Run your own business?

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Does anyone run their own business? Do you have to find new clients? Or are you ina highly specialized area where you only have to let people know you exist?

A friend is helping me to find work with my computer skills, but it always comes down to finding new customers. E.g. "you can do X, so set up a business doing X" - yes, but that means:
(a) knowing exactly what people want (it is easy to ALMOST provide what people want, and sell nothing),
(b) knowing where they are (i.s. were do people congregate?),
(c) communicating in a way they will understand and like, and
(d) doing this better than your NT competitors: all the low-hanging fruit is already taken by other advertisers.

Does anyone else manage it? I feel like anything involving finding customers is something I have to leave to others.

I need help with this too. Most of my clients are people I already know; it is hard for me to attract new business from strangers. Subscribed.

You didn't mention the type of computer skills you would be providing. If you would be working for local customers you can advertise by word of mouth through your existing customers, and through friends and relatives; by ads in the local papers; and on community and store bulletin boards; and online at local business sites that take electronic biz cards. You should also run off some biz cards to hand out and post on bulletin boards at other local companies. And don't forget to join the local Chamber of Commerce.

If you will be working more with online customers, you will need to post ads on sites that your customers are likely to visit.

80% of new businesses fail.

Typically because the fixed expenses of a storefront---rent, utilities, insurances, salaries and wages for employees---eats a person alive before he or she can really get rolling with sales volume. Or, a person can't really afford a good location, so they talk themselves into a sub-par location being "good enough." Big mistake.

What I draw from this is, don't have a storefront. Have a business you run out of your home and/or car.

I have a business.. almost died but ramping am back up again.
A few words of advice:
1. Don't try to be the low price leader... This almost killed my businesses. Charge a market rate for your services or your low margin clients will eat up all your time.
2. Put some structure in place before you get too far to keep track of everything. If you can't know at a glance if you're making money or not it will overwhelm you.
3. Get help! Don't try to do it all yourself. For things that aren't your strengths partner with others.

I've done digital art, web sites, games and presentations. I was advised to see what people want and then make a web site offering it.


I don't have any, hence the need to find some. And hence my doubt that this is even a good idea.


This is exactly the kind of socializing that terrifies me. Also, I find it hard to understand what others want and why they want it, so my marketing efforts are usually spectacularly unsuccessful. For example, I hate advertising on principle (I think it is fundamentally a wrong way to make decisions), and my reaction to 99% of ads is "why would anyone on earth want that thing??"

I took advice, and my advisor said to see what people are asking for (e.g. on freelance sites) and then make a web site offering it, but I can see many fatal problems with that: the freelance sites have low traffic, they may not be representative, I still need to advertise, and frankly my whole life's experience has taught me that I don't have those skills. My skill is in making finished products that people say are superb quality, but there is never a market for them.

I strongly agree. Marketing is my weakest area (ironic, since I have a marketing degree). Unfortunately, every direction I look seems to morph into "you need to do marketing" or "you need to do sales."

I am basically a thinker and maker. I suppose, though it sounds pretentious, an artist. I make things that I care about, things that nobody else makes, and people tell me they are very impressive and professional... but that does not translate to sales. They are just too different for people to connect to. One day they will, but that might take a hundred years.

tl;dr I wish I could ignore the market, because I neither like nor understand it, but I have to eat.

I tried to promote an SAT tutoring business in 2011. Two things kind of sapped my energy.

1) I envisioned promoting myself as a 'normalist.' Now, I'm thinking about putting Asperger's-Autism Spectrum coaching and life skills on my business cards. That's a little more energizing, kind of rolling activism in a (potentially) profitable business.

2) I reduced my price too much, where I no longer felt good about it. I like the approach medium-high price for quality service.


PS I wasn't trying to be a downer with the above. I do want to be realistic.

I know with things like SCORE here in the States (Service Committee of Retired Executives) it becomes an older experienced person giving you advice on what you should do. Well . . . that's helpful to an extent. I mean, I can do things like calling my insurance company and potentially arguing with some disengaged individual. It just blows half the day. It reminds me, that once again, yes, the world really is this way, or at least large aspects of the world are this way.

I really need a volunteer who will do some of this stuff for me.

Yes, I'm totally with you there. I just want to focus on what I'm really good at, and let somebody else do the rest.

The 80% failure rate within the first five years is a myth.

Have you thought about working as a consultant / contractor for an umbrella organisation ? I.e. project-based work for clients, but within a Consultancy where someone else finds you the work.

I did this for 5 years before finally going self employed. I did it as a form of aversion therapy at first, as I was stuck in a rut thanks to my own nervousness. I've had to learn to cope with travelling a lot, finding my way around strange places, meeting new people all the time, and (sometimes) having to bluff my way out of situations.

It all sounds really challenging, and yes sometimes it is. But staying focussed on the work is the main thing. Clients don't expect you to be particularly sociable, they're paying you a lot of money to do a set task, and they just want it done. Indeed if you're an expert in something considered "geeky" (as I am), being a bit of a misfit is often a positive selling point. Bosses often equate poor social skills, fashion sense etc. with uber-intelligent specialists. It's almost like a guarantee of data quality obsessiveness. So much so that I tend to play on it a bit.

Yes, you will have to go places and meet people. But with consultancy the relationships are always transitory, and yet clearly defined. If you didn't catch someone's name, it doesn't matter, because they'll be on the org chart, or in the e-mail address list. Jobs are always clearly defined, because they have to be - your sole aim is to meet the spec. So if the spec is rubbish your work can be rubbish too, because you're still delivering what you've been asked to do. It's all a bit of a game in that respect, and the personal relationships are the same. In the long run your reputation is built on quality of work rather than small talk, and everybody knows that, so it's ok.

I'd love to be a contractor, but I think my skills are too esoteric (and I don't live anywhere near a city). Thanks for the suggestion though.

Incidentally, the biggest stress and uncertainty of self employment comes from the various Government tax collecting agencies (HMRC, Companies House etc.) Not because of the figures - I'm fine with numbers - but because their systems are such an illogical, bureaucratic f*cking mess. Honestly, if you like logic, order and efficiency, the many forms and processes for paying the tax on a small business will upset you., cos it should be so simple, but it isn't.

I'd love to be a contractor, but I think my skills are too esoteric (and I don't live anywhere near a city). Thanks for the suggestion though.

You're dismissing this before you've even started. Esoteric is GOOD - you have a niche. The problem with simple stuff is, everyone can do it, so then you've competition and plenty of it. Being a specialist is a good thing.

As for not being in a City, so what? I live on a narrowboat, what's your excuse?

If you need to work in a City for a client, you work in their offices on their machines, and
they pay your travel, hotel bills and expenses. Or alternatively you can work from home using teh internets. It's all do-able.