Its bloody hard work isn’t it? Running your own business.
Administration … bookkeeping … appointments … quoting … invoicing … chasing … paying … managing …
a never-ending list of errands.
And how many of those things do you tackle outside of normal work hours?
I bet there’s been many a time when you’ve asked yourself: “Why am I doing this?”.
And probably more times than you care to count; for an easier life; you’ve considered going back to work for someone else. As a small business, I can certainly sympathise.
So why do we do this to ourselves?
What drives us away from the security of having work on a plate and a guaranteed income?
For most, it’s simply human nature - a restless urge to want to challenge ourselves outside of our comfort zone.
To want more of the spoils that naturally come with holding the business reigns.
For example, our first client was an electrician who set up on his own because he felt he was working his backside off and yet was missing the financial rewards of doing so.
He also felt he could do a much better job than his employer, which also proved true.
By the end of the first year on his own he had gone VAT registered, invoicing £73,185.
And this was great news for him, but it had become a double-edged sword because now he was working harder, and for longer, than he’d ever done before.
Administering his growing business was quickly taking over his life.
I’m certain this sounds familiar to you.
I later asked him whether there was a point when he regretted going alone, and this is what he told me:
“One day, I think it was a Saturday, when I was supposed to be at my nieces birthday party but was instead visiting a nightmare job – one of those you hope you don’t get, but one you can’t afford to turn down – it was a rewire of a large 4 bed house built some time in the 60’s, so, old, cluttered and an absolute pain in the arse. Within an hour I realised I’d under quoted and that it was probably going to end up costing me money.
Anyway, I cracked on and I think it was about 2 O’ clock when I got a call from an irate customer, annoyed because I’d had to put his job back a week. And I mean, really annoyed.
I was simultaneously getting angry texts from my wife.
It was this perfect storm of s** and, worst of all, there was no end in sight because I knew I had a ton of paperwork to catch up on that weekend.
It was at that point, right then, that I asked myself, out loud: “What the f**k are you doing!?””
Did any of that strike a chord? I’m certain it did.
Running your own business is hard, and it’s often the little things like administration and bookkeeping that gives you the biggest headache.
This is because what you really want to be doing; where you really want to be spending your time; is on the work itself – the things you’re good at - the things that are going to bring in the money.
If you’re wondering what became of our first client, the electrician …
Well, the good news is that he no longer worries about his administration because we do it all for him.
We write up his quotes, send out his invoices, chase late payers, order materials and, when he’s away, answer his calls. We stopped short of walking his two dogs!
And now, because he has more time to focus on his work, his last years invoicing was £107,524 – an increase of 32%.
We can’t promise that by bringing Business Buddies in to help with your administration that you’ll get the same financial benefits, but what I can promise you is this …
… that we will reduce the time you have to spend on your paperwork and financial management.
And thus, increase the time you can spend on projects, and on finding new customers.
If this sounds like something you could benefit from, why don’t you give us a call.
We could meet and have a chat – it won’t cost you anything to do so but you might find we can unload a burden or two.
Best,
Sarah
01256 630383