Transcript Starting Your Own Business

TAAC 9
Las Vegas, NV
October 23, 2004
Starting Your Own Business
Mark Steiner
http://www.marksteinerinc.com
Why should you start your own business?
 Freedom
 Being able to choose what you do
when you get up in the morning
 Flexibility
 Ambition to succeed
 Tired of your Boss, or a boss
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Who should start their own business?
 Traits
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Self-starter
Plenty of determination and perseverance
Enjoy challenges
Dedication and structure
Niche of knowledge/skills
Project management skills
Know how to say “Yes” and how to say
“No”
Who should start their own business?
 Ten Abilities of Winners
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An eye for opportunity
Independence
An appetite for hard work
Self-confidence
Discipline
Judgment
Ability to accept change
Make stress work for you
Need to achieve
Focus on profits
What does it take to get up and running?
 A business plan
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A reality check
A performance tool
A message sender
A motivation tool
A management development tool
A road map
Evidence of focus
Understanding of who your target customers are
An appreciation of investor or lender needs
What does it take to get up and running?
 Get a good lawyer and accountant
 Determine business type (For example: Sole
Proprietor, Partnership, LLC, C Corp, S Corp.)
 Acquire corporation status and any relevant
business licenses
 Cash Reserve
 Equipment
 Software
 Taxes
 Insurance
 Subcontractors
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What does it take to get up and running?
 Processes and Documents
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Contracts
Proposals
Statements of Work
Storyboards
White Papers
Sign-off Forms
Marketing Plans and Materials
Methodologies
Elevator speech
 Client-base
 Website, demos
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How do you find and attract clients?
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Think of all of the people that you know . . .
Your previous employer
Your previous clients
Professional organizations and communities
Local organizations
Professional orgs not directly related to
training
 Job websites
 AWARE list
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How do you retain clients?
 Say What You Do - Do What You Say
 Underpromise and overdeliver, don’t be too
optimistic with estimates
 Manage expectations
 Successfully manage all essential project
details
 Make your clients’ problems your problems
 Document and follow-up on everything
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How much do you charge ?
 You’re covering everything now: insurance,
taxes, benefits, equipment, facilities, risk,
downtime, continuing education, contracts,
hiring/firing, sales/marketing
 Charge what you’re worth, and what the
project requirements dictate
 Don’t lowball
 Fixed Bid, or Time and Materials?
 Responding to RFP’s
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How do you bid work?
 Cover all activities across all phases
(ADDIE)
 Clearly define roles on development
and client teams
 Clearly define all deliverables
 Are there new tools / technologies /
techniques being used?
 Document all that you can, cover the
rest with assumptions and constraints
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How will you execute the projects?
 Just you? You and a helper? You and a host
of subcontractors?
 Initiate appropriate review and sign-off’s
throughout the project life cycle. Don’t move
forward without sign-off’s.
 Get an accurate and complete scope of work
and contract. What is in the scope and what
is not in scope?
 Other documents: Non-disclosure form, signoff forms, storyboards, scripts, etc.
 What is the payment schedule?
 What about warranty and support?
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How will you stay current?
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Conferences
User Groups
Books
Websites
News Groups and Lists
What will you miss?
 All of the support functions of a mid/large
company:
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HR
IT
Accounting
Law
Sales
Marketing
 Praise from co-workers and boss
 General social interaction
 Interaction professionally with a wide array of
individuals
 Predictability
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What won’t you miss?
 Forms, paperwork, etc.
 A regimented schedule
 Attending meetings that you don’t
need/want to be at
 Being nice to your boss (though
everyone but God has a boss ;)
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Any suggestions?
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Don’t lie/cheat/steal
Don’t take work you can’t deliver
Treat everyone with respect
Strive for a work/life balance
Happiness is a personal daily choice
How could you possibly fail?
 Inadequate cash reserves
 Failure to clearly define and understand your
market
 Failure to price your product or service
correctly
 Failure to anticipate or react to competition,
technology, or other changes in the
marketplace
 Overgeneralization
 Overdependence on a single customer
 Uncontrolled growth
 Believing you can do everything yourself
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What are some myths?
 Woo Hoo! I’m gonna be rich!!!!!!!!
 It’s going to be really, really easy!
 Let’s get as big as we can as soon as
we can!
 The work and projects are just going
to roll in.
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What are key future considerations?
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When to get office space?
When to try to grow?
How to ramp up sales?
How to stay current with knowledge,
tool, technologies?
 When to update/change service
offerings?
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Questions?
 Questions and Answers
 Contact Info
Mark Steiner
3036 N. Leavitt
Chicago, IL 60618
[email protected]
(773) 392-7967
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