Oh boy do I ever remember the days of being a one man business. It was great!!
The freedom. The fun. That feeling of making your own way.
If it's going to be, it's up to me - Oh Yeah Baby!
Oh yes. I remember that now. That's the problem with reminiscing - you tend to remember the good times and forget the bad.
That was the blessing and the curse. No me - no business.
Here's what I really liked most about my one man business - Once I had it tuned and optimised, I had my monthly overheads covered by the end of the first week of the month. The rest of the month's earnings was pretty much discretionary income.
The second big plus was that with no start-up capital to kick off with, the overheads simply don't come any lower.
But there were some downsides. For starters "No work No pay" takes on a whole new meaning for the OMB. And if for some reason you can't work - even if it is from circumstances beyond your control - you'd better have left some money in the cookie jar from the good months.
That, of course, was the next problem - that spare change. What's the use of making good money when you can never take the time out to spend it? Sure, you can spend it on stuff to play with on the weekend - but how about taking 3 weeks off? Or more? Holidays are a little tricky to juggle as an OMB. For 3 years or so all I managed to get was the occasional long weekend.
There was another major drawback. You know how a fair size business has owners, managers, sales reps, secretaries and all that other stuff? Look in the mirror - there's your team to take care of all that. Now if all you've got is a technical skill, that can be something of a challenge.
When you're starting out, all those handicaps aren't a problem, really. Well, they are, but you're all fired up (or in my case simply desperate) and prepared to do what it takes, so you just do it.
But if you're ever going to turn your enterprise into a business machine that earns your keep whether you are there or not, sooner or later you are going to need a plan.
Can you relate to any of this? Please let me know.
That was the blessing and the curse. No me - no business.
Here's what I really liked most about my one man business - Once I had it tuned and optimised, I had my monthly overheads covered by the end of the first week of the month. The rest of the month's earnings was pretty much discretionary income.
The second big plus was that with no start-up capital to kick off with, the overheads simply don't come any lower.
But there were some downsides. For starters "No work No pay" takes on a whole new meaning for the OMB. And if for some reason you can't work - even if it is from circumstances beyond your control - you'd better have left some money in the cookie jar from the good months.
That, of course, was the next problem - that spare change. What's the use of making good money when you can never take the time out to spend it? Sure, you can spend it on stuff to play with on the weekend - but how about taking 3 weeks off? Or more? Holidays are a little tricky to juggle as an OMB. For 3 years or so all I managed to get was the occasional long weekend.
There was another major drawback. You know how a fair size business has owners, managers, sales reps, secretaries and all that other stuff? Look in the mirror - there's your team to take care of all that. Now if all you've got is a technical skill, that can be something of a challenge.
When you're starting out, all those handicaps aren't a problem, really. Well, they are, but you're all fired up (or in my case simply desperate) and prepared to do what it takes, so you just do it.
But if you're ever going to turn your enterprise into a business machine that earns your keep whether you are there or not, sooner or later you are going to need a plan.
Can you relate to any of this? Please let me know.
1 comment:
for 17 years now i am still operating as an OMB...it has not been easy at any stage...not in the begining at not now even after all these years...i have watched companies start get big and fall hard...i have also watched small companies start and just disappear...i have watched people take little companies to the cleaners...the most important thing in a OMB is "CASH FLOW" not huge contracts... not a big customer base... not big turnover just good cash flow...no matter how small so long as it covers the overheads...i have watched people start companies employ staff and managers to run the company and within 2 years go into liquidation...i have had the likes of companies such as powerflow exhausts...key delta pinetown...granite and marble industries...klomac engineering just to mention a few of the worst...almost bankrupt my little bussiness due to non or late payments..it took me nearly 5 years to recover from one of these companies bad payments...what people dont understand the smaller the company the quicker the payment needs to be made unless the little bussiness has lots of capital...most OMB are OMB because they dont have huge capital...so all you people out there... have a little consideration for small bussiness...i contacted a customer the other day to find out why he hadnt paid yet...his comment..." i see you just bought a new car" so in other words you are going wait for your money because you must be making a killing...because i took a loan and purchased a new van to improve my company image and improve my service by having a more reliable form of tranport...doesnt mean i am making huge amounts of money that i dont need my invoices paid COD.
Post a Comment