HR4 Business Ltd – One month in!
As I sit down to reflect on the whirlwind that has been the first month of setting up HR4 Business Ltd, I’m filled with a sense of accomplishment and excitement for the future. This journey has provided me with invaluable insights into the small business world.
The first month has been dedicated to laying a strong foundation for the business. Heather McLean FCIPD and I have worked together for many years, so we’re fortunate in that we understand what each of us can bring to the party. Between us we’ve drafted a business plan, registered our business, registered with the ICO, joined Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), set up a business bank account, and set up M365 (more on that later….). All of this as two individuals very experienced in HR, but certainly not as business owners.
We decided early on that there were some things we really needed expert advice on, so we’ve engaged with a great marketing agency (Glued) who are currently developing our website. We have our brand colours, guidelines, our business cards, and it’s exciting to think that the website will be live very shortly. HR4 Business Ltd has been lucky to have secured a client early on, so having some fairly quick income was very fortunate.
The journey has not been without its challenges. Did I expect to spend an entire afternoon unpicking some IT infrastructure issues that I thought I’d set up correctly? No, I did not. Having spent an entire day setting up my new laptop, buying the right subscriptions to Microsoft 365, setting up users, setting up email addresses, I thought I was good to go. Little did I know that once you purchase a domain for a website you can add it to your M365 account and then set up email addresses from there, rather setting up the email addresses on the website registrar (until today I had no idea what any of that meant). Did I expect to spend more time on social media than a teenager? No. Did I expect to have to sell me as a person as part and parcel of selling my HR services? No, I hadn’t thought of that.
As I reflect on what has been a crazy month, I am more convinced than ever that the services of HR4 Business Ltd will be valuable to SMEs. I am so appreciative of the experts I’ve had to call upon in terms of accounting and marketing, knowing that I don’t have the right skills and experience to manage that part of the business effectively. As well as completing whatever tasks I’ve needed from them, they’ve also been a sounding board on their area of expertise. That’s exactly what Heather and I can be for human resources. There isn’t much in terms of people management that we haven’t come across between us. We’re practical, approachable, and can really flex our approach and advice to suit the needs of the business owner we’re talking to. I know myself how important this is.