Fram is a business that was born out of a recession, the financial crisis to be exact. Whether stupidly or bravely, I set the firm up in 2010 and around now was supposed to be our big 10 year celebration! Parties have never been my thing and it’s just as well, as the Fram 10 year party in Q2 could have been the worst timed party of all time. However, there is much to celebrate, because I started Fram when I was 32 without a business plan and on a bit of hope, and an even smaller bit of money, and 10 years later we’re still here.

Until coronavirus entered all of our lives, we were taking market share at a really fast pace and we were plotting new practices to open to support our existing clients and to work with new ones. Well like Mike Tyson said “everyone has a plan, until they get punched”. So the whole world has been punched and like others we’re putting our plans on hold.

The environment we’re in now causes huge anxiety amongst colleagues, friends, and family and unfortunately sometimes good people find themselves out of work and working out what to do next, and for a small number self-employment may be an option. With hindsight I look back and feel lucky that I started Fram in 2010. Whilst, if I’m being honest, I had a well-paid job, at 32 most aren’t blessed with much capital, but maybe that too was a blessing. So if anyone is thinking about self-employment, these are some of the tips I’d give about starting a business in an environment like we have now.

Everything is cheaper

It’s a sad truth, but everything from rent to new hires are cheaper in this sort of environment. So you can set your company up for the next few years without tying yourself to unsustainable costs

You weren’t planning on making money for a while anyway

To start any business you do need some start up capital and you probably weren’t expecting to make money anyway. As we’ve sadly learnt many large firms rely on cashflow and so a slowdown really hurts them, whereas you weren’t planning on making money for some time. Large firms can contract with real speed and clients are left without their usual relationship manager, and many are open to speaking to new suppliers.

You learn how to be frugal

When you start with very little money, you only buy what’s necessary. Well-funded start-ups seems to have a love of expensive office space and beautiful interiors, despite the fact they aren’t making money.

People want you to succeed

There are more good, kind people in life than bad people. They want you to succeed and will try you out. We all love an underdog.

Scaling takes longer than you think

The negative is that brand recognition takes time and you need to learn how to pass your skills onto others. You often won’t be able to attract experienced hires at first, but you can develop some exceptional people if you have some patience and they will live and breathe your firm’s culture if you find the right ones.

A snowball can take time to build, but when it gets to a certain size it rolls downhill without you needing to push much

Our client acquisition over the last couple of years has been great. We don’t want to lose any clients along the way either! However, client acquisition at pace doesn’t happen overnight. The snowball took a long time to gain momentum. We couldn’t buy a competitor, or hire experienced people with relationships, so we took a bit longer to get there. However, we now have a very experienced team of experts and we are reaping the benefits of this investment.

Freedom

Some people are lucky that they work for firms that give them freedom and perhaps one good outcome of coronavirus will be a homeworking revolution, but the freedom of self-employment is hard to beat.

Like everyone I wish I ’d never heard of coronavirus, but I see opportunity and I know over time us humans will create and even more successful world!

If we can help you with your career or indeed if your firm is planning for the future, then please don’t hesitate to contact me on 01525 864 372 or email [email protected].