Episode 15 RYOB: Stick to your personal development journey

Congratulations on making it so far in this series of articles on running your own business. In this last episode we will address the issue of survival in the long run. We will discuss the ways in which you can keep maintaining your job satisfaction, find new challenges and opportunities, and continue your personal development alongside your company. Let’s dive into it!

Remember that you need to find a balance between operations and product

A challenge for all solo entrepreneurs and small businesses is to find the balance between operations and product/service. 

On the one hand, we have the operations: you need to actually run the company. And that entails a lot of hard work. We have looked at these parts in our previous articles from this series. And as you will remember, running a business is not a one-off process.It is an ongoing job and if you do not keep those processes going, there is a great risk of ending up in unprofitability, stress, and errors which will harm you and your brand. 

On the other hand, we have the product or service: the thing that the whole company is based on. If the product/service does not maintain its quality, the whole company is bound to fail.

You are your most important asset

In some industries this may be more applicable than in others, but regardless of your industry, as a freelancer or entrepreneur, you are your most important asset. Your success will largely depend on how you navigate the intricate environment of markets, customers, services, and business.

This is why it is crucial that you work on your personal development as well as your company’s development. 

Shoemakers’ children have no shoes

Forgetting about your personal development while focusing solely on business development is much more common than one might think. It is common even among coaches, whose (paradoxically) job includes talking to the customer about the value of taking care of and training their staff, and working on personal development. And as you can imagine, this is not unique to the coaching and training industry. Who has not heard the sayings "the baker's children get no buns" or "the shoemaker's son have no shoes"? Make sure that your skills are used in your own benefit too and give yourself the chance to grow in pace with your business.

Plan you personal and professional development 

It is a difficult art to create a balance between customers, market needs, and taking care of yourself. But it is as difficult as it is important. Think about it this way: what good craftsman lets their best tools be worn out? What good musician fails to tune their instrument regularly? Now, when you are running a company and you are your own (and perhaps others') manager, it is you who has the responsibility of planning your personal and professional development. As a freelancer or entrepreneur, you are not only responsible for your business, you are also responsible for yourself.

Planning this is setting aside time and money for the development of your own skills, but also to include moments of recovery in your schedule, and to set reasonable expectations and demands from your performance and support yourself in meeting those expectations. 

There are many obstacles you can encounter on this journey. We all have one or more weak links which can break as a result of different triggers. One way to make sure that you stay on track is to ask yourself: what do you need in order to deliver on top of your game? Reflect on this question, list your answers and then think about what it means for your way of running your business. How is this list reflected in your business plan?

As you become more and more established, your business plan develops and goes from the first years characterized by a steep learning curve and a fight for survival, to long-term sustainability. As time goes by, make sure to expand your business plan with chapters on service development, personnel care, and training planning. This should be, of course, done while keeping a close eye on your budget. But keep an open mind - costs and profits can be measured using different parameters: time, energy, money. Lately, I myself have included both time and money in my budget to get a more comprehensive picture of my business.

How do you keep your motivation levels high all the time when running your own business?

Frankly, you don’t. Very few of us are able to motivate ourselves in all situations with our strength and energy alone. Stagnation is bound to surface at one point or another.This is why it is important to reach out beyond yourself for support with both energy and growth opportunities. 

One way to find energy and growth opportunities is to join a network. Sometimes the networks you need already exist out there and all you need to do is join them. Other times, you have to create them yourself. Some networks are formal, while others are informal. The rule of thumb is that you need three kinds of needs met in your networks:

• business development

• professional development

• personal development

Having people who know you and your journey will offer you a lot of support, as they will hold you accountable for your progress, as well as cheer you on. 

Example of network for coaches

The International Coaching Association, ICF, is a global organisation supporting coaches and also Sweden's industry association for coaches and a good example of a network for your professional development. Here you can choose the level of activity and involvement. You can be involved locally in your town, country, continent, or you can be involved in the international network. You have the freedom to choose what fits you best.

Find support from coaching

Having a coach can help you get more clarity in your work, get more energy, and overcome the challenges you are faced with. 

Here it can be a good idea to differentiate between business coaching and personal coaching. Business coaching is focused on your business development, where you get support in running and improving the way you run your company. 

Personal coaching supports you in your own development, as a person, both as a private individual, and as an entrepreneur. In an actual coaching session the business and personal aspects are oftentimes blended together. But in order for you to make the right choice regarding your coaching decision and to help your coach understand whether the two of you are a good match, you need to be clear about what you are looking for. Which area do you primarily want to work with right now? Who do you want to do it with?

The more you get to know yourself, the more you know what suits you, what works well for you and what makes you effective. In order to get to know yourself though, you need to be challenged. Very little of it happens within your comfort zone. So get out there beyond the borders of comfort and see what you find there. This will bring some little discomfort, but the potential gains are definitely worth it.

My favorite things to keep my own development journey going

• Coach training, regular short for constant inflow and occasional deep efforts to challenge myself.

• Own coaching

• Coach conferences

• Conversations with coaching colleagues in ICF's network

• Surprise myself with unexpected training in areas other than coaching, preferably together with other industries.

• Schedule reflection time

• Allocated reading days, own time to read research and literature

What are your development engines?

Episode 14 RYOB: Brand building - so much more than just advertising

In this episode we will teach you how to build your brand. The moment you start your own business as a freelancer or entrepreneur, you by default start work on building your company's brand. 

The brand is the environment's perception of what your company is, what it looks like, and what you can expect from it.

You need to choose between a personal brand and a company brand

For some solo-entrepreneurs, the personal brand is strongly associated with the company. However, using your personal brand or building a company one boils down to your personal preference.

Depending on your industry, demand, and other factors, a personal brand helps the clients get a personal feel. When they think of your company and products they think of you, and when they think of you, they think of your company and products.

In other situations, separating the personal and company brand is advisable. The company's brand is built more independently of you as an entrepreneur in order to include more people in the future and maybe sell the company further down the line.

However, as you will see, for many small entrepreneurs, the brand consists of both personal and company elements. 

As you read through the article and get to think about all the components of the brand you can revisit this question and decide which of the three alternatives fits your company best.

You cannot not have a brand

Your business has a brand whether you like it or not. If you do not take care of your brand, it will take care of itself. The environment will form an opinion about your company and that will be your brand. In this article, we will discuss multiple brand building concepts and give some tips on how to own your brand building process.

The brand has 2 cornerstones

There are two concepts that create the basis of any brand:

• The first one is the physical expression: logo, profile colors, and the like.

• The second one is the value-laden identity of the brand. 

Many entrepreneurs and freelancers mistakenly think that when they choose a logo, make some business cards and design the website, the brand is set. Don’t fall for this fallacy. Your logo and other visual elements are there to reinforce the totality of your brand. They alone are not enough. The visual elements need to be part of something bigger, they need to be part of the identity and perception of what your company promises its customers. 

Long story short: the visuals should carry the meaning of the brand, not be the brand itself.

So let’s start there. Before you start designing the logo, you need to be clear about what your company means and wants to achieve. What is the purpose of your company?

Brand meaning

Begin by defining the vision, core values, ​​and brand promise

Maybe you did some of these already when you wrote your business plan. If not, now is the time.

The following questions can help you define your vision, core values, and brand promise:

• What do you really want to do with your business? Here you have to get past the obvious of providing the product you offer. Of course the product is a big part, but you do not run the company for your own sake. You come with a set of talents and abilities to offer the world and you are passionate about something. Spell that out.

• What is your vision of running this particular company? 

• What do you want - really?

Use the answers of these questions as a starting point and write down your vision. This will be the core of your brand and the tuning fork that all your future activities will be tuned to.

Expand the vision to find your core values

Now that you have the vision in front of you, you need to expand it and see how it relates to everything that you do. This is a very important step in your entrepreneurship journey. You can use these following questions as a guide:

• How do you achieve your vision? 

• What feeling do you want to convey when you achieve your vision?

•  What is your idea of ​​how your company should appear and be perceived? 

Brainstorm freely for a while and write down all the words that come to your mind.

Then see how the words in front of you are connected. Can they be grouped? Are there logical connections? Interesting contradictions? Sort them as you see fit. Take your vision as a basis, review the headings, groups and independent words in your brainstorming material based on the connection to your vision. 

To find your core values write down the most important ideas/concepts that stand out from the expansion of your vision. Pick 3-5 words that really describe what you want to be in the market.

Get extra help from a coach

Even the most self-reflective of us could use a helping hand now and then. It is easy to want to express many things at the same time or remain vague with certain elements. Get a coach to challenge you to stay concise and clear, and support you in finding those exact core values that are important to you.

Find a coach here or download our free material on finding your core values.

Write down your brand promises

Now that you have your vision and your core values, the next question is: what do you promise your customers? What is your brand promise? When someone buys your products, what can they expect? Go beyond “high quality product,” and dive deeper into the whole experience. Write down your promises.

The external attributes of the brand

Create a logo

Good work. Now you have done the groundwork. Next, you can start thinking about the external attributes. Ask a graphic designer to sketch a logo for you. Or if you prefer to do the job yourself, you can now start thinking about: 

• What does a company like yours look like? 

• How do you visualize your vision, your core values ​​and your promises to the customer? 

• Are they soft shapes or straighter lines? 

• What colors fit? 

Extra tip: if you have a favorite color that you know you often use yourself and you want your personal brand close to your company, you can include that color in your logo or make it your profile color.

All visual elements should reflect the brand

Build your website, your business cards, your brochures and the decor of your office to reflect and strengthen your brand. Create a style that expresses what your brand stands for and find ways to include elements of the vision, the core values, and the promises.

If you promise exclusivity, make sure your business cards reflect that. If personal closeness is one of your core values, this should be apparent when I visit your website. If corporate professionalism is part of your vision, you may want to skip decorating the brochures with kittens and summer flowers (even though they are beautiful).

Separate the brand from your personal taste

Now keep in mind that your visual expression should reflect the brand you have created as an entrepreneur, not your own personal taste. It's about what your company stands for and promises in the market, not who you are. With a brand that is close to you as a person, it is easy to mix them up. 

Practice separating yourself and the company even if you actually want to build a strong personal brand. You need to be genuine. You need to be YOU and like what you do. But you still have to have a private life as well. Not everything that you do should be expressed in the brand; this is about your professional persona. You choose how much of your entire identity you want to express there.

Let the brand live in your everyday life

Think about how you actually live your brand in your work day. Think about how you honor the promises you make to the customer as an entrepreneur. Think about what routines regarding purchase, payment, discounts, etc. will be right for a company with your brand promises. Think about the places where you should network, and the causes you should support.

At the same time, allow yourself to be unique and stand out. Your uniqueness is what makes the market notice and remember you - so take advantage of it. When you become too similar to all other entrepreneurs in your industry, it becomes harder and harder for those who meet you to find a clear hook to hang the memory of you on. What's your thing? Once you've worked on establishing your brand and people start talking about you - what are people saying when they talk to each other about you and want to remind each other of who you are? "It's he the one with…" or "You know her, her who…"

During the time you run your business, your brand will be alive, will breathe, and will develop. The reputation of your company will be built through the interactions with your customers, your competitors, your market, and the world around you. The more logical and clear you can communicate your intentions, the easier it will be for the right customers to find you. Your brand is strong when it clearly expresses the values ​​your company delivers and the outside world appreciates what they associate it with.

Summary on how to build your brand:

1. Develop a clear vision - why does this company exist?

2. Select core values ​​that reflect the vision. What is important for your business?

3. Formulate your brand promises. What do you promise the customer?

4. Design your style in the form of external expressions in line with your brand

5. Build business routines and networks in line with your brand

Live and communicate your brand day by day as long as you continue to run the business.

In our next and last episode of the RYOB series we will explore a topic that usually sets apart successful entrepreneurs from the rest: sticking to your own personal development journey.

Episode 13 RYOB: Financial management and budgeting - Part 2/2

In this episode we will take a look at key figures and how they can help you in your financial management running your own business.

Working with key figures

Key figures are one of the concepts I at first did not understand at all and when the coin dropped, they became a central part of my work. Key figures are simple adjustment points that you select in order to be able to follow and make adjustments to your company's development over time and with greater accuracy than by only looking at the annual return. Key figures are often adjusted monthly, but you can choose other intervals too.

The main thing is that you need to choose a regular interval and then continuously take measurements for each adjustment. In this way, you will be able to learn to see variations over the year and see trends in your company's development, for example is it going steadily upwards or is it a temporary peak? Has it turned down financially without you noticing it because you are busy with other things and still get no time left over or give too many discounts so that even if you sell a lot you still get less results? The key figures are the entrepreneur’s beacons to navigate by.

Examples of key figures

Which key figures you choose depends on what you think is relevant to measure. This differs from business to business, depending on the type of product and industry. To give you a better idea, we will run through the example of a coaching business. You can use this example and apply this thinking to your own company, while keeping in mind the particularities of your product and industry.

Hourly rate, number of clients, hourly income, hourly cost

The usual key figures for consultants and coaches are chargeable time, meaning what percentage of your total working time is actually charged by an invoice. This is calculated easily by dividing the number of total hours worked per month by the number of hours you actually invoiced during the same period. Set a goal for how much it should be and regularly check if you meet it. Comparative figures can be, for example, ICF's global coaching study from 2015, where external coaches say that they spend 38% of their working time on actual coaching, which is usually the time you as a coach can invoice. This would mean that to reach the average, you must have 38% chargeable time. 

Many choose other key figures such as the number of clients or hourly income. The latter is calculated by summing month by month what has been invoiced in total and then dividing it by the total number of hours worked. This will show you how much you actually bring into your company per hour. This is a useful exercise that will help you maintain your price levels. Your hourly wage is not the hourly rate you invoice but the hourly rate you have per hour worked.

The cost per hour worked is another indicator you can use for making adjustments to your financial planning, which some people think helps in decisions about long-term cost changes. It can help you answer questions such as “what difference does it make if I take the more expensive office?” You sum up your costs for the period and divide them by the number of hours worked.

Turnover, costs, and profit

Earnings and sales are two of the most common key figures used by entrepreneurs and freelancers. You probably know them best from all the other figures. Turnover is usually the equivalent of the total sales - all money that comes in your company. The profit is calculated by subtracting all the costs from the turnover.

Operating margin

The operating margin is a key figure that is often used when comparing different industries. It is also used to determine the change in profitability over time when new pricing, services and working methods are introduced. The easiest way to calculate your operating margin is by dividing the profit by sales. The resulting percentage is your operating margin. For example, if you have a profit of  $1000 and a turnover of $10.000, you have an operating margin of 10%.

You choose which key figures you use, how often you look at them and what you use them for. They are your gauge points and the main rule is that they should be easy to understand and measure, and give you the information you need to be able to make the right financial decisions. 

A few concluding words

As you can see, we have not talked about accounting here at all - because that is a different thing. Accounting is the practical presentation of the company's figures. Financial management is on another level. This is where you make the financial decisions about what to do with those incomes and expenses that your accounting shows. See it as the two different tasks they are. Many choose to hire an accountant. That can be wise. However, financial management is part of the management of the company. That's your job as a freelancer or entrepreneur. It's worth learning, perfecting, and keeping under your control.

See it as looking in your wallet before you shop. In good times, it is wise to calculate how much you can spend without having too much of the month left until you get your salary. In tough times, it is good to know that the money in your wallet is enough for what you now pick up before you stand at the checkout and have to pay. In the same way, financial management is your way of taking control of the cash flow in your company. Control it wisely and it will make your freelancer or entrepreneur experience more fun.

Episode 12 RYOB: Financial management and budgeting - Part 1/2

Your path to control and self-determination

So far in this series we talked about the process of starting a company, how to structure and share your work with others, and how to find customers. Now we come to the part where we talk about the source of power: self-employment, and financial management and budgeting. I know many people tend to feel a little dismissive of that hassle of money, but believe me, it's worth embracing it wholeheartedly. This is where you have the control functions and power over your workday. Control your finances instead of letting it control you. It will be so much easier and so much more fun!

There are many words that are unfamiliar to those of us who are not economists. We have not acquired the technical language and it is easy to miss out on important details. But as a freelancer or entrepreneur, to run your own company, you don’t need to be an economist. This is why in this episode we will go through the basic tools that you need to have to gain a good understanding and control of your finances and company.

Budgeting

Let's start with the framework: your budget. The first budget made in a company is often the start-up capital budget and a first profit budget. As a first definition, budgeting refers to writing down in advance the expected numbers for an event or period in your business. You can do this in ready-made templates (in Sweden you can use the templates from Almi or in Nyföretagarcentrum's business plan, which can be downloaded free of charge from the respective website), or you can write on a napkin. The form is not the important thing here. The content is what truly matters. 

Now, with all that being said, in the beginning it might nonetheless be wise to use a template. This will give you some guidance, as well as offer you more credibility in case you apply for a loan or funding. Bear in mind though, that many details of what a budget needs to include is still up to you to figure out yourself. This is where you will exercise your freelancer or entrepreneur analytical skills and creativity.

Start-up capital budget

The start-up capital budget is written in the early stages, when you plan to open your company. In simple terms, a start-up capital budget is an enumeration of the costs incurred by starting up the company, together with a description of where that money will come from. 

Visually it can look similar to two columns with numbers: expenses and available funds (including loans you may need to obtain to get started). To be able to start, the assets must be equal to or greater than the expenses. You probably recognize this principle - not at all more complex than simple household finances.

Budgeting for new ideas

When you are running your business and want to make new investments, you make a similar setup for this particular idea, an investment budget. In the same way, you write down all the costs associated with building this new product and then you look at what resources you have. Are they enough or do you need to borrow/save? This is the mindset that you as a freelancer or entrepreneur need to adopt to make wise decisions about new ideas.

Performance budget

To then assess whether this is a good idea, you also need a performance budget. In the profit budget, you write down your expected sales and under it all the minus items - meaning all the costs you can see that the company will have during that same period. The usual time frame for this is one year.

Start by making as accurate an estimate as possible of how much you realistically think you will actually be able to sell, the market contact you have, and the number of hours you have at your disposal. Sometimes it's nice to budget for two years: in the first year you will probably still work on getting clients, and then the second year will reflect how your by-then already setup business will run. Other entrepreneurs and freelancers work with alternative scenarios: a pessimistic, a probable, and a successful budget - you can try this as well.

Adjust your expectations about time

Never count on doing 40 hours a week of salesperson/marketing/performance work. It takes time to run a business. You have to take care of administration, market yourself, network, further train yourself, clean the office and so on. As a freelancer or entrepreneur you cannot put all your time into selling your product.

Think about costs

After you figured out what your expected turnover is, it’s time to look at the expected costs - from small to large. Try to include everything from paper clips to monthly rents. The clearer you are at this stage, the more accurate your budget will be. Budget templates come in handy here because they list the most common expenses a company has. Those suggestions will be a good starting point.

Calculating the profit

From then on it's simple math. Income minus expenses gives you a total. This will be the profit on your work. If you have a sole proprietorship, a simple rule of thumb in Sweden is that half here goes to you, half to the tax office. If you have a joint-stock company, you should also count in the salary and employer's contribution among the costs; any surplus from there is the company's profit. Check the laws and taxes in the country where you are running your company to make sure your calculations match.

Performance budget

Use your expected profit to create a performance budget.The performance budget refers to predictions you make about what you can/cannot afford in the future based on your expected profit. For example: “If my profit will be $10.000, I will be able to invest half of that into developing a new product and the rest of the money I will divide between marketing and savings. However, if my profit will be $5000, my salary will shrink by 10% and I will invest the profit into marketing.”

During the year, you should regularly check on your budget and make budget adjustments. Put your plan side by side with your actual balance sheet and see how close to the truth you came up with your guesses. Maybe you are selling more than expected. Then you can think about whether you want to invest in new office gadgets, developing a new product, or taking a higher salary. If you sell less than expected, the earlier you realize this, the easier it will be to decide what to do and how to cope with that: increase the marketing efforts, or reduce some costs?

You are the one at the helm of your company. The budget and budget adjustments help you predict the future and make conscious proactive decisions instead of being reactive. Budgeting gives you the opportunity to choose, based on your context and resources, how and when to invest and see what is required for you to be able to afford to do what you want.

Set time aside for an annual budget

At least once a year you should sit down and make a new annual budget. As the years go by, it will go faster and faster. Then you can probably copy over last year's figures and then focus on what you want to change. But take your time and do the job. Should sales be at the same level? Have you lost or gained a large customer who can be expected to bring your numbers to the next level? 

If you invest in education and set aside time for a longer education process, the income will probably fall that year, you will not have time for as many customers, while the expenses will increase for travel, literature and course fees. What happens to your salary then? Is it worth it? Take the time to think about these issues. Choose where you want to invest your money this year and write your budget like that. 

You decide. Then it's also up to you to deliver. The fun of budget work in working as a freelancer or entrepreneur is the direct feedback it gives on your own efforts.

In the next part of this episode on financial management and budgeting we talk about working with key figures.

Episode 11 RYOB: How to get customers? - Part 3/3

Welcome back! In this last part of the “How to get customers?” episode we discuss the last step of the water wheel metaphor: customer care. 

Customer care

There is an old truth among salespeople that it is easier to sell to existing customers than to chase new ones. This is really about the trust you build when your product delivers good value to your customers and the trust your existing customers have in you based on their previous experience with you and your products. Knowing and using this as a freelancer or entrepreneur can be a game-changer.

What happens to the relation between you and your customers during and after the transaction is completed? Let’s use the water wheel metaphor again to get some perspective. When the water has driven the wheel for one turn, where does it go next? Do you lead the water back to the pond so it can come back to the wheel again, or do you let them splash away at random?

Make sure to nurture the relations that you built with your clients. Depending on your product and industry, you can try to personally reach out to people and ask for feedback about the product and show that you care about their experience with your product. You can send thank-you emails or messages, personalized newsletters and offers for future purchases. 

As an entrepreneur you are in charge of your product, business, but also of the relations with your clients.

In all phases of the process we have described here, it is up to you to take good care of those who are interested in you. The way you nurture the relationship with your existing customers determines whether or not your customers stay close to you and easily remember you the next time they need something you can offer. 

Extra tip

Analyze your customer care process by stepping out of your freelancer or entrepreneur shoes and putting yourself in the shoes of the client. Start by looking at what happens after a purchase is made. To make it more concrete, look at your last ten customers: how did you communicate with them after their purchase? 

• Do you communicate with them today? 

• Are they added as subscribers to your newsletter? 

• Are they following you on social media? 

• Did you ask them to write a review on your website or on your social media? 

• Depending on your product and industry, do you have a group where customers can be invited where you host activities and where they can exchange their experience with other clients? 

Create a routine that suits you and your customers and then follow it consistently every time you finish with one of your customers so that you can continue to communicate with them and support them.

Customer care includes the clients who have not yet made a purchase as well. Look at the ones you contacted in the third step of the water wheel, when you made them an offer. How do you continue to communicate with those who said no? Some of them may still be potential customers when the time is right. Look at how you can adapt the routine that you have for existing clients and tweek it to fit this group of potential clients.

Closing thoughts

By actively and consciously working with your company at all four steps of the water wheel, you get a good flow of potential customers around your company. If you feel that it stops in some part, go there and get it started again. It is common, for example, that when things become routine and you are fully focused on delivering your product, the work of filling in the pipeline is forgotten and the flow of new customers stops. 

This is a constant work in progress. Just like everything in a freelancer or entrepreneur's journey. You need to constantly check the water wheel system and see where things get stuck and work on maintaining that section of the process. By keeping customer care at the top of your mind, you create channels which connect the end of your process back to the pool of people who know your business and replenish your source of potential customers. 

You cannot make everyone be a recurring client - but many can be led into the flow of interest again. The ones you lose can, if they have a good image of you, help you spread the word about your product. Nothing is wasted. Make sure to take good care of the process at all stages. 

That’s all for this time, next article I am turning focus to another important part of running your own successful business. See you in the next episode to get tips and useful hacks in financial management and budgeting.

Episode 10 RYOB: How to get customers? - Part 2/3

In this second part of the “How to get customers” episode we continue discussing the water wheel metaphor by taking a look at the second step: filling the pipeline. 

Fill the pipeline

At this step you are visible as an entrepreneur and as a company and you built a following who knows about you and your products. The challenge at this stage is to bring this group closer to a purchase by concretizing offers and clarifying how you can help them. Practical steps can include gathering contacts at a networking event, growing your newsletter subscribers list, or increasing the number of followers on social media.

In my water wheel metaphor, this stage is the equivalent of getting the water from the pond to the wheel - people who have seen you are taking a step closer to your business. Your job here is to be clear about what you offer and how. Capture those who know you and express interest and meet them where they are. The more of those who generally know you who also actively take part in what you do and what you can offer, the greater the chance that they will become a customer.

Be sure to deliver value to those who follow you. Whether it's via your blog, your newsletter, your social media pages, or where you are now gathering your audience, be sure to provide valuable information to those who follow you. This phase is about connecting with the people closest to you and becoming more available in their memory. Then, when they actually need your services you will be the first one to come up to mind. Give examples of what you do. 

Depending on your industry this can be done through short clips, articles, or live streams. You can also offer freebies that give your followers a sense of what they get as your customer and therefore create the basis of a relationship with those who are interested in you. One way for entrepreneurs and freelancers to be visible is for them to be generous.

Extra tip

Set goals for yourself about how many new followers you want to have on your social media or how many subscribers to a newsletter and then use your networking occasions to build that follower base. Having objective metrics and basing your work and decision making on those can take your entrepreneurship to the next level. Follow up on the (digital) business cards you collect and ask them if they want to follow your newsletter for a while. Set reasonable goals here so that you challenge yourself and at the same time reach them often enough to keep your motivation high. Three new contacts every week? 13? 30? Figure out what works best for you.

You need to think about what you will offer those who are interested in your products. What can make your service visible and concrete to them? How are you going to convey that? Set aside an hour and make a plan week by week for the next three months in which you figure out what you want to say to those who follow you and how.

Come to a conclusion

The third step in the water wheel metaphor is coming to a conclusion. To come to a conclusion is to take that step when the potential customers leave the transport route and make a decision. Often, a trigger of some kind is needed here. It can come from the customer themselves. Someone may have read your blog for several years and now something is happening that makes them feel it is time for a change. They know what you are doing and how you can help and decide to purchase your product. It can also come from you - suddenly you communicate something in a way that makes them place an order right away.

If you feel like you have a lot of people around you, many of whom think what you do is interesting but still there are too few sales at the end of the month, this is probably the stage where you are stuck. You need to be better at helping your customers make a purchasing decision or better at communicating with the customers who are ready to buy your services. Successful entrepreneurs and freelancers constantly refine their communication skills.

Let’s look at how you can do this!

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes

Think about what it is that prevents those who think what you do is interesting from actually placing an order. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

• What do the customers need to know to make a decision? 

• Would a custom offer entice them? 

• Would they need to try out the product before purchasing? 

• Do I fully understand their struggles and does the offer of my product address that enough? 

• Is it clear to the customers that my product addresses their struggles and can help them?

Use discounts

Discounts are a common method used by entrepreneurs and companies to motivate clients to make a purchase. However, here you are faced with a tradeoff. On one hand, discounts can be that extra nudge that your customers need. It depends a lot on the product. However, generally speaking, if you overdo it, clients might begin purchasing your product because it is cheap, and not because they want to make a solid investment. Consider carefully what your discount and its frequency will signal to your clients. 

Take ownership - invite your clients to make a decision

From your follower base, only a small portion of people will consider making a purchase. However, you need to remember that you are not powerless. You can approach prospective clients yourself and invite them to make a decision.

For example, if you decide to offer some freebies to one person a day from those who follow your newsletter or on social media, and do it consistently for 30 days, you have soon increased the flow of potential customers close to a decision with 30 people. Follow up each freebie give-away with a concrete offer. Even if you lose 60%, you have ten new customers in one month. Of course, how big these numbers are depends on your industry. Make sure to adapt the numbers to suit your product and market.

Similarly, think about approaching other companies. If you contact one company a day which might be interested in your product/services you have drastically increased your chances of any of them deciding compared to if you sit and wait for them to approach you themselves.

Extra tip

Just do it. Approach potential customers with offers. Set a goal for how many people/companies per day or week you should actually make a concrete offer and then make sure to stick to this goal. Dare to ask and make offers with confidence in yourself and your product once a day for 30 days and your sales are likely to go up. Here’s a tool to help you stay on track, our 30 days action plan.

In the next episode we take a look at the last stage of the water wheel metaphor. See you there!

Episode 9 RYOB: How to get customers? - Part 1/3

In the previous articles we looked at how you can set up your own business. Now is the time for us to address the area that is a priority for all companies, freelancers, and entrepreneurs - how will you find the customers and how will they find you? In the following 3 articles we will discuss several aspects that you need to consider when building your customer base.

Without customers, you will get nowhere. Regardless of your track record or time in business, you always need to replenish the customer flow. Because this is a complex topic, we will divide it into a few different stages and look at how you can work with these different parts.

The stages are: 

• Create visibility

• Fill the pipeline

• Come to a conclusion

• Customer care

Use the water mill as a metaphor

Metaphors and visualizations can be a powerful and useful tool for entrepreneurs. This is why I prefer to use the metaphor of a watermill. Let’s see how this metaphor can help you get more clients and boost your freelance or entrepreneurship journey.

Creating visibility is about creating your own collection of people who know that you exist and what you do. I see these as the water you get to use as the driving force for your water wheel. Maybe you are strategically placed next to a suitable stream, maybe you dam up a pond in your area. You can carry water there, you can create flows that lead water there, you can wait for the rainwater to fill a reservoir - the more active you are, the faster it goes. Use that entrepreneurial spirit and be proactive.

Then imagine a gutter where the water is led up to the paddle that runs the entire operation. This is what I call the pipeline. The gutter leads the water to your water wheel where it flows through and, with its power, drives the wheel round. Customers who know you approach you for your products and services and when this becomes a business, you can charge a price and the business gets revenue. Customer care is about what you do with the water after you work with it: do you let it splash away and find its way on its’ own, or do you lead it back to the pond?

Depending on the phase your company is in, you have to focus on different parts, but all four need to be up and running at all times. Whichever of them stops, it will soon dry out the others as well. Let's go through the four parts and see what needs to be done in each of them. Along the way, I offer you a tool for creating your own action plan. Regardless of whether you are a new entrepreneur or freelancer or a veteran who got stuck at one of these waterwheel steps, you will get tips for each step in turn on how to get started (or unstuck).

Create visibility

Every company, entrepreneur, and freelancer needs to have their group of people who know that they exist and what they do. In that group are your potential customers. This group is very small in the beginning when you start mostly alone with most awareness coming from your loved ones and friends. 

Pretty quickly you have to turn up the volume. It helps to be a loud entrepreneur. The more people who know you, the greater the chance that you will get the customers you need. Imagine the metaphor of the water wheel: the more water there is, the more the wheel will turn. Not everyone who knows your company and entrepreneurship journey will become customers, but the more they are, the greater the chance that you will be visible to the right person at the right time.

The first thing you should do here is decide who is your target audience. Who are the most likely customers? Focus on them. Being known by "everyone" is not necessarily a good thing. It is expensive and time consuming to reach everyone at once. The wiser strategy is to choose a specific group of people and focus on them.

Here are some examples of questions that you can ask yourself to reach your target segment: 

• Where are they?

• What are they interested in?

• What do you have to offer them?

The main idea behind visibility is that you need to connect the answers to these questions: figure out what value your product offers the customer, find this group and show them how your product can solve their problems or bring them extra value. Remember that entrepreneurship, in part, is about offering solutions to people’s struggles.

Channels you can use to gain visibility

You can create your visibility in many ways. Some standard channels include advertisements, lectures, flyers, and networking. In this phase, it is about getting yourself out there, drawing attention to yourself, and creating an understanding of what it is you are offering. Different products come with different challenges. You will need to adapt your marketing approach to fit your product. 

You need to reduce the uncertainty surrounding your product

Generally speaking, the more you can reduce the uncertainty surrounding your product, the more likely people are to buy it. This is why physical products tend to be more easily sold than non-tangible products. Your task is to find novel ways to make your product stand out and offer your customers as much proof of the product’s value as possible. Here you can think about offering freebies and demonstration sessions.

Another way to reduce the uncertainty factor is by first reaching out to those who already know you - perhaps former colleagues or employers, friends, family, and their extended network. Because they already know you and you have a relationship of trust with them, they are more likely to purchase your product.

One last tip on reducing uncertainty is by marketing yourself and your products in communities which already embrace the type of solution that you offer. For example, if you run a coaching business, a good place to promote yourself is in self-development groups where people are looking for ways to improve themselves and are hungry to learn.

Extra tip: zero in

What is your way of being seen as an entrepreneur or freelancer? Choose 3 activities that suit you and that make your company widely visible to new people. If you want ideas, borrow a book about guerrilla marketing or outreach sales work, there are lots of books and websites on how to get new customers if you are empty of your own ideas. The trick is to pick 3 things and actually consistently do them for 30 days. Here is a free action plan to help you follow through with this task.

Join us in the next episode when we continue our exploration of the water wheel metaphor.

Episode 8 RYOB: Shared assignments and tasks

In the last episode we started looking at different ways of sharing your daily work life as a solo/small entrepreneur. In this episode let us talk about a few things worth to keep in mind as you start working togther.

Collaborating on assignments or work tasks can be a good way for a small company to increase its power. By working with others, you can create better solutions for customers. 

From basic to complex

Collaborations can take multiple forms. Sometimes it can be restricted to simple tips. Here you could either consult your business partner on how to complete certain work tasks, or you could promote, through word of mouth, other small businesses with the agreement that they will do the same for you.

However, sometimes business grows beyond your own capacity and the quick and easy is not enough. To take it one step further and make it easier for your clients, you can subcontract the small business to offer products or services to your clients. This way you remain the first contact point with the clients and strengthen your bonds with the other businesses.

It is crucial to write an agreement 

How much and how often you collaborate with others determines what type of agreement you should have. Whether it is a simple agreement on a specific product or a framework agreement for a longer collaboration, it is just as important as in the case of a co-ownership scenario to have written agreements covering everything from practical routines, to dealing with crises when things go wrong. 

One tip here is to remember that, unfortunately, it is usually in collaboration with close friends or colleagues that misunderstandings form the basis for conflicts. This is because both parties knowing each other well might think that they mean the same thing and act based on assumptions rather than talking things through the way we do in new relations. Writing down all the terms of an agreement simply forces you to formulate and express yourself clearly and you can see where the other person thinks differently. 

3 simple tips for writing a contract

1. Before you begin, think about what you and your contract partner are going to do together: who does what? Then think about layout and distribution. Write down what you agree on,in clear language that is understood by all parties.

2. Think about what can go wrong and write down how you intend to solve it if it arises. Think of things such as conflicts, illness, accidents, mistakes towards the customer, whose logo do you work under, how are customer contacts handled and how are follow-up projects or products divided.

3. Feel free to create templates for the type of collaboration you usually have recurring such as employment contracts, subcontracting contracts, collaboration agreements. When you then adapt the template to the situation, you will make sure to cover all aspects of the collaboration.

Having employees can help you grow

Maybe your business is growing beyond what your own working hours can cover and you need to decide whether you should keep up with the growth or remain at your current size and refine. 

Hiring is one of the ways entrepreneurs can choose to make more time available. For many, the step is perceived as very large, and rightly so. On the day you become an employer, you also take responsibility for your employee(s) being properly insured, receiving good working conditions and an agreed salary every month, regardless of how things are going for your company. 

However there are many ways in which you can make this process easier and less risky for both yourself and your business. For example, you can hire part-time employees for a specific set of tasks or for the production/launch of a specific product or project. It is not necessarily all or nothing.

There is an overlooked side to having employees

Hiring does not only entail extra responsibilities and obligations. It is also a way to include more people in your vision and get more people working to realize it. You can complement with other personalities and other competencies or add someone like you while still retaining the ownership and decision-making power. As a good supervisor, you probably want to engage your employees and involve them in decisions and planning, but you can still keep the vision of “what” and engage employees in the “how.”

Use coaching to clarify your vision

Consciously reflecting on how you want your workday as an entrepreneur to look like, how close you want others in your business and what is important for your inspiration and development are excellent topics to address during coaching. Take the time to work with a coach through your core values, your vision, and your needs. Starting and running your own business is a career choice as well. Give it space and make active choices and you will create the workday that gives you the best potential to be the best version of yourself that you can be.

Congratulations! If you made it so far it means you have most of your company set and ready to go. In the next few episodes we will explore the marketing side of your business.

Episode 7 RYOB: Sharing your work life with others while staying sole owner

In this episode we go even deeper in exploring the co-working scenarios. We will discuss several ways of work life sharing to help you be efficient and effective. 

If you decided to run your company as a sole-owner/worker, this is something well worth looking at. Running your own business does not mean you have to do it all alone. On the contrary, co-operations of different kinds is a way to strengthen your company and diminish the risk of your own limitations, whether in time, skills or energy.

Shared workspaces 

Especially in the beginning when you don’t have staff, one other option to keep energy up if you don’t like to be alone is to join a shared workspace. These can be found in almost all cities. For a one-time fee or a subscription you get access to a co-working space.

Choosing this option is oftentimes a cheaper alternative to renting an office space. At the same time it allows you to meet other people and therefore have a more social daily life when compared to working alone in an office or at home. 

Another advantage of using a shared office comes, again, from people. There you are likely to meet professionals from all sorts of industries, from accounting, law and management to marketing, IT and arts. People who may work with the same customer segment can also provide synergy effects. This gives you the opportunity to find new partnerships or even clients. And it also offers you a more stimulating environment. Even a small coffee chat with someone with a completely different perspective can be a real eye opener and a great learning experience. Entrepreneurs and freelancers can always benefit from a networking opportunity.  

Networks, associations, and groups 

Another way you can share your work life with others is by joining networks, associations, and groups. 

Depending on the industry and level of development that you are in, there are dedicated organizations which you could join. There are global associations, as well as national, or even local associations. For example, if you were to open a coaching business (like Guldkanten) you could join the International Coaching Federation (ICF) which brings together coaches from all over the world. Like ICF, many organizations host events and meetings where professionals can meet, exchange experience and lessons, give and receive advice and solve problems together.

Personal network

Alternatively, you can put time into building your personal network.When setting up your own business and while running your operations you are bound to meet all sorts of professionals, some of whom you will probably find inspiring or interesting. Reach out to these people and connect with them. Similarly, if you complete any training program, many trainers have alumni networks which you can later remain a part of. There you are likely to meet other entrepreneurs and freelancers just like you.

As I myself am working in a small town in the Swedish countryside, for many years I had no opportunity for meeting people in my industry locally everyday - there was only one coach in the area. And that was me. However, that has rarely felt like a problem. I always feel that I have a colleague I can call or send an email to and start a conversation with if I need an additional perspective on something. I also use forum groups online. I hang out there and get inspiration from my coaching association that monitors my questions and keeps me updated with what's happening in the industry.

Locally I network with people from other industries, giving me inspiration, ideas and excellent benchmarking that has helped me develop my company outside the box thinking of my own industry.

Join us in the next episode as we share with you the basics of sharing assignments and tasks.

Episode 6 RYOB: Co-ownership - a few things to think of

In the previous article we talked about the options that you have when it comes to sharing parts of your company with others and we explored some questions which could help you make a decision. 

In this article we go in more depth and explore the key aspects which you need to consider if you decide to run your business together with other entrepreneurs. 

Running a business together

If you chose to run the company in joint ownership, there are multiple company types you can choose from. Depending on country forms may vary, here are some examples from my Swedish context. Check out specifically what is true in the country where you are planning your company.

1. Limited companies are the most common. The ownership is distributed through a proportion of shares to each owner. Owners then assign a board (out of themselves or by adding externals) and this board assigns CEO who takes in employees (among owners and/or external). The company’s management system and the roles each owner has, are decided through decisons in the board of the company and when you distribute the tasks.

2. An economic association is another form that is growing rapidly in popularity in Sweden today. The economic association is formed by three or more people. What you should keep in mind when considering this type of organization is that it is an open form. The statutes you write set the framework for who may be a partner. Therefore, everyone who then meets these criteria has the right to request to become part of the economic association. 

   The implication of this is that economic associations are very common for organizations such as cooperative preschools where membership is naturally linked to having children in that preschool. But staff cooperatives of various kinds are also emerging. In these cases, a group of people working together often share premises and other costs associated with that. 

3. The trading company is another alternative you could choose. However, since limited companies in Sweden today are so simplified in their administration and require relatively little effort, trading companies are very rare here today. The great personal risks are seldom defensible if you are not already married and have shared finances.

4. And so there is the unusual form of “simple company”. It is really only sole proprietors who for a joint venture obtain a joint VAT return number the form is not its’ own legal entity and quite unusual.

You need a good plan if you want to ace your partnership

A good basis for successfully running a company together with other entrepreneurs is to spend plenty of time on the partnership agreement when starting your collaboration. In the partnership agreement, you write down how the responsibility is distributed among you, how profits and losses should be distributed, who does what, and how you should handle different situations which may arise. 

Here are some questions which you might be useful to consider: 

• What do you do if you do not agree with your business partner(s)? 

• What do you do if someone wants to quit the partnership? 

• What if your company get into tough times, what do you do? Are there limits to your risktaking?

• What do you do if someone becomes ill or for other reasons unable to run the company?

If any of these scenarios were to happen, you can fall back on the partnership agreement for answers and guidance. 

The very process of writing the agreement can reveal points in which you think alike or differently from your business partners. This in itself will be a valuable lesson and experience. The key here is to think about as many scenarios as possible and have constructive conversations and agree on ways of managing them. This will make your joint-entrepreneurship journey smoother.

More things to consider 

Here are a few more questions you might find useful to ask yourself before you enter into a joint venture: 

• How equal are you in your collaboration? 

• Do you agree on how much you are willing to invest in terms of time, money and energy? If not - how do you compensate for the differences?

A situation where one partner is full of energy and drive while the other wants or needs to prioritize other things in their life can wear off the partnership, making it more likely to break in the future. It is therefore important to make each of the partners’ expectations and wishes clear from the very beginning. Then you need to negotiate sharing the responsibilities, as well as the compensations to make sure that everyone receives their deserved share.

External resources

Lastly, consider if and when you want to use external resources. For example, in Sweden, newly started companies are offered by the NyföretagarCentrum a mentor program where a mentor brings in an objective, outsider’s perspective which can bring a lot of new and valuable feedback to help you find your way forward. This is a great resource for new entrepreneurs. 

For established companies, an external board member can be a good way to get a new perspective, more clarity and sharpen the priorities around the entrepreneurship collaboration.

Join us in the next episode where we take a deeper dive into a different scenario: sharing your work life (but not ownership) with others.

Episode 3 RYOB: How to use your skills and drive

In this episode we will talk about why you are your business’s greatest resource and how to capitalize on that, as well as how to understand your own intentions and sustain your high energy level in your freelance and entrepreneurship journey.

Your greatest resource as an entrepreneur: You!

We all have our own education, experiences, and personality traits. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to make sure that you will put them to good use:

• Which of these are the ones that will be useful to you in the role of an entrepreneur? 

• How can you make them work in your favor? 

• What are your weaknesses? 

• How do you want to compensate for them? 

Be honest with yourself 

Even those who have a lot of experience as managers experience self-employment, freelance and entrepreneurship as something completely new. Do you recognize yourself in this? Maybe you lack a network in your community or in the industry. Maybe it is the accounting and financial management that is completely new to you or maybe the big challenge for you will be to go out there and advertise yourself and your services. In regular organizations every function is fulfilled by a different department. When you are self-employed you might have to do everything on your own. This is the challenge of new entrepreneurs.

By identifying and accepting your weaknesses, you open up for solutions. What would you need to balance your shortcomings until you develop those skills? What do you already have in your networks and what do you need to add? Sometimes it can be worth investing in employing the services of others, but other times all you need are networks, mentors, and friends. Remember: you don’t have to know it all - and definitely not in the beginning. 

Your driving forces

Fresh entrepreneurs and freelancers start their own business for a variety of reasons. For some, their own company is the only way to work with a service or product they are passionate about. For others, starting a business is the realization of a life dream. Whether or not the business is a means or an end, you have a lot to gain by formulating a clear vision and purpose for your efforts.

There will be days when the visions will feel very distant, everyday life will feel tough and the market will be difficult to interact with. Some days you will feel alone and doubt yourself. All jobs have such days and for the self-employed and entrepreneurs there is no one else who manages that for them. There will be no manager who has the task of creating the conditions you need to do your job. As an entrepreneur you need to create those conditions yourself.

You will therefore benefit from having your driving forces clearly formulated and close at hand so that you can arouse your own motivation. 

Safeguard your future motivation

Get a network, join an industry associations and business associations where your issues are discussed and you can get nourishment and energy from there. Rent an office somewhere in town if you want colleagues around you and have no employees. Do what you need to do to replenish your drive.

Equally important is to celebrate your successes. Take the time to acknowledge your achievements and celebrate them - take yourself out, treat yourself, spend time with someone dear. Do whatever feels best to you to celebrate the good that comes your way. This way you will have something to look forward to when things don’t go your way. Celebrating your successes will instill in you the belief that there will be something good waiting for you on the other side. Remember: being an entrepreneur or freelancer isn’t all about non-stop work and hustle.

Lastly, take a close look at your personal values. Take the time to learn what those are if you do not have a clear picture of those yet. Write them down and have them somewhere readily accessible. Because you are leading your own company and operations it is important that you act in line with your values. This will save you a lot of inner conflict further down the line. Because no matter what happens you will know that you have been the person that you wanted to be.

Sticking to taking care of this core resource - you, the entrepreneur, can be tricky. a good way to stay on track is to have regular check-ins with your coach. Having a coach following your journey, holding you to your ambitions and supporting you in stretching into sprints, scale-ups or new challenges is a well established means of staying on top of your game.

In the next episode we will introduce a few concepts on marketing and finances.