matt delong - freelancer to business owner
DESCRIPTION
A presentation on moving from Freelancer to Business Owner, brought to BarCamp Memphis by Matt DeLong from Core Commerce in Nashville. Core Commerce was a Platinum Sponsor for the event.TRANSCRIPT
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Welcome
Transition from freelancer to business owner.Matt DeLong, CEO - CoreCommerce
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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
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.CASHFLOW Quadrant
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
STEP1: Ask yourself -Why switch?
Make more money?
Have more free time?
Build something of value?
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
My reason for switching?
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
My reason for switching?
I HATED peanut butter & jelly!!
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
My reason for switching?
I HATED Ramen Noodles
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
STEP 2: Have a game plan!..but...Be Realistic
..and..Think it Through
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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
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
How did I feel afterpulling the triggeron this decision?
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.Can't I just get angels or venture capital (VC)?
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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
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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
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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
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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!
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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)
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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...
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 5: Apply trial and error
Best client has financial problems – solution?
Discussion Questions...
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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...
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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...
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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?
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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.
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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
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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.
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 9: Learn from your mistakes
What is the most expensive mistake youcan make?
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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
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
Always make new
mistakes!
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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.
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.
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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.
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Transition from freelancer to business
owner.STEP 10: Learn to make good decisions.
Why do lottery winners usuallyblow their money?
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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
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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.....
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Questions?corecommerce.com