Overcoming Challenges

A few weeks ago I shared 5 challenges with being a new entrepreneur (or solopreneur as it's sometimes called). Learning to overcome challenges head on is a skill set that I'm guessing most successful business owners possess. Here are some things that I've done, currently doing, or in the process of doing, to overcome the challenges I've identified thus far:

Challenge #1 - It's all you boo!

Yes, it's still all me but hopefully that will end soon. To help reduce costs, I share an office space with another business - that just so happens to offer a service that marries well with what I'm doing. The owner and I have discussed bringing in an administrative person to help both of us, which would be a great cost savings. Another option is to bring on independent contractors as the need arises. By using contractors, my expenses will be more directly aligned with revenues. Eventually it is my goal to have full time employees; I look forward to the day when I can help nurture other people's careers and goals.

Challenge #2 - Social Isolation!

This is probably the easiest challenge to overcome. For starters, don't isolate yourself from your friends (duh, right). I hung out with one of my buds last night and we had a blast. Yes I miss seeing her everyday, but not seeing her everyday made yesterday even more special and fun. Secondly, there is the local chamber of commerce, which I plan to join soon and hopefully build new relationships with other small business owners. Lastly, I get to play on facebook more now that I'm not behind the corporate firewalls. It's amazing how much social media helps us to stay connected with people.

Challenge #3 - Income!

We all know that word of mouth is often the best form of marketing. Super serving my clients is my #1 goal. The majority of my projects have come through referrals so I haven't had to market much. It is my plan to do more marketing in the very near future. Another aspect to protecting and managing my income is to invoice timely and appropriately. Depending on the scope of the project, I may request a retainer or progress billing if it's expected to go beyond 30 days.

Challenge #4 - Stagnation!

Again, this one is easy. I continue to subscribe to newsletters and other periodicals that keep me updated. I also attend conferences and business/professional development seminars. Lastly, I have joined 2 organizations specifically geared toward my service and business.

Challenge #5 - No PTO!

Who cares?! If I overcome challenges 1, 3 & 4, I can have as much or as little PTO as I like. I'm taking off 2 weeks for Christmas, and in case you haven't heard, I'm headed to St. Lucia in a few months;-).

To conclude, I think the benefits far outweigh the costs. I'm doing something that I love to do, I'm helping and serving everyday folks (not just corporate shareholders) and I'm learning so much on a daily basis. Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, but it's definitely not as scary as some of us have convinced ourselves to believe. In my experience, the hardest part so far was making the decision.

5 Challenges of the Great Exodus

This is a follow-up to my previous post where I discussed 5 benefits to the great exodus. As I mentioned before, I'm sure that I'll continue to discover more benefits as time goes on, but those were just a few that I immediately identified. On the other hand, I have also identified 5 "challenges" to the great exodus. I put "challenges" in quotes because I've already begun to put things in place to overcome them. Yay me! So here goes:

1. It's all you boo! Yep, you're everything. You're the service provider, the marketing exec, the bookkeeper, the administrative assistant, the janitor, the mail clerk, the billing department ... and in the event a customer's check doesn't clear ... the collection agency. Until you're able to outsource some of those functions, running your own business is NOT just about doing that one thing you want to do - you actually have to run the operations of the business as well.
2. Social Isolation! Remember that cubicle environment I mentioned in the previous post? It has come to my attention that even with all of the ickiness that comes along with cubicle land, there is one major benefit - camaraderie amongst like-minded folks. I was always fortunate to have wonderful co-workers whom I enjoyed greatly. Now it's just me and my PC and sporadic e-mails to former co-workers saying things like "I miss y'all." LOL. If you don't care much for the folks you work with, this wouldn't be on your list of challenges to overcome.
3. Income! As my blog pal Christine mentioned in the comments section of the 5 benefits, income is a double edge sword. Yes the salary limitations are lifted but, so are the "guaranteed" paychecks. Being an entrepreneur definitely demands you to dig into your inner Type A personality and pull out that tenacity and fortitude required to go out, kill something and bring home the bacon - and maintain your integrity and character.
4. Stagnation! If you're in a field that continues to evolve and requires you to stay on top of new rules, regs, technology, etc, you can possibly become stagnant in your technical knowledge. Why? Well because this type of education is generally acquired through on the job training or outside courses - yeah the ones your employer used to pay for. Keeping abreast on the developments of your field is another overhead cost that you have to carry. Many people skimp on this part but I don't think that's a very good idea.
5. No PTO! Remember that pitiful 2 weeks of vacation that you often complain about? Heck, who am I kidding, my last gig gave me 4 weeks of vacation so yeah 2 weeks would be pitiful to me too;-). As an entrepreneur there is no PTO (paid time off). In my case specifically, my income is earned by services that I provide. Basically I barter my time and knowledge in exchange for dollars and cents. No work, no pay ... little work, little pay, you get the picture.

Will more challenges introduce themselves? I'm sure of it. These are just the ones I've identified as a one month old entrepreneur;-).

Soon to come ... how I overcome or plan to overcome these current challenges.

5 Benefits of the Great Exodus

It's been almost a month since the great exodus and I've already discovered 5 great benefits. I'm sure I'll discover more in due time.

1. No more open cubicle environment - in this day of swine flu and other highly contagious illnesses, I'm so happy that I no longer sit in a cubicle environment where germs lurk ever so freely, looking for some innocent person to pounce on. Actually the germs in and of themselves are not to blame, it's those unsavory co-workers who refuse to cover their mouths when they cough, who lick their finger to separate papers and hand one off to you (oh gosh, I HATE that) or use the same piece of tissue to wipe/blow their nose all throughout the day.
2. No more potlucks - unfortunately I'm not one who enjoys potlucks in a large group setting. I apologize if I offend anyone, but holiday potlucks are not my cup of tea. Usually I'm the one at the potluck looking for the items that were purchased and not made. I became potluck shy when I first observed ADULTS who would use the restroom and not wash their hands afterwards. Question, if you don't wash your hands after you use the restroom, just when do you wash them? At first I thought it was just an isolated incident, but no, it happens far too frequently for my taste - no pun intended.
3. No more salary limitations - my income is completely up to me. I will now see a direct relationship between what I put in and what I get out. No more corporate limitations. No more forced "bell curve" for evaluations and raises, which brings me to the next benefit.
4. No more obscure evaluations - oh my goodness this must have been my Achilles heel at the end of my corporate career. My employer's annual evaluation process was just HR formality, no real career planning, no real comments that encouraged growth, just blah. In addition, there was a forced bell curve to ensure that the majority of the employees were scored a 3, or average --- so you could bust your butt but that didn't matter because excelling had become the new average. So much for the motivation factor.
5. No more unnecessary meetings - we would have so many meetings on a daily basis that I often wondered when I would get any work done. We'd have a meeting to discuss the need for an agenda for an upcoming meeting, then we'd meet to go over the agenda and see if there were any changes needed; if there changes then we'd have to meet again to make sure everyone was okay with the changes, then we'd have said meeting, and of course we would have to meet afterwards to go over what we discussed in the meeting. After all of that, we'd have another meeting to get the next manager up the chain caught up, and then if he/she had any additional questions, we're back to meeting number 1 and going through the process all over again! I'm not kidding. I have some readers who are still in that environment and they can attest that I'm telling the truth. In fact, I might have left out a few meetings in the process.

So, is everything rosy on this side of the fence? Of course not. There are thorns in every rose bush. I'll write another post listing the "cons" of the great exodus in the near future.

The Playbook - HSA

I'm excited to report that I have found a financial institution where I can transfer my Health Savings Account. Initially I was going with Bancorp because they seemed to offer what I was looking for - easy maintenance and fee free - with a $2,500 balance. I didn't like the balance requirement but it was the best offer that I could find. I've been building my HSA for a few years so I have the required minimum balance, but still, I don't like contingencies with my bank accounts. If I leave my HSA with the current bank I will incur a $3 per month fee since I'm no longer at the corp gig. My ex-employer picks up the monthly fee on their employees' behalf.

Luckily for me I never stopped perusing and looking around. One day I happened to look at the website of a credit union that's very close to my house. To my surprise I saw that they offered HSAs but I couldn't find the fee schedule. I called the credit union to inquire about the associated fees and the rep said, "we don't have any." LOL. I love it. Awesome. No minimums, no fees, no shenanigans. She then asked if I was a member and I said no, what are the qualifications? Her first question was "where do you live?" After I responded she said, "okay, you're qualified. You just need to open a savings account with at least $5." How funny. Okay, keep in mind that this credit union has been around for many years and its membership was reserved for employees of a specific family of companies, now the rules are more relaxed and membership is available to those who otherwise wouldn't have been able to join.

Loosening the membership belt is a great business move for the credit unions in this ailing economy. After all, it's the financial institutions that are buckling at the knees the most. Who knew that the infamous USAA would ever open their membership to who-so-ever will? You don't have access to all of the products but hey, they were as closed as a secret society fraternity at one point. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but they, like all credit unions, were reserved only for a specific group of people - thanks to the recession (or just a weird coincidence), things are changing. Yippee for those of us who never found themselves in the right circle to be a member of the credit unions ... with all of their lower rates on loans and higher rates on savings and fee-less banking. Gotta love it.

The Great Exodus

Yes I've been ghost, but with good cause.... I did it, I left the corporate gig! I'll have to catch everyone up but in the meantime I just wanted to let you know what's been going on for the past few weeks. (here are a few oldies if you're not sure what I'm talking about - 1, 2 and 3)

Initially I was hoping for a 12/31/09 or 1/31/2010 exit date but I couldn't take it any longer. Exhaustion was setting in and my productivity level was sliding fast. No longer could I pull double duty, mentally or physically and it wasn't fair to me or to my employer.

Did I accomplish my savings goal - no, but you know what ... I realized that it will never "look" like enough money. After all, the worst thing that could happen is I will have to rejoin the workforce as an employee again. I know, I know, we're in a recession, jobs are scarce, blasey blasey blah - hey, what can I say, I'm willing to see where this road takes me. If not now, when? Here's a quote that I recently wrote and have since meditated on daily:

Fear is the greatest disability and comfort runs a close second. What's stopping you from pursing your passion, living your dreams and proactively designing your future?

***on another note, the running isn't coming along too good. Let's see if I can do it by the end of the year. The odds are against me, but hey, I'm willing to keep up the embarrassment for a little while longer.

Playbook Update - Insurance

Remember the playbook? I'm so happy to say that although I'm falling behind on the summer goal (which is quickly becoming a joke), I am making progress on the playbook. After much, and I do mean much, research I finally applied for a health insurance policy. Gosh, after all of the debate over health insurance and all of the horror stories, I was a little intimidated and careful to answer each and every question asked. The last thing I want is to have a claim denied or my insurance policy rescinded because I neglected to answer something incorrectly.

Medical - On yesterday I received confirmation that my application had been approved with no adjustments. That means that the underwriters didn't find anything to exclude or anything that would cause the rate to be more than what was quoted. Yippee!! I will be able to continue with my beloved high deductible health plan but now I have to shop around for another health savings account (HSA) at a financial institution. Currently I do not pay any fees for my HSA because my employer covers them. Now I'm on the hunt for an account that won't charge me fees. There's something about me paying you to hold my money that just doesn't sit well with me, not at all!

As far as the cost, I budgeted $250 for my monthly insurance expense ... and that was to cover both health premiums and HSA contributions. The plan I have is $91.18 per month so that means I'll contribute $158.82 per month to my HSA (the IRS limit is either $2,900 or $3,000 for single payers). Oh yeah, prior to completing the app, I checked with my medical providers to see if they accepted the insurance that I was applying for, yep they all do!

Dental - I'm going to pass for now and just pay for the cleanings out of the HSA. The cost benefit for dental insurance isn't worth it to me. I'd pay about $40 per month with a $50 deductible, only to get $1,000 of coverage. So $40 a month equals $480 a year - plus the $50 deductible is $530. So you're telling me that I have to put in $530 to get $1,000, no thank you. Since my dentist charges about $100 for cleanings, I'll just pay it on my own. The way I see it, I come out ahead. Now let's just hope that I don't have any major dental work needed. If I do, I'll get some insurance at that time and wait out the exclusion period. LOL.

I'm getting closer to the great exodus!

The Rubber Meets The Road

Sorry for the dark week but somebody has been really busy! Remember that proposal I mentioned a few weeks ago? Well it was accepted so I've been a little buried preparing for that and doing everything else that needs to get done - not to mention wrapping up a course that I must complete by 7/31.

Ideally I would like to stay at the corporate gig until 1/31/10 but that possibility is more bleak now than it was a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, I guess it just depends on whose lens you're looking through, but it is getting more and more difficult to balance the two. The demands at both places are increasing - the corp gig wants more of my time and the dream career is picking up steam as well - case in point, the accepted proposal mentioned earlier. Because of the pull in two directions, I'm barely making it and feeling like I'm not doing an excellent job in either area. I'm over worked, extremely tired and not getting much sleep. I know, cry me a river right. But hey, it's the truth.

The liberation fund is not quite where I want it to be, thanks in large to several financial interruptions that have blind-sided me. I take the good with the bad, that's life. The good - I have not touched (i.e. make any withdrawals) the liberation fund or the e-fund. The bad - I have not been able to stack my chips in the lib fund the way I want to. The savings momentum decreased significantly when the plumbing and car repairs decided to lay claims to my money.

So where does that leave me? Hmm. That's the million dollar question. I'm reassessing a few things, trying to determine a more realistic time for the great exodus. Assuming no more interruptions and short of money falling out of the sky, I probably won't have my lib fund stocked to a level that provides me the most comfort. However, I will not sacrifice the greater good for a few grand ... I'll take the leap first. After all, from where I sit, the worst that could happen is that I return to corporate.

The Playbook

I've had a desire to change careers for several years however, it's only been the last 2 that I've actually had a plan in place - I call it The Playbook. The Playbook is a written plan to help ensure that I'm doing the proper due diligence and mitigating the risks that are scariest to me. Since developing the playbook, there have been several interruptions such as $8K in plumbing repairs! Have I gotten frustrated, absolutely! Have I wanted to just throw in the towel and stick with my corporate gig, oh yes ma'am. BUT, something inside of me just won't let me give up, even when I want to. Secondly, as long as I continue to see progress in The Playbook, I find the encouragement needed to get over those frustrating moments.

A glance at the top three plays, each of which could easily have their own separate post:

1. Liberation fund - the lib fund is not the e-fund, it is a separate savings earmarked for the transition. The goal is to have 6 months of living expenses.
2. Start today - I reduced my schedule at the corporate gig to part-time, which gave me more time to work on the desired career. ***There will be a separate post dedicated to this play.
3. Health insurance - After researching the insurance options for the self-employed, I realized that it made sense for me to give up the PPO and get a HDHP so that I could begin building up an HSA. The HSA comes with me when I leave the corp gig. Based on the top 3 insurance plans that I'm looking at, I should have enough money in my HSA to cover several years of deductibles if I continue with high deductible plans ... which are generally less expensive.

Is there a goal that you're working towards? What's in your playbook?