Should You Start Your Own Company?

With the job market as crowded as it is, and previously stable jobs becoming increasingly unstable, a lot of our clients are wondering: Should I just start my own company? In fact, for plenty of producers, that was always the dream in the first place (with an overall deal at a major studio, but still). If you spend any amount of time on LinkedIn, you’ve probably seen this trend across industries –  raising startup capital, pivoting to a “fractional” role, starting a consultancy, or embracing a portfolio career. So…should you do that, too?

First of all, you don’t have to go all in on your own business from the get go. If you’re not sure whether you want to work for yourself or not, you can test the waters by taking on a few projects here and there while searching for jobs or as a side hustle if you’re employed, and see how things evolve from there. We started Hollywood Resumes ten years ago as a side business while we were both employed full-time. Eventually, Cindy decided to leave her full-time job to focus on Hollywood Resumes and freelance writing/producing and expanded that into a portfolio that also includes consulting and teaching. More recently, Angela left her full-time job and co-founded a new content company, and she now runs both businesses simultaneously. Even in our partnership, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and we’ve found it’s important to be adaptable.

There’s a lot of freedom that comes with running your own company, which can be really empowering. You don’t have to wait for the right job to open up at the right company before you can do the work you enjoy, and you won’t have a boss breathing down your neck when you land that job. You get to determine the focus, strategy, and define what success looks like. But the flipside is that there’s also a lot of uncertainty and other kinds of limitations. For example, you can work whatever hours you want and take unlimited vacation, but there’s no such thing as PTO or disability or FMLA. As a partnership, we’ve been able to weather life stuff like weddings, family emergencies, and maternity leave without having to close the business altogether, because we could cover for each other as needed during those times. But if you’re going at this alone, you’ll need a plan in place for when life happens. And make sure you’re taken care of in terms of health insurance and other “benefits,” and that you can manage your money to stretch it when your salary is inconsistent. It’s a lot like hopping from production to production as a freelancer, but with the added benefits that you don’t have to hunt for your next gig, you can do more than one project at once, you’re not locked into a ceiling for your pay rate, and you don’t have to report to anyone. 

You do, however, have to secure clients, customers, and/or partners, and you have to deal with the constraints of the marketplace. That means you have to understand all sorts of things beyond your primary areas of expertise – you might be the best trailer editor ever, but if you want to start your own trailer-cutting post-house, you’ll need to understand client management, marketing/PR, web design, business administration, pricing, profit margins, etc. You can outsource some of that, but most business owners don’t have the capital to invest in that when they first start out. We recommend making a business plan that outlines everything you need to get set up and grow. List out your reason for starting the business, the white space you’ve identified in the marketplace, your initial services and target customers, opportunities for growing your services, all startup expenses, possible costs you’d take on as you expand, and financial projections. This will help you determine what you really will accomplish by starting your own business and give you a structure to expand smartly. We spent five months mapping out our launch plan for Hollywood Resumes before we ever took on a client. You might not need to invest that heavily in the lead-up, but you’ll need to create a clear roadmap eventually. If it sounds like fun, you probably want to start your own business. If thinking about doing this gives you a headache, know that it only gets more complex as you grow, and this might not be the path for you. 

The last thing to consider is how intrinsically motivated you are, how accountable you can be to yourself, and how resilient you are. When you run your own business, you have to make a lot of decisions, hit your deadlines, deliver high-quality work, and own your own growth. It’s not always going to go to plan, and there’s a lot on the line to lose and nowhere to hide if you mess up a project or anger a customer. For a lot of people, this is an exciting challenge, and the opportunity to be in full control of your work is motivation enough to keep going. For others, it’s hard to keep hustling and grinding when there’s no one watching or guaranteeing your success. 

It can be useful to explore the pros and cons and your own work constructs with a mentor or coach. Our career coaching services extend to small business owners, and we’re able to help you navigate both the decision-making process and setting up accountability structures to get you started. Book a free 15-minute consultation here.