What nobody tells you about running a small business

There are some things people don't tell you about running your own business. You only discover them when you establish a business yourself.

TIME: So you thought you had it tough when you were an employee. You thought eight hours a day was demanding? Eight hours a day is nothing compared to the 16 hours a day most small business owners work. That 16 hours of course isn't in one block. But all the work you do amounts to 16 hours every day.

As a small business owner it is imperative you manage your time effectively. If you've never been the type of person to make to do lists you suddenly will be and nothing will ever be done. The list will forever grow.

FREEDOM: Nobody will tell you to get back from your extended lunch break or gym break. You choose when you work, so you can start as late or as early as you want. In fact, as I type this blog I am cycling at the gym. That said, your customers will expect you to be available 24/7 and if you're a demanding customer like I am, if you're not available they will go to your competitor. 

CUSTOMER SERVICE: When you're a small business owner you can't afford to have even one unhappy customer. One unhappy customer has the potential to destroy your reputation. You will find yourself bending over backwards to get jobs done. That will mean taking calls from customers at midnight. Another case, and this happened to me this weekend, I had a customer who required a design job to be completed by tomorrow. Now I've been using a lap top and needed to upgrade. I ended up upgrading yesterday. Friends looked at me like I was crazy to upgrade a few days prior to what I'd planned. Customers expect it and if you don't deliver they will go elsewhere for their services. You never know when a one off customer could become a regular client, and the more regular clients you have, the better.

Sometimes of course there is no pleasing customers and you have to know when to cut your losses and let the customer go.

MONEY CHASING: Everyone hates debt collectors, well my fellow readers, if you run your own business you will constantly be chasing payments and waiting for money to come in. You will negotiate rates and payment terms. These are things that are essential and the bottom line is you must be paid for your work. Some people of course don't value people's work and will try to get out of paying. There are customers who don't comprehend that you're running a business and that you're not a charity.

STAFF: People frequently talk about how people don't hire staff easily and that wages are too low. Until you run your own business you don't realise the reason for that. Most small businesses are run by people who don't have a huge amount of money to spare. The money simply isn't there to pay higher wages. This is one reason why more and more business owners, myself included, use independent contractors. As soon as you start a business you will have people lining up to work for you. That's another thing. You must treat your staff well with open communication. Make expectations very clear from the start. You will find yourself being very picky about who you hire because your neck and your money is on the line.

PRODUCTIVITY: That brings me to my next point about productivity. In the early stages of a business it isn't productive to hire staff full time. You will hire people based on projects. You will pay them for the work they do, not to sit there for 40 hours a week.  You will want to make sure something productive comes out of every minute of every hour. You will find yourself scheduling phone calls and multi tasking a lot more as a small business owner.

When you're an employee, you just care about your job but the moment you become an SBO you will start requiring reports of profit increases, expenses and the general direction of your business. You will start caring about the numbers and the bottom line.

That said, numbers matter but in some cases you have to spend money to make money.

LEARNING AND JOB CAPABILITIES: All too frequently when you work for someone else they will only give you jobs based on what they think your capabilities are. When you're a small business owner you choose the work you take on and that means one day you're designing a website, the next day you're writing content or managing a marketing campaign. You're not pigeon holed.

BYE BYE HOLIDAYS: I was made redundant in November so took a holiday. It was fantastic so I booked another. Then a short time after getting a new job I set up my own business (a planned accident) and had to cancel my holiday. When you run a small business, especially if you're a sole trader there is no such thing as holidays. Nobody can replace you and you don't want your clients to go down the road to your competitor.

RELATIONSHIPS: Business relationships are so essential, especially in the early stages of your business, the more mutual relationships you can start, the better it will be for your business and your reputation. 

Of course there are many more things I could discuss about running a small business but these are a few thoughts I have had, that I just haven't had time to put down on paper because I'm busy helping everyone else with their businesses.