One year into owning and running my own firm has been exhilarating, amazing, exhausting with a million other emotions in between.
When the news was first announced, many of my friends, who are also solo and small firm owners, reached out to me to try and prepare me for the wild ride I was about to embark upon. Because of their incredible insight, it has been everything that I have imagined and more.
My biggest blessings have been the love and support of my family, friends and colleagues, the tireless work and commitment of my team who have been with me every step of this journey and lastly, the significant lines of credit to get us up and running.
Running your own practice, or any business for that matter, takes guts and courage. It truly is legalized gambling. You make predictions based on your revenue, prospective clients that will retain, the amount that will be billed and the amount that will be collected. Based on those predictions or projections, you set salaries, benefits and incur expenses. In addition, you work as long and as hard as you can to obtain clients, service clients, and pay your bills. Come year end, the process starts all over again where we can learn from the past and do better each year.
It has been an amazing ride with many ups, some downs and a little skepticism at times, but this has been the best professional year of my life. I am so happy and beyond thrilled to be where I am and blessed to have those next to me working as a family and a team.
After closing in on a full year of being my own boss, I have no regrets and would do it all over again. I am profoundly grateful to my friends and colleagues that have helped me and continue to do so every single day. One year down, I look forward to seeing what year two will bring!