Growing my business

When you are a sole practitioner for a long time and decide you want to expand your business it takes a change of mind-set as much as a change of mind.

Cash that used to be plentiful and allocated with little thought seems scarcer than sunny days in Rochester, New York. When you hire your first employee, the sense of responsibility rivals that of first-time parenthood. You are now obligated to another person's livelihood.  Your success is food on their table. Nothing like a little pressure to motivate you, huh?

Every decision seems monumental. Will it be the twistee mechanical pencils or the clickee mechanical pencils? Green background on the website or blue? Peer to peer network or terminal server?

You take a leap of faith. Then another. And another. Before you know it, your confidence grows and those decisions get easier and easier. You achieve a success and then a bigger one. People are starting to call and email and ask your advice. Your local business group asks you for a publication quote and then requests your presence to deliver a keynote speech. You feel like you have arrived, all is flourishing and then....

The economy turns sour and all of a sudden consulting income is down 42%. You take a very deep breath, adjust your business plan and take ........

another Leap of Faith.

Advice for others

There is an old adage about keeping your head when all those around you are losing theirs. It is crucial in a rocky economy to keep calm, make adjustments, grit your teeth and follow your plan. As a result of our adjustments our revenues may only be up in the single digits percentage wise but our net profitability is up over 30%.  We have worked with several of our clients to help them achieve the same kind of results.

Our best advice to them is not to panic.