Fire the Boss: Hire yourself

A home business provides you and your family with a fantastic lifestyle. There are many reasons kiwis love being their own boss. For some, it’s the lure of more time; be it for leisure activities and sports, or a more flexible family-friendly schedule. Others are excited by the financial rewards owning your own business provides. Whatever your reason, you will relate to the 87% of New Zealand business owners who run small businesses. It can be a big step moving from PAYE to GST, FBT, and ACC. We spoke with North-shore business owner Hillary Bryant about her experiences running a leather, vinyl, and plastic repair franchise; Fibrenew.

“I purchased my first house when I was about 21. After making a small profit on the sale of that house, I was absolutely itching to get into my own business. I had been managing someone else’s business for a year or so at that time, and had decided that it was time to go out on my own. The north-shore franchise of Fibrenew came up for sale, and as I had been involved previously through family, I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to test my real-world business skills.”

Miss Bryant lists the best aspects of a home business as Financial, Lifestyle, and Freedom. “Firstly, I think the best thing about having a home business, is the control you have over your own life. You work your own hours – as many or as few as you want. You get control your pay-packet – how much money you make is totally dependent on the work that you put into your business. It’s also a really good way to pursue a passion or a hobby full-time and get paid to do it!”

So you’ve decided that your own business is the perfect option for you… What do you do now? There are two ways to get started. You can take that brand-new idea you have and create a new brand, package, and system of marketing and selling your new product/service. Alternatively, you can buy a business with existing customers and systems. The most important consideration, says Miss Bryant, is which option suits you personally. “My business is a franchise, I have the repair techniques, marketing manual, and operational systems already in place. They’ve been tried and tested since 1989! Plus, I can draw on the years of experience of my fellow franchise owners from NZ and across the globe.”

“A franchised business like Fibrenew is great for someone just starting out who needs some direction in things like sales, marketing, accounting, and HR. Others will prefer to start everything from scratch. With time, hard-work, and a comprehensive sales and marketing plan, your customer base will eventually grow to provide you with equal rewards.” Another consideration, says Miss Bryant, is how important a regular income is to your family? “If you buy an existing business, there is an existing customer base which will cost you more money initially to purchase, but provides an income stream right away. The question you need to ask yourself is do you have several months of time to invest in your business before the income starts flowing?”

Once you’ve gone and got yourself a business, it’s important to invest the time to make it work. We all know that although a home business sounds like a dream, it does take time and effort to make it successful. There are hundreds, if not thousands of business how-to books around these days. All, it seems, have different theories on how to be successful. “Keep-It-Simple-Stupid” Touts Miss Bryant. “Firstly you need to be clear on why you went into business in the first place. If you wanted more time, don’t work 80hr weeks, hire someone else to do that! Secondly, make sure you have written your goals down in a business plan and look at it regularly and work towards your goals. Thirdly, learn from others. Maybe there is a better way you could be doing things, from sales, to operations.”

“If you are in a franchised business utilize the support networks and ask questions of other business owners. They are obviously doing something right if they are successful in their business! I just learned so much from simply talking to other business people like myself. They inspired me to start a new business project, which is why the Fibrenew north-shore territory is currently for sale” For more information visit www.fibrenew.co.nz/northshore.

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