Running Your Business When You’re A One-Man-Band

Doing anything at all on your own can be a nerve-wracking experience. Whether it’s in our personal lives or our working lives, we tend to be drawn towards doing things as a team, or at least as part of a group with the support of others. Going out on a limb can be intimidating, especially as you only have yourself to blame if things don’t go the way you planned. But there are many cases where you may want to leave the flock to go and do your own thing – for example, if you have a business idea no one else is on board with, or if you have decided to become a freelancer. In both of these cases, you and you alone are 100 percent responsible for the direction and the success of your business. Which, in turn, can be both thrilling and very demanding. There will probably be numerous times when you feel the strain of running your business as a one-man-band, especially as it’s not like you can take a day off and leave someone else to hold the fort. But knowing that you have the ability to be responsible for yourself can also be incredibly satisfying. Here are a few tips on running your business on your own and selling yourself as best as you can.

Outsource if you need to. Okay, so this does mean that technically, you don’t run your business entirely on your own. But when there is so much to keep on top of – incomings and outgoings, files and taxes, it can certainly pay off to have a helping hand available. Of course, hiring someone full time to do your accounts can not only be expensive, but it can also be futile if you don’t need them 24/. That’s why you may want to consider outsourcing certain services instead.

Know how to market yourself. How you market yourself largely depends on whether you run a business – in which case you will sell the company to your clients – or whether you are a freelancer, in which case your main focus will be on selling YOURSELF. But one thing you will need in either scenario is a functional and attractive website that clearly states what either you or your business is all about. You can follow this link to find out all about the basics of setting up a website for yourself, even if you need to add features such as an online shop.

Network like crazy. Without tens of employees you can send out to meet prospective clients, the professional relationships you build are entirely down to you. This means you need to learn how to represent your brand at all times, whether this is being strictly corporate or injecting a bit of personality into your pitches too. Try and meet as many people in person as you can, even if it means going to a lot of events when you don’t want to. Emails are all too easy to forget these days, so by making personal relationships with your audience you are much likely to get better results.