Life as being self employed

[jmgall]

So this may sound ludicrous in the current climate but I'm due to enter self employment within the next year, completing a buy out of a company in the weddings and hospitality sector UK.

I am fairly happy with everything, coming to terms with accounting terminology and fully accept this will hit me like a tonne of bricks BUT what are everyone's top tips on how to get some kind of work life balance? For example 25% of enquiries come over the phone outside of normal office hours, if I'm on a date night with the better half how do I decide to answer the phone or not? Where is the cut off? What is an important enough to decide whether to answer or not? I understand this will be differant for everyone but any top tips would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Interestedobserver]

Are you sure buying a weddings and event business from someone right now is a good idea?

Or is this a wind up thread?

 

[Mark T Jones]

It could be a brilliant time to get into the wedding sector

Or not. Only history will tell

OP. Unfortunately you are in a small group f people to whom my advice would be - at least in year 1 - to be available to clients pretty much 24/7. It’s an emotive and highly personal business and building a reputation is everything

Your mobile will be your best friend

Best of luck!

 

[paulears]

One of the things with the hospitality and entertainments industry is that they are not 9-5 businesses. Pre-covid calls would come up to maybe 11.30 at night, texts and emails at any time and you just get used to it. So you'll get contact at the time some get up and others go to bed. You don't have to answer any that are unknown and as long as you have sensible answering services, you choose. Worst for me were calls when physically you were working so could not answer and people didn't getting. My wedding photographer friend used to get waspy new clients who phoned him Saturday afternoons and got cross he didn't answer!

Your better half needs to get used to you being missing at family time. Mine are ecstatic that for the first time in 16 years I will be home on Christmas Day. Personally, I'd rather be working.

 

[Mr D]

Book personal time. During that time phone is switched off.
Maybe you book it from 7pm one evening and switch back on next morning.

Customers will either be willing to wait for a call back or the are not the customers you want.

In business initially lots of new business owners chase all the business they can. Eventually you may realise that done cost you considerably in time and effort and stop chasing that type of business.

Weddings - the industry is prepping for a busy year as those who delayed wedding look to have something while those who would normally get married also look to get something.
Married with perhaps big celebration in a couple of years.

A lot of your time will be spent out of hours for other people. It's when your customers are free, it's when wedding fairs are, it's when people have time.
So set your limits and stick to them. Do not let your business destroy your relationship.

Above all have fun.

 

[BustersDogs]

Get an answering service if you don't want to answer calls but don't want to miss work. I look after pets and sometimes calls late at night are them asking for help for health issues. Some industries you just have a closer relationship with clients than in others. I used to have one client book in after she chatted with her son in the States - usually 2am my time! I just got used to sleeping through and dealing with it in the morning. Well, morning USA time so not to wake her up....

 

[mattk]

Have "date middays" from 12-3pm Monday to Friday? That way you can man the phone in the evenings and weekends.

As above, you could get an answering service, but depending on the service you're providing you have to decide if your customers will be happy not getting though to you on the first attempt.

 

[paulears]

I started in the 80s selling radios as a part-time activity and it grew, but I moved into performing arts and the radio business tended to service our other activities, when my diary imploded in March I've been selling radios again into the marine, ham and business areas - the marine and leisure areas are really busy, and business spending is minimal. It's working fine, but again, phone calls and weekend activity are where much of the actual customers really are. I'm in the office today, and was here yesterday all day because that's when people want to come, and even odder the internet sales come through at very strange times. Why would somebody buy a boat radio at 2.30am? It's keeping my head above the water (pun not intended). I've had 9-5 jobs where you put your coat on and forgot about work, but I can't do that - so self-employment works for me.

 

[Interestedobserver]

Many weddings postponed because numbers were limited

No guarantee that's going to change in 2021 sadly

 

[Mr D]

Many weddings postponed because numbers were limited

No guarantee that's going to change in 2021 sadly

And some people aren't willing to wait. So will have the official wedding then later when can get everyone round will do the unofficial wedding.
Delaying a few months? Easy. Delaying a few years? Not wanted.

 

[tony84]

I think realistically in the first 12 months, you are probably going to have to take any call at any time - you need to be generating income I assume so I would imagine your partner is going to have to be fairly accepting for a little while at least.

Maybe keep a log of what days the calls come in and see if there is a quieter night - I would say Sunday night must be relatively quiet, could you do your date night then?

Once you have the cash flow and things going ok, you can probably then have a cut off point, even if it is a little later than a normal job - say 7.30pm?

Like you, a lot of my business is outside of normal hours. I am now 7-8 years in and I have over the last 3 years or so been reducing when I take calls, I generally stop at around 6.30pm, anything later than that I will pick up the next day. There are some exceptions, if the family are out or if I am still working anyway. Or if on a Saturday I am just sat watching Spongebob squarepants for the 50th time, I might just nip upstairs and answer the phone.

There will always be people who try at silly hours, I was once in town in a pub at about 10.30pm and someone called.

 

[Interestedobserver]

And some people aren't willing to wait. So will have the official wedding then later when can get everyone round will do the unofficial wedding.
Delaying a few months? Easy. Delaying a few years? Not wanted.

I know an outside caterer who had 30 large weddings cancel on them this year

They are by no way expecting those same weddings to definitely happen next year either

And having to have a plan A and plan B

And smaller weddings aren't financially viable for them to cater for

The OP should take care not to buy into a white elephant

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Seriously if you are starting up and you want to be successful you should not be asking these questions

To make it work you have to give it everything for 2 or 3 years absolutely everything
Put the hard work in and you might be able to take it easy in the future and enjoy life a bit more

If you are concerned about your spare time it might not be the life for you

 

[Mr D]

I know an outside caterer who had 30 large weddings cancel on them this year

They are by no way expecting those same weddings to definitely happen next year either

And having to have a plan A and plan B

And smaller weddings aren't financially viable for them to cater for

The OP should take care not to buy into a white elephant

Yes in the situation you mention things will be a while to get going.
Can't see large gatherings like wedding parties before next summer - and could be the year after.

 

[Countrymun]

[Why would somebody buy a boat radio at 2.30am?.[/QUOTE]
Good question - I often wonder about people who buy dog wetsuits between midnight and 4am. Sometimes it's a customer in a different time zone but often from the UK so I figure maybe they are working a night shift somewhere and shopping on their break (or they suffer from insomnia perhaps

 

[Naheed Mir]

Suppose you’re constantly working, and you’re uniformly keeping your stress levels high. In that case, you’re severely raising the risk of stress-related illnesses, such as diabetes and many other things. Let your clients know about your available hours. So, I would recommend working full time on working days and switch off the phone on weekends.

 

[Mr D]

Suppose you’re constantly working, and you’re uniformly keeping your stress levels high. In that case, you’re severely raising the risk of stress-related illnesses, such as diabetes and many other things. Let your clients know about your available hours. So, I would recommend working full time on working days and switch off the phone on weekends.

Not everyone keeps their stress levels high.

And sometimes you need to work long hours. To catch an opportunity or to deal with a particular problem that will otherwise slow down other aspects of the business.

For example lockdown in Wales from Friday - so the work that was planned for the rest of the month gets moved up to this week.

Over time we can adjust to the demands of work and non work required in a business.

 

[paulears]

If you are self-employed you really must be lucky if you switch off at 5.30! If you want a stress free life go and work for somebody else, and give them the stress. Seriously, since cover hit and my core business evaporated, I have worked whatever hours necessary, and sometimes this means talking to a chinese factory at two AM! This will be my first year at home with the family for 16 years! Normally, Christmas dinner is a Tesco Microwave curry, on my own, overseas and I've never found it a problem. My working days might start at 9am and I get home at 11pm 6 days a week for 3 months. I'd love to have a self-employment job that could have 9-5 hours. Obviously some do - shops for instance, hairdressing and other things like my driving instructor friend - but my self-employment would not remotely work like that, as I service the leisure industry, so we work when others don't! There's no mental health issue to working long hours and stress comes in two varieties like cholesterol fats - good and bad varieties. Stress makes me perform better and remain sharp and focussed. The bad sort of stress I deal with by converting worry into concern, like lipids!

 

[IWW Limited]

Good luck in the new venture, we service a lot of venues and we saw them drop completely off for the last 3 months.

Over the last 2-3 weeks though we are seeing the levels of uniforms and workwear bought by event companies growing, steadily.

Tides may be turning but always have one eye on that second wave.

Good luck - don't let your personal mental health of physical health slip either. Money comes and goes, health doesn't.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Suppose you’re constantly working, and you’re uniformly keeping your stress levels high. In that case, you’re severely raising the risk of stress-related illnesses, such as diabetes and many other things. Let your clients know about your available hours. So, I would recommend working full time on working days and switch off the phone on weekends.

Naheed I have worked this way most of my life and you manage it You eat well do a bit of training or another hobby or pastime . Hence why I am furious when new start ups think it might be like a part time job !

 

[Lucky8]

Stress makes me perform better and remain sharp and focussed. The bad sort of stress I deal with by converting worry into concern, like lipids!

This. Agreed.

It gets my goat when people complain about stress all the time, there are different types of stress and much of it makes people perform better, react quicker, and even learn to excel. This constant running away from stress and pressure is making us weaker, less resilient and unable to cope with the tiniest of challenges when they hit.

As for the OP's question, er... what do you think you should do, first year of a new business 2020/2021, out on a date night with your other half..., and it's work?

 

[paulears]

I can't think of anything worse than a date night..........

 

[bodgitt&scarperLTD]

I can't think of anything worse than a date night..........

Unless the wife doesn’t know....

 

[AllUpHere]

I can't think of anything worse than a date night..........

Try taking someone else's wife.

 

[SillyBill]

So this may sound ludicrous in the current climate but I'm due to enter self employment within the next year, completing a buy out of a company in the weddings and hospitality sector UK.

I am fairly happy with everything, coming to terms with accounting terminology and fully accept this will hit me like a tonne of bricks BUT what are everyone's top tips on how to get some kind of work life balance? For example 25% of enquiries come over the phone outside of normal office hours, if I'm on a date night with the better half how do I decide to answer the phone or not? Where is the cut off? What is an important enough to decide whether to answer or not? I understand this will be differant for everyone but any top tips would be fantastic.

Thanks in advance!!!

Whatever it takes is the answer. When I bought into my first business I was heavily in debt and despite running this very profitable business I had to do 2-3+ equivalent FTE jobs within it. I couldn't afford the staff needed to do all the work we were bringing in as well as service the interest and pay the principal back. So leveraging my own labour was part of the solution while we paid down the debt. I used to do 4+ hours in production from 4-5am in the morning until 9am ish. 9am was my starting office time: 9-10 hours as "MD", quick bite to eat then return to work into the late evening again on my second "operative" shift. Minimum 6 days a week, often Sunday mornings as well. No time off. Nothing worth having is obtained without sacrifice. My business has looked after me very well over the years but that is because I have looked after it whenever it called upon me. And still stands true today.

 

[Mr D]

Whatever it takes is the answer. When I bought into my first business I was heavily in debt and despite running this very profitable business I had to do 2-3+ equivalent FTE jobs within it. I couldn't afford the staff needed to do all the work we were bringing in as well as service the interest and pay the principal back. So leveraging my own labour was part of the solution while we paid down the debt. I used to do 4+ hours in production from 4-5am in the morning until 9am ish. 9am was my starting office time: 9-10 hours as "MD", quick bite to eat then return to work into the late evening again on my second "operative" shift. Minimum 6 days a week, often Sunday mornings as well. No time off. Nothing worth having is obtained without sacrifice. My business has looked after me very well over the years but that is because I have looked after it whenever it called upon me. And still stands true today.

You took a risk. And it paid off.

A period of illness, an accident, even an unexpected disaster like we have this year could have scuppered you.

As business owners we often take risks. Often enough with hard work they pay out.
Can cost us our business, our property, our relationships. So had better be worth it.

And sometimes we risk and we fail. We get up and try something else or try the same thing with a different focus. Or fade back to the masses of people not risking so much.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

The Weddings Florist next door tells me she is booked for most of next year with a substantial number of folk getting married earlier in the week as all other slots are taken.

New business............pick up the phone.

I have a customer who has called me at 1.30am because she knew I would still be up!

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I can't think of anything worse than a date night..........

WTF is date night

 

[PugwashEQ]

Whatever it takes is the answer. When I bought into my first business I was heavily in debt and despite running this very profitable business I had to do 2-3+ equivalent FTE jobs within it. I couldn't afford the staff needed to do all the work we were bringing in as well as service the interest and pay the principal back. So leveraging my own labour was part of the solution while we paid down the debt. I used to do 4+ hours in production from 4-5am in the morning until 9am ish. 9am was my starting office time: 9-10 hours as "MD", quick bite to eat then return to work into the late evening again on my second "operative" shift. Minimum 6 days a week, often Sunday mornings as well. No time off. Nothing worth having is obtained without sacrifice. My business has looked after me very well over the years but that is because I have looked after it whenever it called upon me. And still stands true today.

pretty much this- when you are getting the business off the ground, when you don't have a tonne of cashflow (and therefore don't have staff to do the work), either you do everything when it needs doing, or you lose that opportunity to make money.

Put it this way- each of those enquiries might be worth £1k in profit to you. If you don't answer the phone the customer WILL just phone someone else (unless you have something genuinely truly unique and in demand- and very very few businesses are truly unique).

What many people don't realise is that in the customers head the margin between them buying from you and buying from someone else is tiny- they will always take the easiest route to get what they want. You not answering the phone, or using an answering phone will cost you money.

I turned 40 this year and started by 4th startup in 20 years. I'm working less this time round, but still doing 80 hour weeks across 7 days. my first business i used to work from 9am to midnight 7 days a week and closed for 3 days in that first year. When you've bet your house, your wifes house and your wider families money you have a hell of a motivation to get it right.

Nowadays i sell businesses for clients and it is the biggest thrill in the world to help turn a lifetimes work into money and time for clients; when you know how hard it is to make a succesful business really appreciate giving clients the chance to stop whilst being financially independant.

 

[Rob1985]

You get out of it what you put in. All the business owners I know that have done well, have put everything into their business, they're available around the clock.

In the first few years of my business, I was working all day, everyday. I still went out and saw my friends and family and I went on holiday, but I was working while I was doing all of that. I got the business up to £2m on my own before it became too much.

 

[Mr D]

You get out of it what you put in. All the business owners I know that have done well, have put everything into their business, they're available around the clock.

In the first few years of my business, I was working all day, everyday. I still went out and saw my friends and family and I went on holiday, but I was working while I was doing all of that. I got the business up to £2m on my own before it became too much.

For lots of us we get out what we put in. For some they fail - perhaps due to external factors, perhaps due to insufficient prep, perhaps due to overestimating sales and underestimating costs.

Used to use a small supplier, thousand square foot warehouse who sold to the trade.
Most times we went we were the sole customer. His nearest rival was about 2 miles away and had a 40,000 square foot warehouse. Another few miles past that was a rival with 60,000 square foot warehouse.
He tried. Just he was way too small to compete. Couple of years he stayed open - 70 hour weeks plus whatever admin.
He'd have been better running as a retailer rather than wholesaler at that size.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

You get out of it what you put in. All the business owners I know that have done well, have put everything into their business, they're available around the clock.

In the first few years of my business, I was working all day, everyday. I still went out and saw my friends and family and I went on holiday, but I was working while I was doing all of that. I got the business up to £2m on my own before it became too much.

That's what I mean you have to give everything to make it work
30 years in business and you can still talk to me in the middle of the night..........If you have your credit number

 

[Interestedobserver]

Or the alternative when being self employed is to run it as a lifestyle business

And do as much or as little as you like

Depends where you are in life and the type of business of course

 

[Mark T Jones]

WTF is date night

Apparently it’s the price of a BJ when you’ve been married a long time

 

[Mark T Jones]

I don’t entirely agree with the whole long hours / 24 hour availability thing. Quite often I sense in small business-owners a false view of nobility in what in reality is inefficiency or poor delegation/ outsourcing


However, since the OPs business is both personal and emotive I do agree that being available is a high priority

 

[Mr D]

Apparently it’s the price of a BJ when you’ve been married a long time

10 quid?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I don’t entirely agree with the whole long hours / 24 hour availability thing. Quite often I sense in small business-owners a false view of nobility in what in reality is inefficiency or poor delegation/ outsourcing


However, since the OPs business is both personal and emotive I do agree that being available is a high priority

For the first 3 years I would say its important after that you should then sort yourself out

I do this as a lifestyle choice (because I want to )this does not mean that I work 20 hours a day but I am always available when needed and if I am not needed I can sit in the yard in a deck chair in the sun

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Apparently it’s the price of a BJ when you’ve been married a long time

10 quid?

Has @Mark T Jones just been solicited?

 

[Mr D]

Has @Mark T Jones just been solicited?

No, I'm not a solicitor. There are working girls (and boys etc) for that.

 

[PugwashEQ]

I don’t entirely agree with the whole long hours / 24 hour availability thing. Quite often I sense in small business-owners a false view of nobility in what in reality is inefficiency or poor delegation/ outsourcing


However, since the OPs business is both personal and emotive I do agree that being available is a high priority

If you're doing long hours after the first 24m of a new business then something is probably not working.

Whilst few business owners work 20-30 hours per week, being foreced to work 70 to 80 hours means something isn't quite working- you're either not making enough money to bring in staff, or you're failing to delegate.

If you really want a succesful business and to make a lot of money, then you have to spend a long time making your self unemployed- where you are, at most, the caretaker of a business to provide its ethos and strategic oversight.

This means when you come to sell the business (where the "Big money" event happens), you can actually leave!