The Risk and Reward of Starting a Business

The following is a guest post by Beverly Reider, of Medical Revenue Solutions.

Nine months ago, I was laid off.  I saw it coming.  My employer was more worried about how I was going to move on than I was; after all…I am a survivor and I welcome change into my life.

I took the first two months off from everything!  I slowed down, read books, took road trips and reflected on what was important to me: my faith, my family and my friends – in one small word “relationships.”   Then I started thinking about what I wanted to do with the next chapter in my career.  After all, I still needed a paycheck!  An “ah-ha” moment came as I constantly searched Monster.com and Dice.com and a few other “sign up here, create a login there” employment sites. The realization was that I really, really, didn’t want to go back to that rat-race again!  I was ready for a BIG change in my career!

Fast forward to May. I was about nearly the end of my first few months of unemployment, but ready to make my “ah-ha” moment come to fruition! I decided to open a small business.  What did I want? Could I really do this? Would it be a brick-and-mortar business, in –home, ohhh… the possibilities are plentiful! There were many questions to answer. I was excited! I finally decided to focus my business on the same thing I focused on while unemployed: relationships!

Well, we did it!  Yes, I said “we”…as in Steve, my hubby, and myself.  After extensive research, we decided to open a Medical Software Consulting business.  We went to Dallas for training (darn it, we had to go to Dallas! I’m the BIGGEST DALLAS COWBOY FAN – EVER!!!), filed the necessary legal paperwork and completed all the other tasks to open a business.  On June 1^st, Medical Revenue Solutions, LLC. officially became a small business entity!

Remember the saying, “You’re never too old to learn?”  Well, that’s me.  My next few months were spent putting what I learned from training, into practice.  I was cold-calling, door-to-door knocking, reading sales/referral books, networking, purchasing marketing materials and making promotional items. I was also tracking receipts and mileage, deciding what Chamber to belong to, schedule to have a booth in trade shows, overseeing the creation of a new website, and, of course – focusing on those relationships!  By the end of August, it was confirmed:  cold-calling and door-to-door knocking were just not my thing.  But I learned networking groups were more my speed.  Because of networking groups, my relationship building was gaining momentum. I was learning and growing fast!

By November, the fruits of my labor were becoming visible.   My relationships were solid.  My appointment calendar was filled with client meetings and demos.   I knew where to focus my time to have those quality conversations with clients and partners instead of being reactionary.  I learned to say “no” when the opportunity just didn’t make good business sense.  The past few months have, by far, have been the most exciting. Because…drum roll please, I signed my first client!!  This business is my baby.  I’ve nurtured it, fed it and now I’m watching it grow into a successful small business.

Have you accomplished something big this year?