Professional Services: Facilitating Independents
“So you’re working for yourself now…”
Just because you are no longer part of a larger company does not mean you don’t need co-workers. Being an independent business owner is the best way to create a working environment without the dreadful BOSS, but must not be an excuse to ‘go solo’ or ‘work for no-one’. If you feel this way, you might want to consider becoming an artist.
As a independent professional you are still participating in the economy, whether global or local. One observable fact concerning the world of ‘free professionals’ is the existence of creators and facilitators.
Due to the nature of our modern market it is not sufficient to create goods and services like cloths and holistic medical care: you must also study the needs of real people in your community, advertise and sell your products, keep the IRS friendly and acquire resources. Similarly, inside a large company there are several departments often including Sales, Marketing, Fincance and Production. You might think only of yourself as Production wanting to leave the burden of departments behind. Just take a second to imagine where you fit inside the ‘virtual company’ of a network you belong to: you might discover that you are actually a facilitator.
For example, Adal Design might be creating websites but this is only to facilitate other small businesses in reaching their target audience to sell products such as dog walking: a service that rarely serves to assist another company. In this sense, Adal Design serves as the eMarketing department (or part of it) for a large sphere of independently owned companies.
Remind them why they need you.
If your company helps others get business, you are most likely providing professional services. This means that you embody a certain department in the ‘virtual company’ of your network, and for your clients this embodiment is VERY REAL. By doing your job well, you are accomplishing the great task of enabling others to bring their share of work to the community. It remains your responsibility to remind them by tangible results why they must invest their income into your support.
Likewise, heads of corporate departments must constantly work to remind the board why they are essential to the big picture.
Remember why you’re doing it.
As the owner of Adal Design, I am proud of my professional service offer: building websites is not only a task that I can follow from start to end for a large variety of people and experiences; it also means that I get to help others like myself remain free from the corporate machine while bringing their very personal vision and efforts to the world I live in.
What makes me struggle to always increase my business and provide better service is the thought that I am making a difference in shaping the professional landscape of today.
So remember: providing professional services to small businesses is more than a trade, it’s a statement.
Tags: business, independent, small, society, work
