Nofie Iman

Nowadays, there are too many peoples write out about how to setting up and running our own companies. Some of those books/articles were very worth it to read, but the rest were just “so-so” and does not recommended at all.

I think the biggest thing to success is that you have to really enjoy what you do. Figure out what you want out of the business. I started a small company a few months ago and we’ve gone up and down with the rising and falling economy. People were hired, let go, and others hired again. From the beginning I knew that growth and manpower were the results I wanted from a business. I detailed an office, workstations, and an approximate number of employees. This amount of detail at the onset allowed me to keep the determination to see through times when it would have been easier to just bag it and get a job working for someone else.

Then you have to start building your business while working at your dayjob. Work for small clients, put money in the bank, work hard on your offer, and slowly walk toward your dayjob’s door. That is what I have done 7 months ago and I am happier than ever, have 3 months of salary in bank, 4 months of salary value in assignements and another 2 months in business development . I have wait for the “break” for 2 months to met a interesting new client that allow me yo have a good financial start.

I also found that the secret to success is networking. Get out there and meet people. Call every contact you can think of and tell them that you are starting a business. Call in favours from friends of family members, old high school pals, anywhere. Join a referral marketing/networking organization. All of this is more effective than advertising, at least at the beginning. After you get past your initial stages, if you do good work, you’ll get most of your work through word of mouth.

Another advice is always keep business development in sight. If you were not good at it, team with people that are. Always keep your sales funnel busy. Think in “months of salary” units. My philosophy with my company is “time is king” which leads to the more frequently quoted “cash is king”. I would argue that cash is just a tool to give you more time. That is why you will need a good accountant. Keep focus on what you like to do and outsource this stuff.

Running my own business is the best thing that ever happened to me. And I think there’s something to said for the mantra of working with small organized teams. After all, look what happened to me when I went to work for a big company. :)

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