How many self-employed people actually have a business plan?

How many of you self-employed people are out there running their business day to day and just hoping for a check to arrive in the mail? I bet a lot of you. Especially writers. You spend half of your time scouring for a job and the other half waiting to get paid.

When I went into business for myself I just jumped in with two feet and didn't look back. I knew my business, I had some clients that I had worked with, and I just figured either it would work or it wouldn't. Regardless, I would be doing something that I loved. And I am. I just celebrated my first year in business and I'm not a statistic. So far.

I've never really given much thought to a business plan. I mean my business deals with authors and writing and publicity. What do I need a plan for. I either have clients or I don't. But recently I've been working on putting a proper business plan together because I realized that I'm not just self employed. I'm an entrepreneur, and a small business owner all rolled into one and without a plan who knows where I will be in 3 years?

So this week I didn't watch any horror movies ( other than those that I own) and I sat down and starting going through my plans for the new year. It really doesn't take long. It's actually quite simple. And I have one of my clients to thank for helping sort it all out. My client ActionCOACH business coaching works with small and emerging businesses to help them improve their bottom-line profitability. Yeah, yeah, sales jargon. But I'm a salesperson too. I sell my writing and publicity services so I fall into that category. So I'm going to sell you something.
If you are in the Edmonton area on December 7th I encourage you to check out their neat Santa's Mixshop- a mixer combined with some business planning tips. For 30.00 bucks you get to hang out with some people, learn a few things and 100% of the proceeds go to the homeless. Oh, and they'll match that. A pretty good deal I think.
Just because we are writers doesn't mean we don't need a business plan. Have you done yours yet?

ps. you can register here if you like: http://www.actioncoachalberta.com/index.php/6-Steps-to-Super-Profits-Seminar/Santa-s-Mixshop-Holiday-Mixer-and-Workshop-53.html

Small Business Owners face less Stress- Really?

So this was in the Toronto Star today:

A recent survey conducted by Desjardins Financial Security reveals that while self-employed Canadians tend to have more debt than the average Canadian employee, this is having limited effect on their stress and work levels during this recession. A survey of small business owners found:

5 per cent of Canadians have more than $50,000 of debt compared with 21 per cent of self-employed Canadians who have more than $50,000 of debt.
54 per cent of self-employed said they didn't have enough disability coverage.
80 per cent said they were not familiar with business insurance.
56 per cent of self-employed Canadians feel their stress level is higher now compared to a year ago.
44 per cent of self-employed Canadians feel it is harder to be competitive now compared to the start of the recession.
72% of self-employed Canadians have not felt the need to work significantly more hours since the start of the recession.

I agree with the debt part. Fortunately I don't have anywhere near that amount- cross your fingers!
I completely agree with the disability coverage, and in fact until last week I had never even considered disability ( One too many trips over the marrow bones and slamming my finger in my door- convinced me). Now I'll be signing up for it!
I am familiar with business insurance, and as soon as I step out of the freelance business I will be looking at that for sure!
So where does the less stress come in? How is there less stress if 56% feel more stress now than a year ago?
I think it's always hard to be competitive when you run your own business!
And I completely disagree with the 72% have not felt the need to put in more hours. HELLO? Did they ask me what I thought? No!
As a small business I am averaging about 12-13 hours a day. That is NOT less hours.
So why do I have my own business? Because I get to do what I love, and duck out for lunch whenever I like!!