How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two
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@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
I have more business than I can handle, so right now I am in a pretty good spot. Hopefully that 'eases the pain' somewhat.
Well, of course, you don't want to grow to more people when you have less business than you want
Some companies get lucky, having a single new customer come on that needs ~80% of a new person, enough that you can pay them with minimal risk, but not so much that you can use them to help you pivot to more work. Once you break the barrier, each new person is easier than the last. But each one comes with some cost and risk, it's just less and less. The cost and risk of the first one are the hardest to absorb. -
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
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@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
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@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
Yes, I saved enough that if 0 dollars come in I would still be able to operate for over a year.
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@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
Yes, I saved enough that if 0 dollars come in I would still be able to operate for over a year.
Paying yourself and an employee? If so, that's awesome, sounds like you're nearly read to make the jump to your first employee.
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@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
Yes, I saved enough that if 0 dollars come in I would still be able to operate for over a year.
Paying yourself and an employee? If so, that's awesome, sounds like you're nearly read to make the jump to your first employee.
Yep... and I did it 2.5 weeks ago.
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@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
This is often the case. Employees are expensive. Lots of people never get back to where they were before hiring.
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
This is often the case. Employees are expensive. Lots of people never get back to where they were before hiring.
once you hire, there are a ton of new or at least significantly higher fees/taxes/etc you have to pay that you didn't before.
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@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
This is often the case. Employees are expensive. Lots of people never get back to where they were before hiring.
once you hire, there are a ton of new or at least significantly higher fees/taxes/etc you have to pay that you didn't before.
Unemployment taxes, payroll costs, workman's comp, etc.
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
This is often the case. Employees are expensive. Lots of people never get back to where they were before hiring.
once you hire, there are a ton of new or at least significantly higher fees/taxes/etc you have to pay that you didn't before.
Unemployment taxes, payroll costs, workman's comp, etc.
I'm 'very aware' of that... It sucks...
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@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
This is often the case. Employees are expensive. Lots of people never get back to where they were before hiring.
once you hire, there are a ton of new or at least significantly higher fees/taxes/etc you have to pay that you didn't before.
Unemployment taxes, payroll costs, workman's comp, etc.
I'm 'very aware' of that... It sucks...
NTG was once hit to pay unemployment... for a currently employed employee!!
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
This is often the case. Employees are expensive. Lots of people never get back to where they were before hiring.
once you hire, there are a ton of new or at least significantly higher fees/taxes/etc you have to pay that you didn't before.
Unemployment taxes, payroll costs, workman's comp, etc.
I'm 'very aware' of that... It sucks...
NTG was once hit to pay unemployment... for a currently employed employee!!
so what? the employee lied about being fired? or the gov't just f'ed up?
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@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
No doubt. I waited too long before hiring. I've been working 7 days a week about 17 hours per day... Not fun.
Yeah, probably too long. But the longer you do it, the more time you have to bank the money to pay the next person with less risk.
Yeah, you have to either be prepared to get a loan to cover their salary, or have it in the bank already. You might find your own salary going down, possibly significantly, while you continue to grow the business.
This is often the case. Employees are expensive. Lots of people never get back to where they were before hiring.
once you hire, there are a ton of new or at least significantly higher fees/taxes/etc you have to pay that you didn't before.
Unemployment taxes, payroll costs, workman's comp, etc.
I'm 'very aware' of that... It sucks...
NTG was once hit to pay unemployment... for a currently employed employee!!
so what? the employee lied about being fired? or the gov't just f'ed up?
Employee actually lost their other job. So the government just hit up all "former" employeres for money, even ones that the person currently worked for. Our CFO called in and was like "Let me get this straight, we have to pay unemployment AND employment on the same person" And the state was like "WTF?""
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
And the state was like "WTF?""
Eh?
So what was the outcome?
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@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
And the state was like "WTF?""
Eh?
So what was the outcome?
We didn't have to pay. But what a freaking mess. It shows how little diligence is put into asking people to pay!
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
And the state was like "WTF?""
Eh?
So what was the outcome?
We didn't have to pay. But what a freaking mess. It shows how little diligence is put into asking people to pay!
But the guy applied for unemployment to get the train rolling?
Or was he part time with you and entitled to unemployment less his part time earnings?
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@ccwtech said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
So essentially unless you have a large amount of capital, the small I.T. business owner is pretty much screwed?
Large MSP's generally begin with a large split off of an IT department from a larger company. So there is a rolling 50 to 100 IT stagg joining the new firm and established revenue from the parent company to continue providing IT services.
All the Growth Methods MSP programs in the world will never bring you from the small shop to this level. If these programs worked you would see less programs and those same people growing large global MSP's. Large MSP's are created by deal makers they put these companies together. People who know enough about IT to navigate the board room pitches.
A large IT business, like any business, is not something a tech savvy IT consultant would ever create. Every MSP I have ever worked with purses deals like this...
1.) Company has 3500 employees, 40 IT Staff
2.) MSP engages to onboard IT staff, showing the customer an increase in agility, increased resources and decreased benefits and soft dollar overhead
3.) MSP onboards all IT Staff with a commitment to not fire anyone in the first year.
4.) Consolidation and employee shifting begins within the MSP while the customer realizes a more streamlined support structure with the MSP's existing 250 staff and processes.I think you are far better off looking to form a small boutique consulting shop and create clear financial goals than to pursue an MSP.
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Another caveat with the Small Biz MSP...
Small businesses under 100 employees, however successful the company appears, are general not able to make sound decisions regarding IT. You end up giving more for less because they dont understand your value, or you spend 80% of your effort getting business instead of providing service and making money.
Consulting puts you in a more earnest position once you actually have a customer, and a more long term position.
However, small businesses are not seeking our IT consulting. Its a hard marketing proposition. They are googling for cloud services they can control themselves to replace the much hated IT guy they are dealing with.
It can be done. I think I remember reading even on NTG that they started during the IT boom and had the advantage of taking on an incumbent customer base.
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@bigbear said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@dashrender said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Grow from a One Man Operation to Two:
And the state was like "WTF?""
Eh?
So what was the outcome?
We didn't have to pay. But what a freaking mess. It shows how little diligence is put into asking people to pay!
But the guy applied for unemployment to get the train rolling?
Or was he part time with you and entitled to unemployment less his part time earnings?
He was part time wiht us, he had applied for partial unemployment.
