Flying Solo: A reflection on a self-employment journey by one of our Business Unit Directors
Deciding to "fly alone" in your professional journey can be full of mixed emotions. There's always a sense of fear and excitement in the unknown as one ventures to become the "newbie" in the marketplace. There are, however, things that you can do to help battle those fears and triumph over them as you become a successful entrepreneur.
Looking for a change and deciding to go solo and elevate how you deliver your seasoned skills and expertise can get daunting. Especially when there's no proper support, ideas, and other necessary experience in place.
From preference, to manage challenges in-house, to configuring and participating in effective team functioning within the organisation… the list is endless. All these skills now become more than essential to put into practice when positioning yourself as a successful solopreneur and delivering to a high standard of client expectations. And that’s without even mentioning invoices, tax returns and Marketing!
We bring to you a personal reflection from one of our Business Unit Directors, whom we interviewed recently. Here's what Ben Scott Thomas had to say:
“I've been a Business Unit Director with myfm for about a year. After being in the facility service industry for 15 years, I wanted to start my own business utilising my previous experience and contacts.
I wasn't sure, however, where to start. I always knew about myfm and their position of placing interim managers into facility services organisations and respective contracts. Although I was unsure how and what they could do for people who wanted to work for themselves.
So, I spoke to the team at myfm and realised that they offer a unique position. I was pleasantly surprised by the benefits they can offer to someone like me. The best part was they provided full back-office support for consultants already working for themselves and those who want to scale up their own businesses. And to add, they provide three major functions that save me time and access to those elements of a business, which I wouldn't normally know how to access if I was starting up on my own.
The first is a Finance function. They do this by providing Consultants, Interim and Project Managers with full financial support by billing and chasing debt, paying any managers that I place into a contract and can provide a back office commercial function. They're also able to negotiate terms and conditions and have many major organisations' procurement lists.
The second is the invaluable Resource function, where I can access myfm's 200+ dependable, trusted, and experienced Interim Managers. Can I place one of them for my clients and their needs? Usually yes, and if there's no one available for any specific role or skill set, they can look outside the network and carefully vet extra resources.
The last thing is the Marketing function. myfm has an experienced marketing team active on LinkedIn and other social networking channels. This could help promote my business by posting job adverts and helping me widen my network of potential clients.
So, in summary, myfm supports me in managing my business aspirations. The very ethos of Interim Management is to flex and provide services that are not necessarily available to that in-house”
If you'd like to hear more about how myfm has helped Ben set up his own business click here
Sound like a plan?
As you work your way through preparations, fear not! Whatever you choose to do, keep the faith. If others can do it – so can you!
And to add, we can point you in the right direction. Providing direct access to a brilliant FM network for cultivating key relationships to valuable resources you can confidently work with and trust. We have it all under one roof.
Do you enjoy engaging yourself with great interest and energy? Are you willing to take up challenges with high degrees of responsibility within the FM domain?
If so, then become one of our Business Unit Directors to reap the benefits of connecting to a strong FM network of professionals and receive the backup support of our close-knit central team!
Our experts are here to help with competency and your capacity-related demands.
Scroll through the myfm team below and click to find out more on their experience, skill set and how they can help your business and needs.