Heart to heart - interview on starting a business - includes related articles on businesses owned by the panel participants - Panel Discussion

Home Office Computing, Nov, 1992 by Robert A. Parker

Each time a new wave of corporate downsizing threatens job security, many corporate employees begin thinking about opening, their own shop. I recently met with some of these home-business hopefuls at a regional meeting of the International Association of Business Communicators. Three independent businesspeople. including myself, took part in a roundtable discussion and answered questions from the audience.

Going into business must really begin with your own success, not with your company's potential failure, warned the three "graduates" from the corporate world. We answered practical questions: How do I market myself? How do I decide what to charge? What problems will I have?

Alison Davis, president of Davis, Hays & Co., and Thomas Hunter, president of Effective Communications Group, were the other two panelists. Our discussion yielded some practical pointers that apply to any line of business.

ON GETTING STARTED

THOMAS HUNTER: A number of years ago, in my free time, I wrote a book called Beginnings. I interviewed a variety of well-known people on the early stages of their careers. I figured these people must have liked what they did; they were energetic and enthusiastic enough to do well at it. So I saw them as role models.

After the book came out, I was asked if I would be interested in doing workshops on interviewing techniques. Well, it was serendipity. I found I enjoyed doing the workshops, and for 10 years I used my vacation days to do them for an organization in Chicago. Finally I decided to take early retirement from my corporate PR job at age 55 and operate the workshops exclusively. The timing was right. My four daughters were finished with college, three were married, and I was able to continue my company health-insurance coverage. Since then, I've asked myself if I should have started my own business earlier. The answer is no. I wasn't ready for it.

ALISON DAVIS:I was working for a 125-person agency 10 years ago, was moving up, and yet was enjoying my job less and less. There was too much hand-holding, not enough creative work. Then a friend recommended me to a small company that needed PR help. I moonlighted for them, and it was fun. I could do this on my own, I told my husband. That was my start.

ROBERT A. PARKER: I was director of communications for an association. I had often dreamed of going on my own, but I'm just not a gambler. Then a businessman I knew started a Sunday newspaper supplement, and hired me as a part-time editor. It was a perfect situation. I could start my own business at the same time; either the magazine would succeed and I'd be in on the ground floor, or I'd have a head start in my own business. In the end, the part-time job did not pay off--the magazine folded in a year--but I established a client base with that cushion of time.

ON MAKING THE TRANSITION

DAVIS: One of the hardest adjustments is to go from a large organization to a small spare room where you feel really alone. You have to spend time doing things you may not do well and that you don't get paid for. There mail room to handle your Federal Express pickup. There's only to do the bookkeeping, to research the new fax machine. Or you may be with your accountant al day, so you have to work all night to meet the deadline you gave a client. And you can't skimp on quality. The client's expectations higher when he pays outside work than when assigns it to his staff.

HUNTER: You have to be prepared for days when working for you're But before you commit to stuffing envelopes while watching Ted Koppel, you should first dabble in your field. Find out if you're good at it. And do you enjoy it? Also, do you have the money to open your shop?

PARKER: You can't expect that as soon as you are on your own, all your friends are going to give you business. This is no reflection on you. It's simply that your relationship is different now. So you need a nest egg, or a means of bringing in money. For example, will your current employer offer you regular jobs? You can be tops in your field, but if you're not a good salesperson, things will begin slowly.

ON SELLING

DAVIS: A woman came up to me at a workshop. "I want to start my own business," she said, "but I really hate to sell." I told her that selling is something you have to do all the time. Yes, it's difficult to pick up the phone and sell yourself to a stranger when you're not in the mood or have work to do. And it's painful to go to an event and have to work the room. But that's part of the entrepreneurial experience.

PARKER: A word that many find difficult to talk about is shyness. But each of us has a shyness quotient. I have great confidence in my professional skills, but not in my ability to project those skills. If I'm not careful, what comes across is superiority instead of knowledge, or aloofness instead of my natural reserve.

HUNTER: So what do you do?

PARKER: I look for a crutch. I'm not comfortable telling people how good I am. So I show them a sample of my work. Or I send information that will be of interest. I just have to give myself a reason to talk to strangers. Of course, I don't get any job unless I follow through on the phone. Because what matters is not what I'm selling, but what their needs are. One tip, however: Don't wait for a slow period. When your schedule is full and your adrenaline is up, that's when you're in a positive mood, and that's the best time for prospecting.