Bootstrapping is a legitimate business strategy. Saving as much money as possible while you launch will potentially put more money into your product, service or development. But, you can’t do everything on your own forever. There are three people that you should bring into your team as soon as possible. These three will ease the stress of business building, give you the confidence to know you are doing things well, and help set you up for the future.
An Accountant
When it comes to money and taxes, stress is part of the game. As an entrepreneur you may not know the right way to track your expenses, what payroll taxes you have to pay, or if you are going to be audited because of a simple oversight. A trustworthy accountant can help guide you through financial concerns like these (and many more that pop up unexpectedly). It is important to go with someone you can trust to balance your personal income, your business income, your capital gains, your investments, your payouts, your future needs and your potential. A good accountant will sit down and explain WHY you are structuring your business a certain way, how to know when it is time to shift gears financially and how to protect your business profits. Trust us, the weight that is lifted off your shoulders when you know someone has your financial best interest in mind is well worth having them in your corner.
A Business Lawyer
You probably set up your LLC yourself using a Secretary of State website. It was simple and you are “official” but, what happens when a client challenges some work you’ve spent a lot of time on, or a vendor skips out on a delivery or someone threatens your business. The bad stuff happens. You need someone there for you.
Early in my business a landlord suddenly decided to sell the property I was leasing and asked me to leave well before my lease expired. The financial setback was significant – finding a new location, security deposits, moving expenses, build out . . . It was a wrench in the system. It was through advice and counsel from my trusted lawyer that I got what I needed to re-establish myself at a new location. It was a simple conversation and only a hour of time, but I walked away a lot happier and lot better off financially when he directed me. Things come up and you need to know you have someone to guide you through the difficulty to keep your business growing.
A Trusted Assistant
So many tiny tasks come up when launching a business. Small transactions, scheduling, meetings, follow-up appointments, paperwork. Even just bringing someone on to take care of a monthly newsletter, or coordinate a project or take care of collecting money can free up valuable time to focus on growth and profit. Your first assistant doesn’t have to be full-time. A freelancer can put in just enough hours to keep you rolling forward while not taking away too much money. Identify what you would love to take off your plate and find someone with the skills to help, even virtually.
Conversely, if you recognize an inefficient point in your system, hire someone that can smooth it out. A friend of mine with a media company did this when he identified the need to have a dedicated project manager. The project manager was able to step in, streamline processes, connect pieces and, through it all, increase revenue well beyond the cost of her salary while improving overall satisfaction with the company.
Are you ready to hire your first few team members? What positions will you fill first? Let us know @StarterNoise #goteamgo
