Becoming a successful solopreneur: Business administration

If you’re playing a solo in your business by being a solopreneur, master the adminis-trative side to assure long-term success.

By Henry Brown

Are you a solopreneur? If so, chances are you’re juggling every part of the administration yourself, or you’re wondering if it’s even possible. The good news is that it is possible to do a great job with the administrative side of your business. When you’re dedicated and have a few good tools on your side, you can quickly learn all sides of running your own business successfully.

Don’t underestimate the amount of work you’re going to have to do, and don’t be afraid to want or need help when you’re in the startup stages. Everybody looks for advice from time to time after all, so be sure to try and network to find people with the expertise you need.

If you’re just thinking of going into the solopreneur field, or you’ve been at it for a while and you you’re struggling, here’s some considerations for you.

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As a solopreneur, whatever you make is yours to keep. However, that doesn’t stop taxes from butting in! There are quite a lot of taxes to pay when you’re running a business all alone, such as the self-employment tax. But by knowing what business expenses are deductible, including those related to operating a home office, you can substantially reduce this burden. So knowing what is deductible and what is not is key.

Making sure you get paid, on time and in full, is a tricky move to pull. A lot of customers and clients really like to maximize the 30-day limit to the fullest. Yet, when you have a good invoicing system on your side, and regular reminders in your back pocket to send out, you’re doing better than the rest. Similarly, making sure you pay your own invoices on purchase orders for the products or raw materials you need as soon as you get them will make the process a lot easier to keep up with at the end of the fiscal year.

Check out blank invoice examples if you’re not sure of the details needed on all of your invoices, or if you’re just looking for some templates to work with. It’s a lot easier for your time and money to have something versatile in place to change around when you need to.

Be sure to hire carefully

If your business grows to a point where you want to hire employees, make sure you do the hiring right. Making a bad hire can be seriously damaging to a small business, but your company will thrive if you take time to find the right kind of candidates.

You can also outsource some parts of your work or follow the growing trend of bringing in contractors from time to time rather than full-time employees. All kinds of people can cross your path as a result. Either way, you’re going to have a lot more control over what happens in your business.

Don’t be afraid to change your model (it’s a lot easier!)

A lot of businesses out there don’t stick to their original plan once they’ve established themselves, as this is a good survival technique that means a company gets to live another day. However, changing a business model entirely is a lot harder when you’ve got investors and partners also interested in what your company is doing.

As a solopreneur? You can have a lot easier time changing literally every last detail of your plan to fit your needs and the market you’re servicing better, and receive no backlash as a result. Whether you want to start a new business inside of your old one, or you’re simply not happy with the current provider you’re using for your raw materials, it’s yours to change with no cost other than the ones in front of you.

There’s a lot of ways to be successful when you’re going it alone. As a solopreneur, you’re in one of the most exciting ventures in the world! Learn as you go, and be the change that you want to see in your business economy.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.

 

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