Lots of people dream of firing their boss and going to work for themselves either as a freelancer or as a consultant. When you have a certain level of expertise, it doesn’t make sense to help other people’s dreams come true. You can work for yourself and make your own come true.
Quitting your job and heading out on your own is not easy and takes some careful consideration before you attempt it. There are lots of mistakes that get made so you have to try to learn from others’ mistakes to avoid them. In this article, we will go over what some of the things are that you have to watch out for.
1 – Violating a non compete contract
When you were hired at your current job, you likely signed a non-compete contract. This is so your company doesn’t spend lots of money training you and giving you their secrets only to have you go to the competition.
It gets a bit tricky to enforce when you go out on your own as a consultant and work with clients. Unless there is specific language in the contract that forbids you to consult, then there is likely some way to work around it without ending up in court.
A non-solicitation clause is a bit more tricky because you may be tempted to work with some of the clients that you had when you were with your company. Although there are lawyers out there who specialize in this type of law you may be able to work around it.
Essentially, you have to make sure you have these things figured out before you go into business for yourself so you don’t end up in court with your old employer.
2 – You don’t specialize
It is very tempting to cast a wide net when you go out on your own and want to take as much work as possible. There is a real fear of not making enough money so you look into every type of job available.
Finding your niche and being an expert on it is going to help you create a steady stream of clients over the years. For instance, if you specialize in the sports business then there will be people that know that it is your specialty and you have a reputation. If you were to have one client that is running a professional sports team, another in the entertainment industry and yet another in manufacturing, it will be very difficult to stand out.
3 – Not outsourcing
You can’t do it all and can easily get overwhelmed when trying to run things on a shoestring budget. Instead of trying to work 24 hours a day, make sure to outsource some of the work that can be done by others more effectively.
This leaves you to focus on growing your business and keeping your clients happy. For instance, marketing yourself is very important, but hiring an agency to do it for you leaves you free to spend your time wisely.