When you decide to launch your own firm, you immediately go into “sink or swim” mode as the business becomes your primary or even the sole source of income. Assuming you’ve already done the necessary due diligence beforehand, such as filing the necessary paperwork with governmental entities, I have three additional observations about being a self-employed business owner.
Think of both your company and yourself as a brand.
As a political consultant, you’re (hopefully) offering something that fills an existing void in the campaign marketplace. This means you have a unique personal brand you must establish and maintain. I’ve always loved crunching numbers — having a father who was a mathematics professor certainly didn’t hurt. As a result, concisely communicating information from existing data to enable candidates and political types to make informed decisions is my brand.
Whatever your niche, it’s important to be known in your field as a knowledgeable professional. You’re not going to know everything from day one, but a willingness both to learn and to work your way up by handling projects of increasing complexity is how you get that knowledge. Don’t be afraid to seek mentors along the way. This also means you should never be willing to settle for a certain level of competency.
Don’t undervalue your skills when setting your rates.
Part of maintaining your brand involves recognizing your monetary value. It’s highly tempting in the beginning to be the cheapest person in your field, but that isn’t, from my experience, how you get clients with whom you’d want to have a longstanding relationship.
Instead, first take the time to do market research by, for instance, reviewing filings with the FEC and/or your state ethics board to see what others are charging. Then set your rates accordingly. When charging appropriately, don’t communicate a price (or start any work) without a complete understanding of what the client wants, and put those requirements in a formal written proposal that the client then approves.
Finally, maintaining your brand/reputation means being willing to say “yes” to legitimate client needs as well as having the spine to say “no” to work requests that aren’t part of your brand and/or could possibly harm your professional reputation by doing the work.
Good content and networking are the keys to business development.
As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to generate new business. But getting new business doesn’t have to be intimidating. Now, you’ll get lots of advice about how to get business, so let me give you my perspective.
I first made my name by offering compelling and original content on my company’s website. In my case, it was discussing the political impacts of reapportionment for each of Louisiana’s 144 legislative districts.
Compelling content gets people’s attention, and attention leads to interested clients. Furthermore, in addition to using social media to disseminate compelling content, I make myself available to reporters and generally accept a variety of speaking engagements like political party meetings, annual conventions for special interest groups, podcast interviews, radio station interviews, and election night coverage on a local television station as a way to indirectly promote my brand. Your experience may vary, but these are examples.
Similarly, when marketing yourself, you need to learn where potential business (people with checkbooks or people with access to the check writers) is and isn’t. With that knowledge, you devote a certain percent of your time to attend those parties/networking meetings, but be selective.
You have to want to go to these meetings to increase your visibility. I’d also advise attending meetings with the goal of developing long-term relationships and not to do a hard sell to get immediate business. Potential clients can sense desperation, and desperation should never be part of your personal brand.
In summary, you need to love what you do every day and be good at it. The rest, having a sustainable business, will follow.
John Couvillon is the owner and founder of JMC Analytics and Polling, which is a Baton Rouge, La.-based polling firm that has polled in more than 30 states for candidates, interest groups, non-profit entities, and attorneys on upcoming cases.