Do you own your own business? Are you also the only employee? That’s a lot of pressure. You can’t blame the boss, and you can’t take sick days. You also need to work a lot of jobs at once. Here are four essential roles that need to be filled in a one-person business.
Business Strategist
Every company needs a business plan. As the only worker, you bear the responsibility for creating one, and you need to anticipate all the hiccups that could derail your business. You also must prioritize monetization at every opportunity. After all, every dollar you make goes directly into your pocket. When you earn more, you reduce stress and increase opportunities. With a viable business plan, you also have the ability to outsource jobs you can’t do on your own.
To build a business plan, you need math and writing skills. You also need to understand marketing. You’ll spend the next few quarters selling yourself, and the business plan should reflect this necessity. Fortunately, the internet offers plenty of suggestions on how to write a good business plan.
Customer Service Specialist
Independent of your industry, your customers will have expectations about the quality of your work. Sometimes they’ll express dissatisfaction with your performance. A solo business owner must address such concerns personally. Nobody else will do it for you.
Fortunately, anyone can learn the qualities of great customer service. The most important traits are professionalism, problem-solving, and patience. You’ll need to demonstrate professionalism in answering any questions about the job you’ve done and why you chose to do it the way you did. When the customer doesn’t like your answer, you’ll need figure out how to satisfy the person in a way that makes him want to do business with you again. Patience is also important since some customers are wrong, but you must respond to them as though they’re right.
Accountant
Money is everything to your business. Without it, you’re literally working for nothing. You’ll need to track all of your revenue for tax purposes. You’ll also need capital to fund your company’s early days plus any instances where you’re suffering from poor cash flow. Also, some larger companies won’t do business with a startup that lacks a line of credit.
While you can do research on the best loan strategies, that solves only half the problem. Unless you have accounting experience, you should outsource this job to a professional. To protect the security of your company’s finances, you should also buy business checks. They’re safer, and you need that defense.
Legal Counsel
You’ll obviously need to hire a lawyer if you get sued. In less dramatic situations, you’ll need to learn how local, state, and federal laws impact your vocation. While you can research these facts on your own, consider consulting with an attorney. They’ll understand the situation better and relay areas of concern to you.
Starting a one-person business is a brave choice. You’ll have to perform the tasks above plus a host of other duties along the way. Once you succeed, you’ll enjoy an amazing sense of accomplishment.
