would have gone bankrupt with all the hospital bills. Thanks to the Affordable Health Care Act, it's possible that you might be able to qualify for that and get affordable health care insurance.

[00:06:56] You can also look into small business associations [00:07:00] where they have benefits for their members, health care being one of them.

[00:07:04] Okay. We've got the logistics down. We have our business plan. We have our legal documents. We have our financials. Oh, one more thing for financial planning is you want to set up a business checking account.

[00:07:17] You might even want to have several. It depends on your business setup and you can talk to your accountant about that, you definitely want to keep your business finances separate from your personal finances. Consider getting an online bookkeeping system, such as QuickBooks. I use Zoho books, you can work with a bookkeeper to set up your books properly and be able to manage it on your own, especially if you're just starting out.

[00:07:40] There are bookkeepers who will teach you how to do this. There are also bookkeepers who will work with you on an hourly basis so that it's an affordable service for you.

[00:07:50] Okay. We've got our logistics down. We have our business plan. We have our business checking account. We've got our legal contracts and our insurance. Now we want to [00:08:00] start getting clients.

[00:08:01] As a marketer, here's where you can start applying your expertise to get your clients.

[00:08:07] Make sure you are walking your talk. That's one of my biggest core values and integrity, is making sure I walk my talk. So if you are a web designer, have a great website. If you specialize in social media, have great social media marketing for your own business.

[00:08:25] If you find yourself being stuck in implementing your own marketing work, believe me, I completely understand. I find it so hard to write my own marketing copy and do my own social media. If you are in a similar place, hire someone to help you. I know this may sound silly because yes, you know what to do, but you can see this as your first step in delegation and becoming a business owner and not just a doer.

[00:08:54] Hire someone junior to you to implement the work. You're still going to create the strategy. You're going to [00:09:00] still oversee the project. This also gives you the opportunity to practice your systems or maybe even create your systems if you don't have that down yet, as well as implement and refine, so that when you get clients, you have a system already built out.

[00:09:17] The two best marketing strategies that I recommend for solopreneurs, especially when they're first starting out, is one, networking. Make sure everyone you know knows what you're doing and what types of clients you work with. Now, if you're still employed and you are uneasy of having your employer find out what you're doing on the side, you'll want to network discreetly.

[00:09:40] Start with your inner circle, people you can trust, and work with people one by one. Just make sure you're not crossing any employment agreements or NDAs that you have with your employer.

[00:09:51] Streamline your operations and tools. I don't know about you, but I love an app, but efficiency and effectiveness [00:10:00] are important. Stick to the right tools and software to manage your workload from client relations to your financial tracking.

[00:10:07] Next, establish your brand and your online presence. Even if you're just focusing on networking and referrals right now, your referrals will still look you up online and still want to see samples of your work. Whether it's public or on a private link, set up an online portfolio so people can see your work. As part of this portfolio, you will also be collecting testimonials from your happy clients.

[00:10:31] It's important to collect client testimonials because this is a social proof to show people are happy with your work.

[00:10:38] Create referral programs as well as retainer programs so clients stay on with you longer and you create this solid foundation of a strong client base.

[00:10:49] Each person that's referred to you or introduced to you expands your network, which expands your business.

[00:10:55] I recommend that business owners have paying full payment options [00:11:00] as well as monthly or quarterly payment options. What this does for your finances, it creates a flow of money always coming in, whether in large sums or smaller sums spread out.

[00:11:13] When you have this in your accounting system, you can use the software to create cashflow statements or cashflow projections. So you can see what your money will be like. And it also shows you your profit and loss statements. You'll see how much money you'll really take home, minus your business expenses.

[00:11:29] Being a mostly consulting and coaching business, with just a few contractors, Cory and I have very low overhead. That can change if we ever decide to have a training center again, or have more staff.

[00:11:43] Personally, I prefer slow growth. I heard a statement that slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. I Do love more slow, steady growth than fast exponential growth. That for me is personally stressful [00:12:00] and hard to manage. And you never know, again, what the economy or what the environment is going to be like next year.

[00:12:07] But that's just me. Some people are great with a fast exponential business. Other people like more slow and steady. I think you've got to decide what works for you.

[00:12:18] From all of this, My number one recommendation is having that clear vision in your business plan of where do you see yourself three years from now? What does a ideal day look like for you?

[00:12:31] That will give you a lot of insight of how you're going to structure your life and your business. Probably the second biggest thing is having that financial cushion. The last few years have been a handful. So many things that we would never predicted happened.

[00:12:51] For the people who say money can't buy you happiness, I would disagree to the point of not having money is freaking miserable. [00:13:00] So I would rather have that cushion, but that's just me. I'm curious to hear from you. Out of these seven steps, what is the most important for you? What step are you on? And if you are already in your journey, if you were to give yourself advice from when you were just starting out, what would you tell yourself?

[00:13:23] Thanks for joining me for this episode. Subscribe and you'll hear more about Marketers Take Wing and Soar.