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Newsday, Melville, N.Y., Change@Work Column: Going SOLO

Posted on: Sunday, 7 May 2006, 06:06 CDT

By Patricia Kitchen, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

May 7--Beth Zimmerman of Long Beach left a corporate job three years ago to start her own consulting firm. As her own boss, she gets to run errands during low-peak weekday hours, bike along the boardwalk on sunny afternoons and take a kickboxing class on a Tuesday - at 9 a.m.

But, she points out, don't get the idea that such moments are common.

"As a solo act, I empty the trash, fix the computer, troubleshoot IT problems, make the sales calls, shop for office supplies, schedule all travel, take meetings, write proposals and - of course - do the work," says Zimmerman, the founder and principal of Cerebellas Llc, a strategic planning firm.

Granted, the flexibility, autonomy and satisfaction people get from launching their own business may be rewarding. But such entrepreneurs make it clear there's also a price to pay: They have to recreate the standard benefits, services and support left behind in the corporate office.

What do these new solo fliers miss the most? Research by Chicago-based staffing firm Hudson Talent Management shows that independent professionals say their biggest "work attribute" problems include not only the lack of benefits, but the peaks and valleys in their workloads. And the aspect they are least satisfied with: There's no company-paid vacation time.

Entrepreneurs, of course, are resourceful, and many are filling in these gaps with solutions stemming from what they say are prerequisites in making any new venture work:

1. A good accountant and financial planner. It may seem obvious that sound financial advice is vital. But an accountant also can make introductions, tip you off to useful events, act as cheerleader - and maybe even therapist. Zimmerman describes her financial planner this way: "She's invested in my business success. ... She identifies with me as a woman owner and wants to see me succeed."

2: A strong network. That's an asset that should be "bold, underlined with blinking lights around it," says Darlene Aiken, who founded Inner Beauty Solutions, an empowerment and leadership training company based in Central Islip, in 2001 - two years before she left her job as a college admissions administrator. You'll need a good network to turn to for referrals and barter opportunities, she said, when you need services you formerly took for granted: administrative assistants, the human resources department, tech support staff and even marketing, legal and billing and/or collections.

Here's a look at some of the ways entrepreneurs have addressed common shortfalls they experience when they sever corporate ties.

Health insurance

When it comes to the extent of coverage, business owners run the gamut. Sue Fredericks, president of On Purpose, a performance management consulting firm in Westbury, worked with an insurance broker to find coverage comparable to what she had with her ex-employer, Olsten staffing, which was acquired by Adecco. "I learned to reassess my attitude," she said, to see health coverage as a cost of doing business.

Zimmerman started off with comparable out-of-network health coverage at $900 a month. But when she later decided to shave expenses, she opted for in-network coverage through GHI, which offers sole proprietor plans. Her monthly premium is $400, but it's going up to about $550 in August.

At the other end of the spectrum is Nelly Yusupova, 27, founder of DigitalWoman.com, a Web development firm in Manhattan. "I am part of the vast uninsured," she says. Yusupova aims to be healthy - she says she works out regularly, eats well and is "betting I'm not going to get sick." She says she would have to pay about $3,500 for an annual premium; instead, that money will be used, as needed, to pay for most noncatastrophic medical services.

Further resources:

When you leave an organization, you can pay premiums to keep the same coverage for up to 18 months through COBRA, a provision of a 1986 federal act.

Check out Healthy NY for insurance offered through the State of New York for residents who meet income guidelines, says Lucille Wesnofske, director of the Small Business Development Center at Farmingdale State University of New York. (See www.ins.state .ny.us/web site2/hny/english/ hny.htm.)

Freelancers, independent contractors and the self-employed can look into coverage from WorkingToday.org, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit.

Professional associations often offer group discounts on health coverage.

Tech support

When that hard drive crashes or you need a better systems backup, where do you turn now that you don't have access to the corporate help desk?

For starters, a variety of services are available, such as Rent-A-Geek, Techs on Call and TeleTechie.

You also can start mixing and mingling with those who have a gift and passion for resolving computer glitches. One place to look: the Manhattan and Long Island meetings of Webgrrls International, which welcomes just about anyone who uses a computer, men included, says Yusupova, coordinator of the Manhattan group. (See www. webgrrls .com.)

Others advise that it's time to deal with the reality of this electronic age and develop your own proficiency. Fredericks has become familiar with her computer system but relies on tech support from Dell ($200 for two years of extended support). She can get help on the phone 24 hours a day and have a technician make a house call to address major problems, such as the recent dysfunction of her motherboard.

When those tech experts do come, use the opportunity to look over their shoulders and ask what they're doing, says Micah Warren; he and a partner quit their public relations jobs two years ago to found FeverPitch Media Group, a Commack-based marketing firm. Warren says he's done just that, and now knows such things as what a computer with a bad RAM chip looks like.

Training

When Pat Sileo, a human resources manager with Symbol Technologies in Holtsville, was anticipating opening a business, she signed up for counseling at the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook University, which also offers free instruction funded by New York State and the U.S. Small Business Administration. She got help with business planning, marketing and financial matters, and six months later she opened the doors of tea&tiques, a shop in Huntington.

A similar small-business center is at Farmingdale State University, and outreach offices are found in Hempstead, at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, at Brookhaven National Lab and Southampton Town Hall. (See www.nyssbdc.org/

Locations/locations.html.)

Supplies

The office supply closet made life easy. In its absence, comparison shopping on the Internet, with home delivery, can go a long way to help.

But there are other options: Mindy Ferrentino Wolfle, president of Neptune Marketing Llc in Long Beach, says she relies on friends and vendors she worked with when she directed marketing for a large law firm - even the guys who provided banners, signage and promotional items. "These expenses add up," she says, "but with the right strategic alliances, I can minimize costs."

Yusupova says her operation is pretty much paperless. As for pens and Post-its, she asks, Why spend money when they can be picked up for free at trade shows? And the silver lining: Most supplies she does buy end up as tax deductions.

Billing and collecting

It may be the last thing most people launching new enterprises give any thought to: collecting money from clients or customers. Of course, their former companies have staff to do that.

Entrepreneurs have only themselves, and thus look to simplify the process. Many set up merchant accounts with MasterCard or PayPal, says Justine DeVito Tenney, a partner with accounting firm Weiser Llp in Lake Success, though she says larger clients prefer to go through the billing process.

Wolfle says her contracts with clients require half of the payment up front and half as the project is being completed. She decided that "instinctually - I don't want to begin a project with no money."

Aiken, 40, who facilitates workshops and presentations, follows a similar procedure. "I render a service," she says. "And once I render it, I can't get it back" if someone doesn't pay.

For help with such contracts, search the Internet for "small business vendor contract" or consult books such as "Consultant & Independent Contractor Agreements" (Nolo, $29.99).

Income

It certainly helps to have a spouse with a steady income - and benefits. Or, as Yvonne Kamerling does, to have supplemental revenue. Kamerling left a teaching job three years ago to found with a partner Legwork Team Inc. in Hauppauge, which provides editing, book packaging, marketing and other services to authors. But during her last year teaching she had started a life-coaching practice; it took off and now provides some income, as does tutoring she has begun on the side. Though Legwork Team is making money, she and her partner are still not taking salaries. Her advice: If you have a day job, stick with it as long as you can as your side venture grows.

That's advice that Warren, 28, of Fairview, N.J., and his partner, Scott Daugherty, 32, of Commack may not have heard. They just up and quit their public relations jobs with no plan, no clients - and not much savings. "We had nothing," Warren says. "But we said, Look, we can do this. We can figure this out."

In the early days they had to cut back on all kinds of spending. "Friends would say, 'Let's go to lunch. It's only $7.' I would say, 'I don't have $7. I don't have $4. I have nothing,'" says Warren. They managed to get a company credit card, which sometimes was used to pay for food, and Warren's parents footed the bill one month for his rent.

Now annual billings are in the neighborhood of $200,000, he says. And looking back, he adds, "Even when we were broke, we were extraordinarily happy based on the perks of being our own boss."

Marketing

Back when they were teaching elementary school, new moms Stephanie Campbell, 30, of Northport, and Lisa Rubino, 31, of Sayville, never gave a thought to promoting themselves.

But now that's one of their key roles as co-founders of Stroller Mamas Fitness Llc, an exercise program for new moms. Rubino says she and Campbell always wear Stroller Mamas T-shirts and pass out fliers at shops such as Babies "R" Us, toy stores, supermarket parking lots, and parks and playgrounds - "anyplace you would find a mom." They're speaking at a May 18 lunch meeting in Westbury of Mingling Moms, a new-mothers group. And a friend who belongs to a networking group, Business Network of Long Island, hands out their fliers at those events.

"Our most powerful advertising tool, so far, has been word of mouth," Rubino says. And she concedes, "We have struggles with this. We're not sales people. We're teachers at heart."

Administrative support

Small-business owners say this is where family comes in. Aiken's relatives have made and taken phone calls, stuffed envelopes, handed out flyers, manned the door at her presentations - "everything except facilitate a group," she says.

Zimmerman's 73-year-old mother proofreads her monthly newsletter, runs errands for supplies or to the post office, and has stuffed envelopes with holiday greeting cards.

Wolfle's husband does some of the filing, but she's found an outside resource for help with major mailings: the vocational training program at the Nassau BOCES Rosemary Kennedy School for young people with developmental disabilities. Students get to develop skills, Wolfle gets her mailings out at no charge, and the teacher will even pick up and deliver.

Camaraderie

For those who miss the office gang, one solution is to build in face time with others. Zimmerman occasionally pulls together a group of ex-pats from her former company. Fredericks is active with the Long Island Center for Business and Professional Women.

But it needn't be a formal occasion. BJ Gallagher, a former training manager in Los Angeles and author of "YES Lives in the Land of NO" (Berrett-Koehler), says she gets together after closing hours with a guy who runs a shipping service at a local strip mall and another who runs a nearby comic book store. They down a couple of beers and play the board game Cashflow.

For some, the entrepreneurial life actually offers more camaraderie. Kamerling says when she was a teacher she had little chance to mix and mingle: Her "free time" - 40-minute planning sessions - were needed for planning and grading papers. Now she's free to attend conferences, go on business calls and meet all kinds of new people.

Vacation

It's one thing, says Tenney, the accountant, to be running the show. It's quite another "when you are the show." That's why it's so hard for those running small concerns to get away, apart from the occasional extra day tacked on to a business trip.

The only way to do it, she says, is to plan far in advance and let clients know how to reach you in an emergency. And when it comes to a long weekend, you're better off taking a Friday than a Monday, she says, as clients often come in on Mondays with fresh ideas and are eager to talk with their vendors or service providers.

Jaimy Lynn Cohen of Jaimy Lynn Productions, a musical entertainment provider in North Bellmore, said it took several nudges from a girlfriend before she booked a vacation to Mexico and San Diego.

"Being my own boss, I tend to dismiss personal things," says Cohen, a former marketing vice president with Cablevision. "I have to remember to be human with myself and to be my own HR department."

To help with that and other needs, she recently joined an "accountability group" of others who have participated in "life transformation" seminars put on by Landmark Education, a San Francisco-based training and development firm.

Each week members commit to completing certain business or life tasks - say, meeting with a financial planner or researching a trip to Costa Rica. Those who don't follow through get hit with a $5 fine.

Says Cohen, it's a little like making a declaration to a boss or to a board of directors, breaking down projects into "bite-size pieces week by week."

Ready, set - plan!

Before you leave a paying staff gig to start your own concern, consider the following:

Take no-fee classes at local small-business development centers. See www.nyssbdc.org/Locations/locations.html.

Do an inventory of those you can ask for advice or resources in areas like marketing, accounting, financing, finding benefits, tech support, etc.

Check out resources from the Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) and books such as "The Small Business Start-Up Kit" (Nolo Press).

Look into QuickBooks, an accounting software application for small business owners. (Experts say you need to separate your personal and business finances.)

Get familiar with various computer resources to help replace administrative support at work: calendars, address books, reminder functions. Sue Frederickson of On Purpose, a performance consulting firm in Westbury, likes Backpack at www.backpackit.com.

Take out long-term disability insurance. It can be hard to get if you don't have a job with predictable income, says Justine DeVito Tenney, a partner with accounting firm Weiser Llp.

Review the steps for setting up a simplified employee pension plan for small business owners (www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/SEPPlans.html).

Start your business on a moonlighting basis - as long as there's no conflict or an integrity issue with your present employer. If you do it from home, you may need extra liability insurance, so let your insurance company know, says Tenney.

Going solo in New York State

1,361,705

SOLO BUSINESSES*

$61.2 billion in sales/income

121,798

BLACK-OWNED

$2.38 billion in sales/income

150,110

HISPANIC-OWNED

$2.98 billion in sales/income

439,857

FEMALE-OWNED

$11.6 billion in sales/income

115,670

NASSAU COUNTY

$7.24 billion in sales/income

110,662

SUFFOLK COUNTY

$5.72 billion in sales/income

*Statistics refer to companies with no paid employees. Businesses may or may not be owner's main source of income

SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, 2002, 2003 data

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Copyright (c) 2006, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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