Starting Your Own Practice: The Independence Guide for Professional Service Providers

Does your current work situation bother you? Do things beyond the ordinary, day-to-day issues of working in a business environment—such as lack of input into important company decisions and compensation—continue to frustrate you? If you're tired of working for someone else and have contemplated striking out on your own, Starting Your Own Practice: The Independence Guide for Professional Service Providers can help make the transition as smooth as possible.

Written from the perspective of successful entrepreneur and investment advisor, Robert Fragasso, Starting Your Own Practice has been designed to help professionals who provide skilled personal service—especially those who already have experience as investment advisors, brokers, consultants, attorneys, and accountants, as well as insurance and real estate agents—make the right choices as they pursue their independent business endeavors. But, the principles contained here are also readily transferable to a much wider segment of the service sector, including computer programmers, architects, and healthcare professionals.

Filled with in-depth insight and practical advice, Starting Your Own Practice begins by helping you decide if you should go into business for yourself. You'll gain a realistic look at the financial benefits and risks associated with going at it on your own—as well as take an entrepreneur's test that offers an honest assessment of whether self-employment is right for you.

Once you've made the decision to move forward, Starting Your Own Practice will help you plan your next moves, with valuable information on structuring the marketing, management, staffing, and general operation of your business. Fragasso lays out a complete blueprint to independence that includes all of the aforementioned issues, plus guidance on:

• Leaving your current employer
• Converting existing clients or customers to your new business as well as gaining new clients and customers
• Finding the best ways to finance your business
• Protecting yourself and your business from liability and loss
• Choosing your business space
• Gaining access to federal, state, and local assistance

Going into business for yourself requires careful thought and consideration, but with Starting Your Own Practice as your guide, you'll quickly learn how to turn the dream of owning an independent business into a reality.