Thinking About Starting Your Own Business

Thinking About Starting Your Own Business?

Create one that works for you.

by David Ehrlich, President ,The Track Group

Have you ever thought about starting a business? If you’re like many people who dream of owning their own business, you may be unsure of how to make the transition from employee to employer or how to create a business that could work for you. If you’re established in your career, it can be a daunting challenge both mentally and physically. At the same time, there is a wild sense of excitement about what could be – about the potential to call all the shots and see what you can create.

As someone who has made this transition, I offer my personal experience. I didn’t do it the fastest way, nor would I recommend jumping in with both feet right out of school. I spent the first ten years of my professional career as an employee at several organizations. I saw first hand how two local established firms went through rapid growth and this experience gave me insight into how my own company might some day develop from a small entrepreneurial effort to a more established business.

As I progressed through my career, I kept the goal of operating my own small business full-time on the back burner. I think the initial inspiration started in childhood, when I would pretend to operate a magic show theater. As a manager in a large company, I was intrigued by our small business clients who seemed to have a sense of freedom in their daily routine. They appeared to have an opportunity to create something larger than themselves as individuals – a place where they could “play” during the day and pursue their interests and earn what they could by meeting the needs of their customers.

Of course, I realized I had it good. I was receiving a steady paycheck, had many resources, and was part of an exciting company which shared its success with their employees.

My business partner and I took our first steps toward developing our small business in college. We established our company as a corporation in 1991. This was seven years before I would join full time. By the time I joined, we had a small office with the entire modern infrastructure in place, a team of three employees, an active client base, and all the license requirements fulfilled.

This gradual easing into my own company proved to be a wise choice. It gave me time to save resources and gave me additional time to learn from other organizations. I learned how to meet client’s needs, how to manage a team, and how we might someday approach larger companies as clients.

John & Dave

As you think about how you might develop your future or current small business, you may want to consider the story of two electricians who both started their own business. You will see that one worked IN his business (John), while the other worked ON his business (Dave).

Meet John. John had the goal of making money. He took his first job with an electrical company in Virginia. He worked “for the boss” for a few years and one day he got in a fight with his supervisor. John decided at that moment that he could do better on his own. He saw what his firm charged clients and thought about the money he could earn on his own.

John did well as a small business owner. He spent about 50 hours a week taking care of customers and handling the backend office work. At age 65, he grew tired of the daily demands, so he retired and this effectively closed the business. He never realized the freedom that people associate with owning a business because he felt that his direct involvement was required every day to do it right. He realized that when he was not working, he lost income and customers.

Meet Dave. Like John, Dave also desired money. However, he also wanted to realize the benefits of creating a business that could operate without his daily involvement. He set out to work on his business, not in his business. His first job out of school was with the largest electrical company in the metro area. He learned about all aspects of the business including accounting, marketing, and finance. He decided after seven years on the job, he was ready to go full time. In fact, he had been doing jobs on the weekends and evenings (his employer was fine with this as long as he got his own clients and used his own tools).

Dave grew strategically. He hired his first employee – an electrician to handle some of the work. Over time, Dave spent more time on doing estimates and thinking about how to grow the company. (I actually met Dave when he gave me an estimate at my house and the next week two employees were up in my attic doing the dirty work). He developed marketing programs and special offers to customers to sell additional work. He even supplied unique lighting fixture and earned additional revenue from these sales. Over time, he documented many of the processes and sales techniques for his growing staff and Dave’s role became more of a visionary for the business. His team managed and operated the business daily. At age 50, Dave could do whatever he wanted with his time, while earning revenue.

While John had a successful business, Dave created a business that had much more value. He could work on developing his business from many perspectives, not being tied to serving customers daily. The business was independent of Dave as an individual and could eventually be sold for a large sum. This is true because the business was not about Dave as a person. There were systems and marketing that produced a regular stream of income for the owner.

Can you see how your future business could be modeled after Daves’? This model is possible no matter what type of business you might want to start. Perhaps you want to be a consultant who shares your personal knowledge. You can be a one person shop (John) or create a business around your expertise (Dave). For example, you could have someone help you create workbooks and handouts to effectively communicate your knowledge and train others to deliver content at workshops.

Four Roles

One trick to realizing a business that works for you is to recognize four distinct roles that will require your attention. In his book, “The E-Myth”, Michael E. Gerber refers to some of these roles that I summarize below. You will likely operate in all four roles initially and you may need to find partners where you’re weak. In my case, my business partner is a professional salesperson so I didn’t need to focus on generating sales.

The doer is the front line person (or people) that take care of the immediate client needs. Their focus is on what needs to be done today to make the client happy. Many people start a business and spend a lot of time in this role. The problem is that there are other roles that need attention and if you focus to much on this one role you will become over worked and likely fail over time.

While the doer is focused on today, the manager thinks about processes and procedures that keep the doer team moving along smoothly. The manager thinks more about the past and keeping order.

The visionary loves to think about tomorrow and asks “What could be?” While many people had a visionary moment when they first decided to start their business, it’s important to spend time in this role on a regular basis to keep your company growing and relevant in the marketplace.

Without the sales role, your business will be missing the most important thing – customers! Marketing and sales will communicate what your business is all about and find the people who will benefit most from your offering.

These four roles will have natural conflict between them (even if you are doing them all) and the goal is to realize that each demands a different perspective and mindset to deliver your unique offering.

Applying Large Company Concepts to Your Small Business: Brand and Bridges

Even though big companies can spend millions on developing and promoting their brand, simply thinking of your offering as your brand - the unique experience that you promise to deliver to your target market – will give you a competitive advantage and help you develop a company that is working for you.

Think of well known brands and what each promises to deliver. By creating and articulating your company’s promise, you are much closer to creating the type of business that can operate without you being involved in every task and decision.

In order for you to deliver on your brand’s promise, you will need to develop “bridges”- sets of systems and processes that outline how everything should be executed. As an example of a bridge, look how Jiffy Lube delivers on their promise to take care of your car’s oil change & lube quickly. From the moment you drive into the service bay, nothing is left to chance or employee discretion. They’re well trained to follow a standard checklist that documents everything – according to plan.

Picture your target customer and determine what your business will promise to them. Then establish processes that will ensure your promise is delivered efficiently and consistently.

My company’s first bridge was Postcard Promotions®. We promised to handle all the details from concept through to addressing & mailing. To consistently execute on our promise, we documented all of the steps, created checklist items that pop-up on the computer at programmed dates, and many other details that created a smooth experience consistently. For example, we use the web to post images for our clients to see. This seemingly minor step greatly added to the perception that we had thought about every aspect of our bridge. Like everything else, your bridge will evolve with the needs of your customer and changing technology.

Once you see the potential of creating a business that works for you, it may give you a renewed interest in pursuing your dream. Take gradual steps developing your brand and your bridges. Before you know it, you’ll be training your staff, thinking about your company’s future, and perhaps even taking some time off to enjoy your personal life.

We’ve all the heard the phrase “if you want it done right, do it yourself”. As it applies to growing our small business, we’ve found just the opposite to be true. “Get people and processes in place who can deliver on your dreams and don’t try to do it yourself!”

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