Starting a small consultancy firm is an opportunity for you to put your professional expertise and experience to work for the benefit of other business owners or individuals. Consultants launching their own businesses often find that many years in the corporate world have not equipped them for handling some minor tasks, like purchasing Pennsylvania business insurance. As a solo business operator you will not have the backup of in-house administrative assistance or advice in specialized areas such as law, marketing or recruitment.

You have several options when you find yourself struggling to manage some of the day-to-day tasks of small business: hiring help, engaging an external service company, and developing your own skills. The skills you may need to develop are wide ranging.

• Developing your computer literacy may involve improving your skills in word processing, spreadsheets, desktop publishing and database management.
• Even if you had experience in corporate sales, selling the services of a small consultancy business is likely to be new for you and you may need to go back to sales basics.
• The freedom of running your own business can be a two-edged sword; without the discipline imposed by the corporate world, you may need to develop your time management skills.

You may want to outsource a range of tasks to other professionals such as your attorney, tax accountant and Pennsylvania business insurance agent, but acquiring (or re-acquiring) basic business skills is likely to reduce your business costs as well as giving you a great sense of personal satisfaction.