Being self employed ranges in titles from the solo freelancer to owner of a small business with a team. These professionals come from diverse industries, graphic artists to landscapers. They do share two common needs, to manage their time and acquire customers. Technology can replace some of your human tasks and put more time back in your day.
Creating a strong foundation to grow:
The tools and systems that might have gotten you to a 100 clients may not be the right platform to get you to 10,000. But how do you know? I recently met Misha Bleymaier-Farrish of Etymology Consulting. This is exactly what her company does, they help you figure out systems, processes and technology solutions you actually need with each phase of your business. With so many options to choose from, it’s a good problem to have, but could you be using a tool that is overkill or not aware of a platform that can solve the main issue?
Indipop: We meet with freelancers, contractors and small teams daily, there is so much on their plate, learning a new system or even researching new technology can be overwhelming and time consuming. Is there a checklist or a way to know you have the right platform to meet your goals?
Etymology Consulting: Before we can identify a checklist, we need to ensure that we have your goals outlined because each checklist is customized for each person or organization based on industry. Outline your goals, features, and functionalities you need; then rank them in priority. . You won’t find the perfect technology immediately, but this assessment can help get you in the ballpark. Phasing technology rollouts is essential to success for optimal utilization and adoption. Something we often see in our small business owners is that they purchase too big too soon. We always recommend to start with the free tool, and really maximize and push it to its limits. Once that happens, you evaluate if you upgrade or if it is time to pivot. The same is true for technology implementation. Use out of the box first and only customize when it is absolutely critical to do so. This is also a good gauge on a technology. If they are a solid technology, they should have a lot of quick-start features already available. Here is a list of types of technology to consider as you are starting out.
List of types of technology
- Calendars + Scheduling + Video Conferencing Management
- Social Media Management
- CRM – your customer relationship tool which manages your clients, pipeline, activity of team
- Financials systems for book management, invoicing, receiving payments
- Marketing tool so that you can put your best foot forward
- Electronic signature signing tool
- Presentation software
- Just a thought for upskilling Platforms such as Coursera and EdX offer university designed and affiliated courses for upskilling that can be undertaken at any time and in any place.
Indipop: The Great Resignation has been in the news, millions are switching jobs or going out on their own. For the person sitting in their 9-5 job itching to be their own boss, do you have advice you can share on what are the must haves to look for when starting out?
Etymology Consulting: When you are considering to start out we recommend focusing on the following areas:
- Brand/Website – Make sure you have a place where you can send people to. Have a strong brand, name, and logo. This website will be where people learn about you, your product or service and be able to schedule an appointment and/purchase from you.
- Social Media – This is part of your lead generation strategy. You are not only getting your name out for sharing about your company but also selling. Become active on the right social channels and become a thought leader by writing articles or blogs.
- Value Proposition – What product or service are you selling and what’s your unique competitive advantage over others in the market? You can use this “story” across your website and social media to help drive prospects into the sales funnel for your conversations.
Indipop: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” Can you provide insight on why hiring a consultant or an expert to help keep your business humming along is a wise decision?
Etymology Consulting:
In this day and age, you should be looking for someone that fits not only the company, culture or team, but they should also have that specific skill set to accomplish the role. Consultants are used to coming in, executing the job at hand, doing so respectfully and getting out. Even though consultants can be more expensive on a per hour breakout, they are actually cheaper because they don’t bill unless they are working, which means no holiday or PTO payout. That means you don’t have the overhead of PTO, health, 401K, holidays, etc that you would with other employees. Good consultants stay up to date on the industries, research, market and trends, so when you bring them on, they are bringing that up-to-date knowledge with them, in addition to marketplace expertise and competitive analysis. I have found that projects can be executed faster when consultants are involved because they don’t get stuck in the business as usual of the organization. If you have a project or an initiative that is more long term such as over 12 months then I would recommend considering an expert that is on staff because of the duration of time.
Time management: are you using your time wisely?
Time is money, when you work for yourself and wear 5 hats you can be pulled in a multitude of directions and end up going down a rabbit hole on an issue that has taken you away from what is truly bringing in the money. There are many tools out there in the market to help with managing your time and others that can be a game changer in your business to keep you on track. I think we can see from speaking with Misha, just by implementing the right calendar tool can help you fill your schedule and correspond with customers and clients.
Explore what could be automated.
You can only do so much in a day and being able to automate just one area of your business can free up time and help you to be more efficient. In some cases the type of automation you implement can either fill a sales role, an assistant, or even a lead gen! Options are a good thing and in 2022 we have the resources and tools to get a business started and grow it with a click of a button. The key is to identify which tool and which button.