Ever wondered whether starting your own business will be glamorous? Do you envisage a smart home office, the ability to pick and choose whether you have a longer lunch break or that extra coffee break, with no one to answer to, living the high life?
When all you see online are ‘get rich quick’ tag lines, it’s no wonder that many people have misconceptions about what it’s like to run your own business.
The short answer to whether it is glamourous is…no.
When I decided to set up my own accountancy practice after having worked to Partner level at a successful accountancy firm, I had a rude awakening. Immediately it was apparent I had to be a jack of all trades.
Suddenly there was no more IT department on the end of an internal line. I had to ‘Control, Alt, Delete’ all by myself or at least set up a fully functioning, GDPR-compliant IT solution. And I’m certainly no tech-geek.
Then it came to my office. Where was I going to work? I was lucky enough to create a smart home office at the end of my garden but that didn’t happen on its own. I painted, I put together office furniture, I hung shelves and I built filing units. In the first month or so a screwdriver was as regular a feature in my pen pot as my writing materials.
Again, none of this was easy and it stretched me beyond anything I’ve ever done before. But the realisation was there that I was personally responsible for getting everything done, otherwise my business wasn’t even going to get off the ground, let alone make great strides.
That realisation was a bit of a light-bulb moment for me. I’d dreamed of the freedom of my own business, but I had to acknowledge I’d never had to feel personally responsible for the running of all the departments. For example, if my old company’s marketing team had made a critical mistake in positioning our brand, I would have been disappointed but I probably wouldn’t have lost sleep over it.
I knew I could be a good independent accountant as I was/am a very good accountant but could I be the IT, HR, Facilities, Recruitment and Marketing department? If I wanted to succeed then the answer had to be ‘yes’.
But, as I took on each role and made good decisions that impacted directly on my growing business, I experienced something that I hadn’t properly had in my previous corporate experience…I started to feel a deep sense of personal satisfaction as I began to run my business well.
So, regardless of the unglamorous side of running my own business, I felt 100% satisfied and I’ve never looked back. If you are interested in running your own accountancy practice and would like to learn more about joining the Grass & Holm family as a franchisee, please click here