Since I read a lot of feeds on a weekly basis and am something of an anal, Getting-Things-Done type of guy, I thought I’d talk a little about what I actually do with all those incoming articles.
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A big part of the Say No! to the Office philosophy is that life-changing, freedom-giving small businesses are not only, or even mainly, about new ways to make money on the internet. We’re convinced that even the most ‘physical’ of enterprises can be brought into the digital age with the tools and services that are currently available. But what to do about moving those pesky boxes from A to B?
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During the inevitable cost-cutting that a recession brings, there is a single piece of advice that is shouted louder than any other by business experts: don’t reduce the publicity budget - increase it! The idea is that while other companies are shrinking their advertising to nothing, the clever companies are taking advantage and increasing market share.
I guess it should come as no surprise then, that the online freelance job portal Elance.com has confirmed what we all suspected: in times of economic difficulty, the hottest jobs are in sales and marketing. The ‘Elance Online Work Index’ for May 2009 shows demand for ‘Sales’ skills up 11 places and ‘Marketing Strategy’ up a whopping 19 places. Interestingly, companies are looking firmly to new and developing sales channels such as online marketing, blog content and social media to increase sales, with demand for skills in all these areas up significantly from previous indices.
Now also appears to be a great time to ditch the 9-5 with a flexible online career. Don’t believe me? Here’s what the experts have to say:
The demand for online work is growing across the board as businesses cope with tighter budgets and growing workloads. Marketing and IT departments are hiring online as a flexible alternative to adding full-time staff. In April, companies posted more than 25,000 new jobs on Elance, building on the 250,000 jobs and $100m worth of online work posted on Elance in the last 12 months.1
The bottom line: in harsh economic conditions, your aim should always be to show how you can add immediate value and drive sales for any potential employer, whatever your field of expertise. If you’re a creative writer, now may be the time to adapt your skills to writing sales copy or promotional material. If you’re a programmer, switch to social media development and show companies how you can push modern sales channels. Effectively, every job is now, at least for a time, a sales job. Even better, as a Non-9-5′er, your flexibility and low overall cost to employers (those carpeted divider they use for cubicles in offices cost hundreds) makes you a more attractive candidate right now than a fully suited drone.
- Also from the ‘Elance Online Work Index’ for May 2009 ↩
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So, here’s what happened. Since January we had been living in a little flat with a big problem - there was a flaw in the plumbing installed when the building was remodelled which meant that sewer gases could rise through the pipes and escape freely into the bathroom. It smelled like a public toilet all the time.
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As previously explained, at The Tapas Lunch Company, we are sick of chasing customers for payment. Most of our trade customers are bars, pubs, delis and restaurants who are not exactly forthcoming with the cash and we spend too much time trying to get it out of them. So, we are thinking of turning to Direct Debit to solve our credit chasing problems. After having investigated this over the last couple of days, I’m happy to say that it does look viable, even for a tiny business like us. Here’s a summary of what I’ve found and the potential costs involved.
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Recently at my small business, we’ve been getting sick to the back teeth of chasing customers for money. Restauranteurs, our main trade customer base, are renowned for being terrible payers and trying to get them on the phone is fruitless - they’re either too busy, or closed. That means I dread credit-chasing day and most of time, just skip it - which is obviously not a sound way to run a business. I just can’t face this soul-destroying activity and basically, just don’t want it as part of my life.
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You probably won’t know what a ‘power user’ is unless you are (or at least consider yourself) one. You could be a power user of a particular software application, particular online service, or particular hardware platform - the requirements are more or less the same. Power users don’t just ‘use’ a tool - they wring it dry for every drop of utility possible. They know the ins and outs of every function, option, shortcut, menu and can achieve things using it that even the designer of the tool considers impossible. They are seriously clever geeks.
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This is a lighthearted concept introduction and the first in a series of pieces looking at business models in the modern economy and what they mean to potential Non-9-to-5′ers. If you are an expert economist, probably best to look away now.
If you don’t know what a ‘business model’ is, join the club - nobody really does. It’s a concept that entrepreneurs and bank managers toss around casually but when it comes to the crunch, good definitions are hard to come by. That is, unless you’re a business studies professor, in which case you might say something like: “an architecture for the product, service, and information flows, a description of the benefits for the business actors involved, and a description of the sources of revenue” 1. Got that? No? Here’s an easier way to think of it: it’s the answer to the question “How the hell are you going to make money out of that?”. Listen up.
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- Timmers, Paul. “Business Models for Electronic Markets,” Electronic Markets, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 3-8 (1998) ↩
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So you’ve decided you want to be a Non-9-to-5′er. You’re going to set up a small business, start out as a freelancer, or work for your current employer from home. You’re going to turn yourself into a super-productive entrepreneurial wizard and achieve that worklife balance you’ve always wanted. Here’s what I (and many others) currently consider required reading.
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Say No! to the Office was born out of my own desire to avoid a dull career - simple as that.
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