Starting your own service business

When I was thinking through how to return to work after my career break, I investigated both going back into employment and setting up on my own. I decided that because of my requirements for flexibility, my temperament, and the enjoyment I derived from an earlier experience of entrepreneurship, I was best suited to working for myself. That was 10 years ago, when I set up my own coaching practice. My business activities have evolved significantly since then and I can't imagine ever returning to an employed position. 

I recently read that women-led businesses are often more successful, yet men are twice as likely as women to be entrepreneurially active. I know that many of you may be weighing up the pros and cons of setting up on your own; this is my personal experience of the benefits and drawbacks.

Advantages

• Autonomy. You are in charge and don't have to take instruction from your line manager or deal with the corporate politics which exist when you are employed
• Managing your own time. You can choose (subject to client requirements) when, where and how you want to work. If you want to take time away from your work for any reason, you don't need to get permission or negotiate with work colleagues. This has been invaluable for me in balancing the other demands from my family and volunteer activities. I also find that I am more productive as I can largely control my diary to suit the way I work best
• Managing growth. You can set your own pace of business growth and development to fit with your life, your ambitions and your financial requirements
• Pursuing your dream. You can pursue a business idea or a personal passion in a way that is rarely possible as an employee (as I did back in 2012 when I joined with Julianne to set up Women Returners)

Disadvantages

• Isolation. If you set up as a sole trader you will be spending much more time on your own than you would have done in employment. You might miss the companionship of your colleagues and the availability of people with whom to bounce around ideas. In the early days of my business I worked hard at creating networks and communities to fill this gap and now I appreciate having a business partner and a network of associates
• Being constantly on call.  Depending on your business activity, it could be harder for you to be 'out of office' as there will be no-one to cover for your in your absence .. and you don't get paid for sick days!
• Uncertainty of income. Unless you are in the position of having guaranteed work or clients from the start of your venture, maybe from a former employer or colleague, it will take time to build your work pipeline and your reputation. Temperamentally and economically, it has been important for me to be resilient through the downturn of the recent recession
• Having to do everything for yourself. If you are used to corporate structures and systems, it can be quite a shock to have to do everything for yourself from invoicing to diary management. It's particularly hard when your computer breaks down and there is no IT support to fix it!

How to get started

Sometimes returners are put off starting their own business by the belief that they have to offer an innovative service and so spend hours developing, researching and discarding possible options, in the search for a unique idea. In reality, starting your own business doesn't have to be so hard! Indeed, if you are working as a freelancer, an associate or on occasional projects, you are de facto running your own business. 

One of the simplest ways to start a business is to offer, for payment, a skill that you already have and which others value. So, whether you are offering tax advice, designing websites or conducting market research, you will be a business owner. You might even find that demand for your services builds to such an extent that you need to take on your own employees.

There are many sources of support for women starting their own businesses and the easiest first step can be to sign up for a short introductory workshop, such as a local Chamber of Commerce event. For a listing of useful resources, see our website. If you're close to London, Enterprise Nation run regular StartUp Saturdays and if you're a parent with a tech idea for a business, do look at the exciting Google Campus for Mums.

In our success stories we have a few examples of other returners who have successfully established their own businesses so you can read about Alison and Barbara's experiences. 

Posted by Katerina