I’m now almost four months in to my new business.  As my last post indicated, sometimes business is slow.  But so far, the profits have increased steadily each month.  I am currently the only employee of my professional services business.  I don’t have enough work where I could afford someone full-time, but I might be able to hire a secretary 10-20 hours per week.  What worries me is that I don’t have a large enough sample size in terms of my business.  What if the work dries up?  The last thing I would want is to bring someone in and then later have to let them go because my fledgling business takes a bad turn.

There isn’t enough work yet where I’m incapable of doing everything myself, but I am starting to find it annoying coming in on the weekend to do secretarial and other administrative tasks.  The biggest reasons why I would like to hire someone, however, are as follows:

1) Sometimes people see me as less professional because I do not have a support staff/a secretary/assistant.  My profession is the type where one is expected to have a personal assistant.

2) Sometimes I feel that I could focus more on marketing my business if I didn’t have to spend so much time on administrative tasks.

3) Sometimes I’ll be out of the office for a few hours, and during that time the telephone rings straight to voicemail.  I worry that prospective clients may hang up during that time.  I also worry about not having someone at the base of operations if I need something faxed/emailed to me when I am working remotely.

Another concern for me is the extra red-tape/paperwork involved in having an employee.  It’s a definite downside to not being the sole worker.  I’m also not the best delegator so I worry how productive it would be for me to even have a secretary/assistant.

Finally, I like being solo.  I like that I can do what I want (when I want) without feeling judged.  I’ve worked in enough places to know that even if you are the boss, employees will be looking to you for guidance and direction.  There’s a certain amount of pressure that goes along with that–even though I believe it’s what’s naturally occurring anyway.

The Economy

In this economy, it would be really rewarding for me to be able to provide even a part-time job to another person.  That’s one of the ultimate goals (of mine) for owning a business.  But because the economy is so bad, I also don’t want to have to let someone go if my business slows down.  Finally, all my instincts are those of a boot-strapper, working hard to build up something from nothing.  It terrifies me to increase the expenses right now, so early in a business and when I’m trying to keep expenses to a minimum.

Conclusion

I know there’s not enough information about my specific business to ask your advice, but I would love to hear your thoughts on when a business knows it’s time to expand.  When is the time to bring in a new employee?  As always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated and personal stories are always welcomed as well.

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As a new business owner, I find my business generation thus far to be very cyclical.  Things are always boom or bust, rather than in a happy medium.  During the boom times, I get nervous that I need to hire an employee or that I won’t be able to complete the work on time.  During the busts, I get nervous that I will never have another client and that my business is destined to fail.   I’ve written about this subject before, but I wanted to write a little bit about some action steps to take regarding what to do when business is slow.

1) Remember to Keep Your Perspective

Have you ever worked in a successful retail store?  I used to work for a movie rental chain throughout high school—back when movie rental chains were thriving.  What I noticed was that, even on a busy (rainy Saturdays in particular) Saturday night, when the business was making a killing, the customers would still come to my register in a cyclical manner.  It would be boom and then bust.  Surely more boom than bust, but still—there was a cyclical nature to the lines.

The point: don’t make rash decisions based upon the booms or busts, and don’t view your business through a microscope.  The truth is always somewhere in the middle.  As every cliche spouting professional athlete will tell you: “don’t get too high during the good times or too low during the bad times.”

That telephone likely will ring again with a new client or prospective client—and probably soon. That new customer will walk through the door, if not just this minute then eventually.  The secret is having patience, keeping perspective, and accepting that you’ll never really know where that next client or customer will come from, but, if you run a type ship good things will likely happen.

2.  Get Active

For me, if I don’t have any work to do then my job becomes finding more work.  It’s not always fun and it can indeed be at times soul-crushing, but it’s important to be active.  Maybe you can work on your marketing plan, or even do some menial jobs while you have the free time.  Write a blog post, send out a bulk mailing, contact a newspaper with a press release idea.  Just stay active and good things will likely come your way.

3. Keep Up Your Spirits 

Don’t let a little difficulty stand in your way, keep acting like the success that your company is (or will be).  Even the most famous people in the world have faced a little or a lot of adversity.  The history books aren’t lined with quitters.  For instance, most political leaders have suffered embarrassing election defeats prior to their ascendance to power.  The obituary on many a leader’s or other successes’ career has been written plenty of times.

Seth Godin’s the Dip is a great book to read if you’re concerned about whether your business is worth fighting for or not.   It states that most business owners quit just before achieving prolonged success.

4. Seek Mentors

It always helps to have the opinion of somebody who has already been through it.  Talking with a mentor (or mentors) about the problems facing you or your industry as a whole can be an invaluable way of learning and developing in your business and as a business owner.

5. Be Frugal

When times get tough, yours likely has to become a leaner business.  The important thing is to know what to cut.  If you’re cutting out client generating activities or expenses, then your frugalness will be counterintuitive.  That said, just like with your personal budget, there is always something that can afford to be cut to decrease expenses.

Conclusion

When business is slow, you have to pick up your pace, develop, and make the difficult choices.  Hopefully this list is a good starting place if you’re facing this kind of issues.  As always, it’s action that will achieve results.

But now if you’ll excuse me, I now I have to go follow my own words, and try and think of some new methods for finding new business.

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In the 1980′s, a prominent U.S. magazine predicted the “Death of the Stock Market.”  It was written during a major downturn in the U.S. and global economies.  It was also written right before a major economic recovery that would last for years.  If you had heeded the warning of the “experts” and sold at that low point, you would have likely lost most of your investment, rather than doubling or tripling your investments over the next few years.

Another example of media (expert) bearishness is evident in this profile of thirty years of Time Magazine covers.   Almost every year for the past thirty years Time Magazine has featured a cover demonstrating how bad the present state of the economy is.  If it’s not a recession then it’s worries about inflation, or concerns about trade deficits, and on and on.  Are these accurate reflections of the economy, or are they what help to sell more issues of a magazine?

Finally, who doesn’t recall the time “monkeys throwing darts” outguessed the Wall Street Journal investing experts?

The point: the economy is too complex for any of us to fully understand.  The only thing that has been consistently true is that we can never fully anticipate the future.  Unexpected things are always occurring, and when they do, they often change everything.

When I used to read more magazines and check on my stocks every day, my risk tolerance would decrease exponentially.  Of course, being informed is important.   But at the same time, some perspective is needed.   Particularly in these modern times, where the media is known to sound the alarms a little too often.

The same thing is true for picking careers.  By the time you complete your education in the “hot” field it may be cold.  That’s why I believe there is no better compass than the one inside each of us.  Certain rules, principles and philosophies are timeless, but there are so many inputs that we still need to view everything through our own judgment—our own inner compass.

Moreover, our personal goals are often quite personal.

For instance, when my Wife and I bought our house six months ago, I figured interest rates would keep going down.  I also figured the value of the house might not have hit its bottom.  Time has proven I was correct in both these assumptions–at least where we live.   But we were tired of renting, planned on sticking in our house for the long-term, and frankly ignored the “experts.”  It may not have made good financial business sense, but we did it anyway, because that’s what we thought right under our own particular circumstances.  The thought of staying in an apartment we hated for another 2-3 years wasn’t worth the benefit of gaining more time to eye the housing market.

Likewise, when I left my job during one of the worst Recessions in U.S., history to start my own office, the empirical data suggested likely failure.  While only time will tell the ultimate outcome, so far, I’ve been happier than ever before in my chosen profession.

Conclusion 

It’s nice to be well-informed, but ultimately it’s up to us to know what’s in our own best interests.  When you go about being well-informed, it might not hurt to remember that the media can often cry wolf.  In other words, sometimes what you should fear the most: is the so called experts themselves.

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I’ve been really into reading lately.

For years (while I was in graduate school), I found it difficult to read outside the classroom.  Growing up I was an avid reader of just about anything I could get my hands on, but college–and to a much greater extent, graduate school—changed that.  I was so burnt out on all the assigned reading that it actually ruined my love of reading–to the point that even following graduation I rarely completed a new book.  The majority of months went by without me even giving a new book a try.  I would make excuses like “I don’t have the time,” or “I can’t find anything interesting to read.”

Thus, for years and years, my reading consisted of magazines or the sports section of the local paper (and of course blogs!).

So, I was actually quite surprised by my recent reading renaissance.  I’ve been on a reading binge like never before.

Eye Strain and Beyond! 

I started reading historical biographies on a whim.  I had a new commute and I needed something to pass the time.  To my shock, I was totally into the historical biographies.  When I used to read a lot before, it was invariably fiction (sometimes “literature” and sometimes mainstream “thrillers.”  But now here I was diving into the life of Winston Churchill or John Adams and surprisingly (and whole-heartedly) loving every second of it.  There were days (and there still are) where I can’t wait for the end of the night to come—the part of the day where I get to crawl in bed and read for an hour or so.

But now I’m panicking because I worry I’m wasting too much time lost in books.  As I’ve written before, it’s well-documented that I have a compulsive personality when it comes to hobbies.  This reading kick is surely just another expression of that.

What I’ve been worrying about the most lately, is whether reading is at all productive.  I’m also a huge sucker for trying to be productive at all times—it’s a sort of compulsion (that often results in my wasting time).

I’m almost certain reading is generally more valuable than watching 99% of television, but I’m also sure there could be more productive ways to spend my time (and even my reading time).

• What if I instead spent all my reading time focusing on work-related reading, to try and further my career and knowledge?
• What can be gained from biographies when they present just one man or woman’s unique perspectives and how they handled them?
• Is it true that, as Truman Capote once said, that a great work of fiction was more valuable than any other types of reading combined?

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A Commentary

If you follow the news, it seems like you can’t avoid the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Is it mob behavior, or merely an expression of freedom of speech?  The truth of course is probably somewhere in the vast middle.  What upsets me about the movement, however, is the Robin Hood Fallacy that it is right and proper to “take from the rich and give to the poor.”  These are simply my own views and not those of the owner of this site or anyone else, but I think that a society that rewards mediocrity  will never thrive.  And isn’t that why we’re in the current state of affairs in the first place?  Let me put it another way: Freud once said that the two basic desires behind almost everything men or women do are to:

1) Have sex.  (of course, this is Freud after all).

2) To be important.

So should we now stop rewarding hard work, ingenuity, and the other intangibles that make one rich and/or successful?  That make one important?

If we do, then what is left for the masses to strive for?

Now let’s take a step back for a moment.  I understand that some people genuinely need assistance.  I am not saying we should all rely upon a complete 100% Darwin survival of the fittest capitalist society.  Things happen in life, and there are illnesses, children that are orphaned, and untreatable mental issues, to name a few circumstances, where the greater assistance of society–whether it be governmental or charitable is required.

Nor am I saying that all “rich people” have earned their position.  Some people have received their money through ill-gotten gains.  Others have been the benefactors of generational wealth being passed down, like how an ocean flows through tributaries and deposits salt on distant creeks and lakes.

But what could be potentially dangerous about a movement of the “99% v. the 1%” is the belief that we cannot take accountability for our own stations in life.  It’s a slippery slope to travel once the “rich” are vilified, because most of the “rich” have obtained their success–despite popular perception–from hard work, creativity, and the taking of risks.

You can spend your free time hating such people, but I suggest you are better served trying to emulate them.

By now some of you are probably thinking that I was born with a silver spoon, and maybe even that this silver spoon should be shoved up my ass.  I cannot deny that I have had opportunities not available to everyone in the world.  But I did grow up in a lower middle class “blue collar family.”  And I did have to work for what little I have in this world.  And I will continue to work and to do everything I can to better position life for me, my wife, and my own children and grandchildren that hopefully will follow.  To me, if I cannot do these things, then I wonder what’s the point in living?

I have six figure student loan debt from college and graduate school.  Few would stand to benefit more than I if “all debts were to be forgiven.”  But I made those choices, and so long as I have my health and mind, I will do everything I have to in order to repay my debts, just as I have been doing for several years now.  And when the job market got bleak, I set out to start my own company.  And in my free time I do freelance writing work to put food on the table.  And I scrimp and save every dollar that I can to meet my obligations.

Now I’m beginning to worry that I sound like I’m up on a soapbox.  I understand that people are suffering right now, and I’m not saying it’s their fault.  But I do think we have been raised to look to the government–or our parents–or just about anything outside ourselves for sustenance when things get difficult.  And just like a domesticated animal, something is lost in that process.  And part of that something is freedom.

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