matt delong - freelancer to business owner
Post on 20-Jan-2015
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Welcome
Transition from freelancer to business owner.Matt DeLong, CEO - CoreCommerce
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
Freelancer Biz Owner
Income based on...
Your efforts only
Your teams efforts
On vacation... Income stops Income continues
You own.. A Job A System and people work for you
Freelancer -vs- Biz Owner
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.CASHFLOW Quadrant
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
STEP1: Ask yourself -Why switch?
Make more money?
Have more free time?
Build something of value?
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
My reason for switching?
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
My reason for switching?
I HATED peanut butter & jelly!!
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
My reason for switching?
I HATED Ramen Noodles
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
STEP 2: Have a game plan!..but...Be Realistic
..and..Think it Through
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
My game plan?1) Hire a sales rep
2) Assume $0 in sales
during 3 month training
3) Put the rest on VISA
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
How did I feel afterpulling the triggeron this decision?
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.Can't I just get angels or venture capital (VC)?
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.Can't I just get angels or venture capital (VC)? $2-$10m in revenues (at least)
Demonstrated proof of concept
Viable business w/ paying customers
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.When should I hire?
When you have more biz than you can handle.
When you don't have enough biz.
$100k / staff / revenues rule of thumb for tech services
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.Hiring a contractor -vs- employee
Contractor Employee Test drive a new position Need temporary help Control their own hours Cheaper – short term More expensive – long term
Better for long term Provide vacation time, insurance & other benefits You control their hours IRS regulated definition, 32+ hr contractor is an employee More expensive – short term Cheaper – long term
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
STEP 3: Be Flexible
What happens if you have a hardtime selling your services?
Things change – and so should you!
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.How flexible do we have to be?
Best client having financial problems – can't pay bills.
First programmer hired was a disaster!!
Merchant account shut down afterjust 2 months...because of stolencredit cards being used..we weredead in the water.
No one wanted to buy our stuff! (custom programming)
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 4: Take a vacation.. you are going to need it!Nothing extravagant—you can't afford it yet
You are going to need avacation at this point.
Reflect on what you'velearned so far...
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 5: Apply trial and error
Best client has financial problems – solution?
Discussion Questions...
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 5: Apply trial and error
Best client has financial problems – solution?
Programmer disaster – FIRED HIM –didn't need to think about that one.
Discussion Questions...
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 5: Apply trial and error
Best client has financial problems – solution?
Programmer disaster – FIRED HIM –didn't need to think about that one.
Merchant account issue - solution?
Discussion Questions...
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.TIP: Payment Terms - $18k
Typical Terms Consider Using Also Consider
50/50 50/25/25 Monthly payments(For projects spanning 3months+)
$9k / $9k $9k / $4.5k / $4.5k $6k / $6k / $6k
What do you do if client doesn't have $9k available to start a project?
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 6: Give it time – adjust as you go3 mo. training assumption, insteadit took 6 months.
Struggled for 3-6 months longer thanwe thought
Took 2 years before we started building momentum.
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 7: Pay attention and measure what's importantWhat KPIs do we use?
* Customer Satisfaction - 93%
* Revenues - $$
* Project Turnaround Times - 90%
* NET INCOME - $$
* Other KPIs – each dept has 5-6
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 8: Focus on sales and marketing
Sales and cash flow are the life bloodof every small business.
Marketing turns your hobby into a real business with an ongoing streamof customers.
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 9: Learn from your mistakes
What is the most expensive mistake youcan make?
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 9: Learn from your mistakes
What is the most expensive mistake youcan make?
The one you never learn from
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
Always make new
mistakes!
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 10: Learn to make good decisions.
More money=more options=more decisions
The more money your company makes, thebetter your decision making needs to be.
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 10: Learn to make good decisions.
Think through the advantages and disadvantages of any decision.
No disadvantages! – c'mon, find them!
Follow through on your decision, don't secondguess yourself – will drive you nuts.
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 10: Learn to make good decisions.
Why do lottery winners usuallyblow their money?
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 11: Learn to Execute
Execution is the discipline of gettingthings done.
Get good at your routine
Schedule everything & follow through
Hard / soft deadlines w/ accountability
Document your processes
Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
1. Ask yourself – Why switch?2. Have a game plan!3. Be Flexible4. Take a vacation5. Apply trial & error6. Give it time – adjust as you go7. Pay attention – use KPIs8. Focus on sales & marketing9. Learn from your mistakes10. Learn to make good decisions11. Learn to Execute
Recap.....
Questions?corecommerce.com
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