Walking away from the comfy confines of the corporate world to start our own business was not only scary but we also encountered considerable skepticism from family and friends. What about job security, room for advancement, a 401(k) and insurance, they asked. Some wrote us off as simply two naive, young women. Others thought we were crazy to walk away from everything our burgeoning corporate careers appeared to offer for a situation in which success was far from guaranteed.
We weren’t just making this decision on a wing and a prayer, though. We had identified a tremendous potential opportunity. Having recently helped several entrepreneurial friends market their new businesses, we recognized the positive impact that social media offered for brand awareness, reputation management and lead generation. We learned how to successfully target large numbers of business prospects in a cost-effective way. Once we were able to begin quantifying results and demonstrating a return on investment, we launched our own social-media-marketing agency.
We carefully constructed a comprehensive plan of our strategy for capitalizing on this opportunity. We had a mission statement and planned how much money we personally needed to invest to get the company running and cash to set aside for lean times.
We projected how many clients we needed to sign and what to charge. We identified our target industries and our competitive advantage over other agencies.
With dollar signs and dreams of autonomy dancing through our heads, we ceremoniously offered our resignations the same day.
Yet we quickly learned how much we hadn’t accounted for.
There was way more to worry about and address than we had ever envisioned. Panic quickly began to set in. Perhaps the naysayers were right and we were in over our heads. Maybe we were, in fact, just two naive young women who had foolishly given up their corporate careers. Was it too late to call American Express and beg for our jobs back?
We are happy to share that we never did make those calls. As bleak as things seemed, we somehow found ways to weather the storm and our company survived. Four years and seven additional employees later, the company continues to grow.
Ye it took more hard work, sweat and tears than we ever imagined. This is where our pain becomes your gain: We want to help those about to dive into the entrepreneurial pool by sharing four items that are critically important to consider.
Related: Why Your New Business Needs a Lawyer Yesterday
1. Find a good lawyer.
Shortly after launching, we received a cease and desist letter concerning the use of our company's name. We were unsure about the ramifications and what would be needed to rectify it. If not for a competent business attorney with experience representing companies similar to ours, we could have lost more than just time and money.
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