{"id":48,"date":"2014-12-03T06:19:04","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T06:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcpt.com.au\/members\/?p=48"},"modified":"2018-01-23T12:01:33","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T04:01:33","slug":"opening-your-own-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/2014\/12\/03\/opening-your-own-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Your Own Office"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\nli {\n\tfont-size:22px;\nfont-weight:bold;\ncolor:#ff821c;\n}\np {\nfont-size:16px;\n<\/style>\n<p> You are successful, ambitious and  ready to take things up a notch. So you are contemplating the next big step \u2013  opening your own office. What should you be thinking about? Could it really be  that hard? <br \/>\n  We asked WCPT CEO <strong>Jackie Crank <\/strong>\u2013 who has opened a few  offices in her time \u2013 to share her top 5 considerations for those thinking  about heading out on their own. <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Ask  yourself why?<\/li>\n<p>First, think about what you are  trying to achieve. <br \/>\n  &ldquo;I would ask &lsquo;why are you really  doing this?&rsquo;, and if you told me it was to make more money, I would tell you  that you are making the wrong choice!&rdquo;, Jackie says. <br \/>\n  Although there is potential for  you to be very successful out on your own, there are many things to tackle  before big profits start flowing. <br \/>\n  Jackie suggests a self-assessment  of strengths: &ldquo;Not everyone is a natural entrepreneur, and when we are trying  to be, we can distract ourselves from what we are really good at \u2013 the stuff  that makes us money&rdquo;. <\/p>\n<li>What  is your promise?<\/li>\n<p>A new business needs to offer  something unique \u2013 otherwise, there is no motivation for customers to make the  switch to you. <br \/>\n  &ldquo;I am a big believer in  customer-centricity. So instead of thinking about the product or service you  want to bring to market, I ask people to identify the customer need that is not  being met, and think about how to solve it&rdquo;, Jackie says. <br \/>\n  Funnily enough, one answer regularly  pops up.<br \/>\n  &ldquo;I hear countless people  suggesting that outstanding customer service will be what differentiates them&rdquo;,  Jackie says. &ldquo;But what does that mean? If everybody has the same point of  difference, then it isn&rsquo;t a point of difference! How do you quantify it, how do  you sell that and how do you check if you are delivering on your promise?&rdquo;.<br \/>\n  Take your promise to the next  level to identify the reason your customers should move to you \u2013 and stick with  you. <\/p>\n<li>The  buck stops with you<\/li>\n<p>As a licensee, you will be in  bone fide control \u2013 of your office, and of all the people who work for you. But  this is just the beginning.<br \/>\n  &ldquo;Never underestimate the impact  of ultimate control&rdquo;, Jackie says. &ldquo;There will be times when you want to  strategise to solve the big problems, but all you have time to do is answer the  phone and empty the bins. Going out on your own is a radical change \u2013 in every  way!&rdquo;. <br \/>\n  This means being ready for just  about anything. How will you do that? A sound business plan, and a great team \u2013  which leads nicely to the next point\u2026<\/p>\n<li>Find  the team that will help you shine<\/li>\n<p>We know that it is pretty rare to  truly &lsquo;go it alone&rsquo; \u2013 finding a team of great people to work with you, be it 2  or twenty, will make a huge difference. <br \/>\n  &ldquo;Go back to <strong>your<\/strong> strengths, be honest with yourself about <strong>your <\/strong>weaknesses and work out where your gaps are. Then work hard at  finding the right people to fill these roles&rdquo;, Jackie says. &ldquo;In many instances,  you will spend more time with this team than with your friends or family, so  put some work into making the right staffing choices up front!&rdquo;. And don&rsquo;t  employ people just because you know them already.<\/p>\n<p>And finally \u2013 <\/p>\n<li>Lock  down your nuts and bolts \u2013 and then be prepared to change!<\/li>\n<p>Think carefully \u2013 carefully \u2013  about your systems, processes and technology. Just as we realise the impact that  technology is having in daily life, every area of your office operation could  be improved through some better defined processes or the introduction of a  digital solution. <br \/>\n  &ldquo;It is important not to delay  this until you &lsquo;get big enough&rsquo; \u2013 by this stage, it will be too late&rdquo;, Jackie  says. &ldquo;Do your research, and then be prepared to update and evolve as your  business grows&rdquo;. <\/p>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You are successful, ambitious and ready to take things up a notch. So you are contemplating the next big step \u2013 opening your own office.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":77,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.wcpt.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}