note 4

Overview

You have examined what makes a personal brand and begun to conceptualize your own. In Module Four, the focus shifts from developing a personal brand that reflects your professional persona to leveraging your personal brand for entrepreneurial ventures such as freelancing, contract work, or independent consulting. This could mean becoming self-employed to start a side business while working as a full- or part-time employee in an organization, to gain experience while seeking a part-time or full-time job in an organization, or to start your own full-time consulting business. In any of these cases, there is much to consider in becoming self-employed and thinking through such start-up aspects as business, financial, legal, and tax implications, as well as how you’ll acquire and maintain clients.

Scenario

A few years ago, you decided to become an independent consultant, and you left your organization to begin your entrepreneurial venture. A former colleague has seen your success and asked for your advice as they start up their own business that provides technical writing and editing services to corporate organizations.

Your former colleague has been working full-time as a technical editor in the computer technology industry for many years. Their specialties are technical writing and editing, providing edits to technical manuals, and occasionally working with engineers to write specification documents. Over the years, they have developed considerable expertise in this area and have frequently attended conferences on the topic of technology, technical writing and editing, and entrepreneurship. They are open to working as a freelancer, contractor, or independent consultant. They plan to work remotely and virtually out of their home, which means they can consider opportunities anywhere in the United States that is open to remote work. They already have an in-home office and a computer workstation with high-speed internet access.

Prompt

Your former colleague has asked you to answer the questions below. Make sure to incorporate supporting evidence.

· Who do you think should be my target audience, and why?

· What are key strategies you would recommend I use to acquire and retain clients, and why do you think they would be beneficial?

· What important legal documents do you think I will need to address for starting a small business, and why?

· What important tax implications should I keep in mind as I transition from being a full-time employee to a self-employed business owner, and why?