Lock in $30 Savings on PRO—Offer Ends Soon! ⏳
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Breaking down the Truth about Business - Conver...
Search
Rob
April 15, 2016
Business
0
150
Breaking down the Truth about Business - Converge 2016
Rob
April 15, 2016
Tweet
Share
More Decks by Rob
See All by Rob
Unified Theory of Studio Operations
robharr
0
93
Biz Dev: Do any of us know what we are doing?
robharr
0
66
Studio Operations & Forecasting: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly - NYC 2019
robharr
0
97
Running Awesome Discovery Projects
robharr
0
340
Making sure the juice is worth the squeeze - Manage Digital 2019
robharr
1
130
Rules to Live By: Growing a Healthy Team: For People Who Run Teams or Organizations - HOW Design Live 2019
robharr
0
87
PeersConf 2019: Operations and Forecasting: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
robharr
1
190
Workshop: Studio Operations & Forecasting: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly - Owner Summit 2019
robharr
0
140
Workshop: Studio Operations & Forecasting: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
robharr
0
170
Other Decks in Business
See All in Business
カンパニーデック 2025.11.28
toggletest
0
520
Corporate Info
yuzo
0
450
株式会社マイクロアド 会社説明資料
yuiiii0412
0
720
株式会社なぞるマーケティング組織開発の考え方
nazoru
PRO
0
200
誰も置いて行かない、freee QAのAI活用戦略 / Inclusive freee QA's AI Strategy
ropqa
0
210
業務設計のいろは
shunsuke_takeuchi
PRO
2
510
ネクストビートコーポレートガイド/corporate-guide
nextbeat
3
83k
株式会社ヤプリ AI研修
tsujimura14
0
120
「スーパーマンの限界」は組織で突破! PdM認知負荷を最適化する戦略的役割分担と Product Ops活用事例
sasaguchi
0
320
2025年12月期 第三四半期決算説明資料
mobcast20040326
PRO
0
580
2025.11_中途採用資料.pdf
superstudio
PRO
3
90k
Speee_2025年9月期 通期決算説明資料
speee_pr
0
630
Featured
See All Featured
No one is an island. Learnings from fostering a developers community.
thoeni
21
3.5k
Thoughts on Productivity
jonyablonski
73
5k
The Art of Programming - Codeland 2020
erikaheidi
56
14k
How Fast Is Fast Enough? [PerfNow 2025]
tammyeverts
3
380
Six Lessons from altMBA
skipperchong
29
4.1k
Unsuck your backbone
ammeep
671
58k
Statistics for Hackers
jakevdp
799
230k
GraphQLの誤解/rethinking-graphql
sonatard
73
11k
Building Applications with DynamoDB
mza
96
6.8k
Code Reviewing Like a Champion
maltzj
527
40k
RailsConf & Balkan Ruby 2019: The Past, Present, and Future of Rails at GitHub
eileencodes
140
34k
Docker and Python
trallard
46
3.7k
Transcript
Rob Harr BREAKING DOWN THE TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS @robertharr
None
None
None
None
BREAKING DOWN THE TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS GETTING STARTED
Running a business is really hard.
Starting a business. TAN GEN T!
Our Craft What we believe. Business TAN GEN T!
Our Craft The Truth. Business TAN GEN T!
Have a purpose.
Autonomy TAN GEN T!
None
You have to be intentional.
You have to be a little crazy.
None
None
There is no “One Way.”
BREAKING DOWN THE TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS THE ZEN OF RUNNING
A SERVICE BUSINESS
This is a cash intensive business.
The employee arrangement Sarah 2080 hours a year Developer Salary
Vacation Benefits
Our Fake Team $45k $80k $100k $60k Salary $21 $38
$48 $28 Hourly Rate
TAN GEN T! People have different values in different contexts.
20% 5% 6% 11% 58% Your Budget 58% Compensation 11%
General + Admin 6% Rent 5% Advertising 20% Net Margin
20% 5% 6% 11% 58% Your Budget 58% Compensation
For most of us it comes down to staff utilization.
Slack Projects and Maintenance Agreements TAN GEN T!
There are seasons for things.
TAN GEN T! Surviving Growing Thriving
TAN GEN T! Surviving Growing Thriving
Having a plan vs planning
None
You will always have something to do.
None
It is ok to punt to future you. TAN GEN
T!
Work the right hours. TAN GEN T!
Embrace the “Office of the Presidency”
It is a marathon.
BREAKING DOWN THE TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES
#1 Cashflow
Freedom is not free
6 months
Most of our costs are fairly consistent and predictable.
Plan for taxes all year long.
Separate your operating accounts from your savings account.
Micro-Cash flow
Micro-Cash flow
Micro-Cash flow
Operations
#2 Employees
I am in the talent business.
People are our biggest asset.
2 kinds of Companies: Talent Producers Talent Consumers
3 months for new Employees to become productive.
People Over Process
Why Projects Fail. TAN GEN T!
Act like you are in business for yourself. TAN GEN
T!
Embrace your staff’s super powers.
Clearly set team expectations.
#3 Finding work
12 to 18 months
Most client will not grow with you.
Sell to your existing clients. TAN GEN T!
Focus on long term relationships during your sales process.
Find something smaller to sell to bigger clients.
Pricing
Don’t steal your client’s story.
BREAKING DOWN THE TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS DIFFICULT THINGS ARE STILL
GOING TO HAPPEN
Unexpected business tax.
Taxes.
Some of the people you hire will leave.
Negotiate pricing with Clients.
Sometimes you have to offer them something. TAN GEN T!
RFP’s
You will have off quarters.
There will be dragons.
None
WRAP IT UP BREAKING DOWN THE TRUTH ABOUT BUSINESS
There are no shortcuts.
Limited Control.
Rob’s two basic rules for happiness in business:
Life is too short to work with people you hate.
Rob’s two basic rules for happiness in business: Rule 1:
If you ever become annoyed by a client, it is
only because you’re not charging them enough money. Life is too short to work with people you hate. Rob’s two basic rules for happiness in business: Rule 1: Rule 2:
Accept the fact that you will be completely wrong about
things that you are sure you learned.
Want more? Businessology Podcast BizCraft Podcast Unmatched Style Podcasts Code
and Supply Podcasts
THANKS! @robertharr
[email protected]