[Nick Griffin]

I wholeheartedly agree with Leo and Ron on this. Surveys are useful when there is a very large customer base and an impersonal connection to the company. Surveys are good for asking if the service technician was friendly and informative. They are no substitute for a face-to-face conversation with a person — especially if that person was the one who had just spent a lot of time personally providing the product or service. (IMHO.)

[Nick Griffin]

Don’t get me started, but…

Have you been to a Doctor’s office or hospital (in the US) lately??

Combine the number of people responsible for paperwork, the number of paper-pushers in large employers, the number of paper-pushers in the “health care delivery” companies, and yes — I’m even going to harpoon our area of concern in this forum — the number of people concerned with selling and marketing health care… and what have you got? My guess is about a third or more of the money spent on health care being wasted on things which have little to do with ACTUAL health care.

Socialized medicine probably isn’t the answer either, but what we have now certainly isn’t a smart use of resources. (Please, Stinton. No plugs for Canada. You’ve got your issues, too.)

Rant off.

(The part of Mr. Griffin was played by a mal-contented upper-cruster who thinks goverments and systems intended to serve the public should actually do so. Hah! The joke’s on him.)

[Nick Griffin]

Arty –
I don’t think this could ever be a “one size fits all” type of thing. The number of transactions we have can be posted and paid in 4 to 5 hours a month. Billing is something altogether different as it involves so many factors that only I know — not saying this is a good thing necessarily, just how it is for me and our little company.

We’re small. There are two of us with full time salaries & benefits. We have a core group of freelancers we use frequently, some freelancers that we may only use a couple of times a year and some crew hired as needed, almost always for out of town jobs.

If we had 15 people, and a correspondingly larger workload, having an in-house bookeeper would be required. But then I’d probably have to move from being the one doing stuff to the one managing others doing stuff. Oh, yea. I tried that in the eighties and truly HATED it, hence I’m now doing almost as much work with substantially fewer people.

BUT… that’s me. And while it may be good for me, it may not be good for you. Your mileage may vary.

[Nick Griffin]

OR… did you mean Chief Financial Officer: one who manages billing and collections, banking relationships, cash-flow projections, financial planning, etc? That’s something on a completely different level than I have in mind when I hear “business manager.”

[Nick Griffin]

Rich –
To my way of thinking, a “business manager” would be overkill. (Prior to correcting it, I had, in Freudian fashion, typed overskill – probably even more accurate.)

In the past we’ve had the part time position of bookeeper/admin assistant. On those occasions when there were a LOT of accounting transactions, bills to be entered, checks to be cut, errands to be run faster or closer than was practical for messenger services, the position was worthwhile — or at least I thought so at the time. But when we switched over to Quickbooks Pro from a far more complex accounting program our bookeeper seemed to have a LOT of spare time.

Over the first 14 years I had five bookkeepers. The worst of them embezzled. Fortunately it was only $1,600 and she was quite surprised that I had been paying enough attention to catch her. The best bookeeper/ admin was a law student with mostly night classes. In addition to the accounting stuff she helped write proposals, press releases, etc. When our law student graduated we went through two others, but it was never the same.

When the last of our bookeeper/admins quit I didn’t replace her and, for over three years have taken a few hours every other Saturday to do the Quickbooks tasks. The accountant sends in one of his junior people four times a year to reconcile stuff and he does all the tax stuff as needed quarterly and annually. Billing, quite possibly one of the most creative tasks in any creative business is, and always has been, done by me. Phone are answered by my VP, by me or by voicemail. Travel and many other things that the admin used to do are arranged on the net.

So, are there times when I miss having someone do the Quickbooks entries and be there to answer phones? Yea, but not anywhere near as often as I thought I would.

Hope this view is of some help in your decision making process. It works for me.

[Nick Griffin]

Jonathan –

Congratulations on thinking that getting advice is a good idea.

First, get an accountant to help you set things up. If you’re in the US this isn’t the best time of year to find one, but it will only get worse as April 15th (this year 17th) approaches. Do you have any friends or family members with a small business? Ask them who they use and why.

Maybe you need to incorporate or form an LLC – limited liability corporation. Maybe not. The accountant will know.

The key to minimizing taxes is to very clearly document each and every expense. That can also be an eye-opening experience when you see on paper the direct relationship between what you put out versus what you get to keep. All too often start-ups realize that they’re doing a great job of supporting their crew and vendors and a lousy job of supporting themselves.

You may or may not need a lawyer. But even if you do, start by clearly defining IN WRITING everything between you and your client. What will the final product be in length, look like, timetables, milestone events,etc., etc. Also include who owns what at the end of the project. Do they get a show or all of the elements used to create the show. Do they have unlimited usage rights including the ability to re-purpose your work? In the beginning it’s probably simplest to just give them all ownership rights to everything — ONCE IT’S BEEN PAID FOR, but that’s up to you to decide.

ABOVE ALL, make sure your written agreement says when you get paid. If you read through other posts here you’ll see that 1/3rd up front, 1/3rd at some agreed upon milestone and 1/3rd at the end is fairly standard. But like so many things in this business, there’s no one right answer.

I’m sure others here will have more suggestions.

[Nick Griffin]

I agree with Bob. Nothing wrong with small towns but the people who work in them tend to stay there. You’re too young to get trapped into that. You would be much better served by taking even a parallel position in a market bigger than where you are now.

[Nick Griffin]

Tim, Tim, Tim. Just like you I learned the hard way that having a number of employees doesn’t ncessarily mean more productivity, more creativity, more whatever. Without really tight management it only means more payroll.

Personally I opted for the solo route 17 or so years ago and have year-in, year-out been FAR more productive, creative and PROFITABLE. Doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that I’m far better at doing things than managing others doing them.

But that’s me. As to your desire to become an independent within a larger resourse… could it work? Absolutely. Is it likely to work? Hmmmmm. The biggest problem I see to finding the perfect match is the size of the market. In New York, LA, maybe even Chicago you would have a LOT more choices of / and therefore chances for finding this benevolent host.

I wish you nothing but the best, but encourage you to have Plans B and C somewhat thought out also.

[Nick Griffin]

Remember, your job isn’t so much providing a compressed movie, it’s providing help towards the goals they want accomplish.

Getting exactly to the point like this is why you, Tim, are the man!

[Nick Griffin]

Jeez, my stomach is turning just from reading Mark’s post. While I know this is not a viable answer for everyone, what works for me is having a limited number of clients — people who know me and I know them — and providing them with a broad and deep array of services.

True, it’s taken years to develop this client list but in the last decade I’ve only been stiffed by one client and that was because a new owner took over mid-stream and decided to kill the company, steal the pension fund and “F” all the suppliers. (I might add that this new owner was one of America’s largest banks!!)

In addition to knowing that I’ll get paid, the tremendous upside to having deep relationships with clients, and therefore not needing “walk-in” business, is the understanding that develops between you and the clients. You know how they think, what they value, what they don’t and are therefore able to deliver it faster, smarter and with less effort.

Yes, we have contracts. But they are either annual or open term agreements that define the rights of ownership that the clients have, in addition to saying that we get paid. The contracts initially make the legal begals in the client companies happy, but they’re only there for worst case scenarios and defining who gets what should there be a “divorce.”

Yes, I know, at least at this stage in my career, I am extremely lucky to have great group of clients. I’m also exteremly sympathetic to those who have to accept transitory, “walk-in” business from strangers. I recommend shifting your focus from individual projects to larger, long-term relationships. You’ll sleep better.