A presentation on moving from Freelancer to Business Owner, brought to BarCamp Memphis by Matt DeLong from Core Commerce in Nashville. Core Commerce was a Platinum Sponsor for the event.

1. Welcome Transition from freelancer to business owner. Matt DeLong, CEO - CoreCommerce

2. Transition from freelancer to business owner . Freelancer -vs- Biz Owner Freelancer Biz Owner Income based on... Your efforts only Your teams efforts On vacation... Income stops Income continues You own.. A Job A System and people work for you

3. Transition from freelancer to business owner . CASHFLOW Quadrant

4. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP1: Ask yourself -Why switch? Make more money? Have more free time? Build something of value?

5. Transition from freelancer to business owner . My reason for switching?

6. Transition from freelancer to business owner . My reason for switching? I HATED peanut butter & jelly!!

7. Transition from freelancer to business owner . My reason for switching? I HATED Ramen Noodles

8. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 2: Have a game plan! ..but...Be Realistic ..and..Think it Through

9. Transition from freelancer to business owner . My game plan? 1) Hire a sales rep 2) Assume $0 in sales during 3 month training 3) Put the rest on VISA

10. Transition from freelancer to business owner . How did I feel after pulling the trigger on this decision?

11. Transition from freelancer to business owner . Can't I just get angels or venture capital (VC)?

15. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 3: Be Flexible What happens if you have a hard time selling your services? Things change – and so should you!

16. Transition from freelancer to business owner . How flexible do we have to be? Best client having financial problems – can't pay bills. First programmer hired was a disaster!! Merchant account shut down after just 2 months...because of stolen credit cards being used..we were dead in the water. No one wanted to buy our stuff! (custom programming)

17. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 4: Take a vacation.. you are going to need it! Nothing extravagant—you can't afford it yet You are going to need a vacation at this point. Reflect on what you've learned so far...

18. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 5: Apply trial and error Best client has financial problems – solution? Discussion Questions...

19. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 5: Apply trial and error Best client has financial problems – solution? Programmer disaster – FIRED HIM –didn't need to think about that one. Discussion Questions...

20. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 5: Apply trial and error Best client has financial problems – solution? Programmer disaster – FIRED HIM –didn't need to think about that one. Merchant account issue - solution? Discussion Questions...

21. Transition from freelancer to business owner . TIP: Payment Terms - $18k What do you do if client doesn't have $9k available to start a project? Typical Terms Consider Using Also Consider 50/50 50/25/25 Monthly payments (For projects spanning 3months+) $9k / $9k $9k / $4.5k / $4.5k $6k / $6k / $6k

22. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 6: Give it time – adjust as you go 3 mo. training assumption, instead it took 6 months. Struggled for 3-6 months longer than we thought Took 2 years before we started building momentum.

23. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 7: Pay attention and measure what's important What KPIs do we use? * Customer Satisfaction - 93% * Revenues - $$ * Project Turnaround Times - 90% * NET INCOME - $$ * Other KPIs – each dept has 5-6

24. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 8: Focus on sales and marketing Sales and cash flow are the life blood of every small business. Marketing turns your hobby into a real business with an ongoing stream of customers.

25. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 9: Learn from your mistakes What is the most expensive mistake you can make?

26. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 9: Learn from your mistakes What is the most expensive mistake you can make? The one you never learn from

27. Transition from freelancer to business owner . Always make new mistakes!

28. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 10: Learn to make good decisions. More money=more options=more decisions The more money your company makes, the better your decision making needs to be.

29. Transition from freelancer to business owner .

30. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 10: Learn to make good decisions. Think through the advantages and disadvantages of any decision. No disadvantages! – c'mon, find them! Follow through on your decision, don't second guess yourself – will drive you nuts.

31. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 10: Learn to make good decisions. Why do lottery winners usually blow their money?

32. Transition from freelancer to business owner . STEP 11: Learn to Execute Execution is the discipline of getting things done. Get good at your routine Schedule everything & follow through Hard / soft deadlines w/ accountability Document your processes

33. Transition from freelancer to business owner . 1. Ask yourself – Why switch? 2. Have a game plan! 3. Be Flexible 4. Take a vacation 5. Apply trial & error 6. Give it time – adjust as you go 7. Pay attention – use KPIs 8. Focus on sales & marketing 9. Learn from your mistakes 10. Learn to make good decisions 11. Learn to Execute Recap.....

34. Questions? corecommerce.com