You made it for another year. Even if you feel like running your small business is a grind, take a second to pat yourself on the back for finding work, doing the work and contributing value in the middle of some challenging economic times.


Challenges For Small Business Owners

For starters, small businesses are small. We have limited financial resources, at least compared to our larger competitors. As a result, we have difficulty budgeting for marketing, scalability, specialized resources, all kinds of things.

And with fewer projects and fewer employees we then have fewer options for juggling who works on what and, more dangerously, how to keep employees' time maximized on income-generating projects.

We also have to live with financial uncertainty. If things are slow, we've got to make payroll - often out of our own pockets.

When it comes to business development or finding the next clients or projects, we have to have a lot of faith that things won't dry up in a year. When I started Plannedscape, I would freak if I didn't know where our income was going to come from in a year. Over 20-plus years, I gradually had to become comfortable with not exactly knowing what the future would hold just three months in the future.

Speaking of cash flow, one or two clients slow rolling their payment for our work can sink us. Corporations have way more wiggle room. So, when a large client is dragging on paying you the $50,000 they owe you, your larger clients treat it as a minor paperwork inconvenience. Or if Carol in Accounts Payable is out on maternity leave and nobody else can cut a check, we're supposed to understand. This is brutal. My father had a small advertising agency years ago and collections were always the most difficult part of the job. Back then as a child and now as a business owner I still don't get it: we did the work, pay us for what we agreed upon.

Finally, balancing work-life demands is a personal challenge, as small business owners often dedicate extensive time and energy to their enterprises. When you're an employee, you usually check out at 5pm or 6pm and you're off the clock entirely. As a business owner, we always think we should be doing something; we're never off. This can get exhausting over time unless we are smart about walling off some time that is purely and totally away from the office.


Traits Of Small Business Owners

We have to be motivated people. If you're the type that waits for an assignment or is comfortable with being idle, then perhaps that's not the ideal attribute for a small businessman or businesswoman. I remember when I first started my business, a friend asked "Aren't you tempted to just watch tv?" No. It doesn't take you a long time to draw a line between wasting time and not getting paid.

Most fellow entrepreneurs I know also have the common trait of absolutely hating corporate bureaucracy and corporate culture. Those of us who start our own business can establish their own "culture". Two of my favorite Plannedscape prior traditions were weekly progress meetings done on a tennis court, and one memorable code sprint done on a cruise ship with no distractions except the buffet.

Lots of us get bored easily which is why we are able to deal with the role of wearing many hats. We can bounce among business development, management, contracts, accounting, marketing and everything else.


Strengths Of Independent Businesses

Small companies can make changes SOOOO much more quickly than larger corporations. In general, that can change market strategies, modify products and adjust as needed. Less time is spent on bureaucracy.

Also, a small business can build stronger relationships with clients. Fast response and more attention is appealing to clients. Our greatest long-term project was won with our 4-person staff, over a competing bid from a massive competitor in Autodesk Consulting; one of the main reasons we were awarded the contract was that the client knew who exactly was going to be executing the projects as opposed to being handed off to more junior and inexperienced personnel with Autodesk Consulting.


Congratulations

As I said before, if you're a business owner then take a bow. If you're still in business, then you're doing great. You get to chart your own course, you get to play to your strengths, you're always engaged, you're never bored, and you have a chance to really accomplish something and reap the rewards.

It's not easy, but the freedoms should outweigh the hardships. Way to go!