Job Responsibilities
I am a director a company I co-founded. As part of this, I
peform accounting functions, customer service/account management
and marketing/new business. I spend about 30% of my time on
each of these areas, plus about 10% on general
administration/legal matters.
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Job Requirements
No specific education is required, but I took my MBA last year
which has really helped me. It has specifically helped me with
te accounting, plus somewhat with the marketing. It has made me
more confident in my work overall.
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Uppers
The best thing about running your own company is just the freedom of working for
yourself! It is incredibly working to see a cause and effect of working hard -
when I spend more time on marketing, I definitely see a rise in our income.
Another great thing is to work whenever you like. Because we are running an
internet company, it is very flexible in terms of location - we moved from
England to Canada with out business, and have lived in 4 cities in 3 years. We
take a day off to ski or to do other things when we like.
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Downers
Having a technology company means that things go wrong. When
servers are crashing, you can't just turn off the lights and go
home - you need to fix it and stay up all night to do that if
necessary! It can be very hard work, and very worrying when you
think of it affecting your income!
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Lifestyle
Work hours are flexible, but I tend to have my PC on from the time I wake up to
the time I go to bed. During that time, I may work the entire time, or I may
just spend a few hours working. The main factors such as travel or social life
don't apply to this job - it's whatever you make it.
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Compensation
Salary depends on what you make it. You could make $100 per
year or $1,000,000 depending on what you do and how you promote
it. We are somewhere in between! Clearly, in running your own
company, you pay yourself however much you like from the revenue
you generate.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Running your own internet company requires two main skills:
technology skills and business sense. In terms of technical
skills, it is no use just being able to design a basic website -
it takes so much more. You need to be able to sell something.
If this is a tangible product, you need to be able to update
your website on a regular basis, and have a good understanding
of internet marketing. Intangible products have the highest
potential for profitability but generally require a fairly
unique proposition, plus the skills to create it. The business
sense requires you know how to make money, by noticing and
taking advantage of opportunities, and by recognising gaps in
the market. Its great work if you can get it, but most people
will never make more than pocket money from an internet business
unless you have exceptional skills.
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