"Your The Boss, So Set Your Own Hours"

How many times have we all heard this phrase from an advertisement, "Be Your Own Boss & Set Your Own hours! Rarely, if ever, does anyone hear a business owner actually make this statement. And we all know why. However, the thought of owning one's business is appealling to us. The adventure is as colorful as an empty canvas in front of an artist, pondering the wonderful results of his work as the desire & inspirations build! So, now we have the dining room table set up as your desk, the house phone running cord through the floor board, some note pads, your favorite writing pen and ready, set, go! Some strong advise, never register on line to register your company. This process takes weeks & weeks, and isn't cheap. In the meantime,business is up and running.I'm spreading the word, answering the phone, " Greeting Callers with the Company Name, searching government sites, the bank account is set up with less than a shoe string budget, $5.00. etc.. Hey, the artist sells his work before it's complete! Six weeks into my new adventure & Dun & Bradstreet call at 9PM, WOW! DO I feel special. At least for the inital first 60 seconds until I learn that the company name is already in use in the United States & they ( Dun & Bradstreet) can't allow this. And who would have guessed, this other company is located in Texas ! I'll discuss that at a later date. If you have ever opened your own business then you realize this means I had to repeat a few steps already resolved in my mind. The State registration, Dun & Bradstreet, are two big time consumming events. Not to mention I had to retrain my response of who I was and that wasn't easy.
So, now we're up & running, I have a partner with 30 years experience working with the government. As he constantly reminds me! However, he never told me of the government registrations reguired to do business with the State and Federal Agencies. In retrospect, this isn't a surprise. A real surprise today would be seeing my partner stepping out of his safe-bubble to follow protocol. Ladies, you all know what I'm speaking about there.
Now, lets see, there's CCR registration, ORCA registration, additional Dun & Bradstreet registration and up-keep. Which none of these could possibly be written in english and made user friendly. These are governemnt reguired documents. It took me an agonizing four weeks to complete the CCR registration. Talk about pulling your hair out. Actually, I wanted to kill the person that talked me into going into business and still feel that way, everday. Talk about commitment. 24/7/365 when working with any government contract, especially if it's involving facility maintenance as is the case here.
Then there's that ugly word; tax. Ladies, this is another learn as you go system. Don't try to build capital by not taking an income, the State assumes you take what you want, therefore paying estimated tax of $1000.00 quarterly is demanded. Every time I turn around, there's a tax to be paid. Don't misunderstand, I believe we all need to comply and do our part to support the system. However, this feels like over kill when the shoe string is already tied!
Then there's the company statements that must be prepared, inital minutes that must be recorded, office documents created for uniformity, bank records & book keeping, database to maintain on each project, site visits to attend, new sub-companies to meet, SBA registrations for additional benefits of working with the government. Such as the 8A program. Which would grant my company special previlages once certified 8A. However, the process takes me into retirement at this point in time. Talk about more fun.
At the end of the day, what's waiting for me. Well there's the two dogs to walk & feed, dinner, forgotten laundry,a husband that seems to innocently do everything the opposite as to how it should be. I bet all you woman understand exactly what I mean there. Family arrangements to make & follow up on, and so on.
Juggling the maze of responsibiites and duties isn't all that clamorous & beautiful.
I'm a bit selfish at this point in my life. I want to have the money & time to enjoy some of the real relaxing interest of a woman my age. Now there are many people that depend on my commitments in this business and there's little room to make any changes without negledting true responsibiity.
So if you have the secret to juggling business/career/personal life while growing and maintaining both, lets hear it. I'm completely open to advice, venture and promise.
To all you busy business woman out there, do enjoy today!

Diane