A few months ago, I did an interview with Rod Burkert, the founder of a business valuation and litigation support firm Burkert Valuation Advisors, LLC. Burkert writes a series called “Practicing Solo” for the Value Examiner which features interviews with sole practitioners from various fields providing some real-life practical advice from professionals who have went out on their own.
I celebrated five years in business last year, so it was fun to explore where I started, what I would have done to make it better (not much apparently) and why I didn’t see a point in creating a business plan. I also talked about how I attracted my first clients, why developing a niche is critical for small firms and some of my best marketing tactics (hint: you are reading it right now).
I also got to talk about some techy stuff like my workstation setup, running a paperless office and software tools I can’t live without (thanks Google Business, Evernote, Todoist, SugarSync and Harvest!). We even discuss how I stay organized and what I listen to while I work!
Lastly, we discussed work-life balance and why I am not so sure if I will ever figure it out. I can proudly say that I have attended almost every single family event, teacher conference, baseball game, and ballet recital for the past five years, but I haven’t had an uninterrupted vacation in five years and have spent more nights and weekends working that I would like to admit.
What has gotten me to where I am today has been a whole lot of hustle and hard work – two things which can put a wrench in your work-life balance.
I hope you enjoy it!
(click on the image below to read the article)