Kelly Damron, Sole Practitioner

I'm the managing member of Prosper Strategic Finance in Phoenix, offering business planning to aid clients in obtaining financing, performance measurement to assist in improving profitability, and strategic and tactical planning to provide a road map for achieving certain goals. I started this business after receiving an MBA/MSIM (Master Science Information Management) from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University in Tempe.

For now, I wear all the hats for this business. I'm responsible for bringing in clients, performing the projects, developing the deliverables, maintaining client satisfaction, and billing and collections. There are benefits and drawbacks to being the only employee of a company. For me, the greatest benefit is the ability to stay at home with my twin girls and watch them grow each day, while still maintaining a professional as well as personal identity.

WHY BE SHY?  There were a few misconceptions I had before starting my own business. First, I thought networking was awkward. As an introvert, the last place I wanted to be was at a social function where everyone was trying to sell me something I didn't need. What I found, though, were friendly groups of people interested in watching their businesses grow and helping yours grow.

Second, I thought that working from home would be inefficient and lonely. Instead, I'm generally able to accomplish more than I could in an office because there are fewer distractions. In addition, I attend networking events, volunteer, and make more time for friends and family to ensure that I get a proper dose of "adult" conversations.

I was under the impression that most business owners, especially those with small businesses, were more educated regarding basic business tools (such as business plans, monthly financial statements, cash flow, etc.). Most of my clients did not have a current business plan in place. Therefore, they were struggling to make decisions or understand why they weren't achieving their goals. Many small-business owners don't prepare monthly or quarterly financial statements.

Life is anything but predictable when you have twins, but here's a timeline of a recent day:

6:30 a.m. -- I'm busy keeping my not-quite-one-year-old twin daughters entertained so I can get something to eat before the day gets too hectic. I won't go into the details of my "baby" schedule, but it's fairly consistent day-to-day, with feedings almost every two hours.

8 a.m. -- Check e-mail and look at my calendar to plan what must be accomplished for the day and what can wait if I run out of time.

10 a.m. -- Business-development training via conference call. Using the mute function is a must so they cannot hear the babies and the phone ringing in the background.

Noon -- Help arrives as the girls' nanny, Becci, walks in the door. Thank goodness! Now it's time to grab a quick bite while checking e-mail or running out to attend a networking luncheon. Work on various client projects: internal cash handling assessment, cash flow projections, and business planning.

1:30 p.m. -- Break to help feed the twins.

2 p.m. -- Back to work. I've been hired to teach a graduate level Intermediate Accounting II course starting in October. A lot needs to be done, in addition to my client responsibilities, to be properly prepared. Research current accounting issues via the Internet on various Web sites, prepare syllabus, and work on developing my eight-week lesson plan. This is going to take some time.

5:30 p.m. -- If my to-do list is not accomplished, then it will have to wait until 9 p.m. tonight or tomorrow. The task of caring for my twins this time of night requires two people.

9 p.m. -- Read the paper, business journals, etc., and clip articles relevant to my client projects, teaching, or business development.

CAREER CHANGE.  To better prepare me for what I do today, I would have forgone the dual MBA/MSIM and opted for more strategy, accounting, economics, and marketing courses. I work on short-term and long-term strategies and goals for almost all my clients. Additional accounting and economics courses would have helped me better communicate complex issues to my clients and better translate the economic research I conduct during business-planning projects. I'm a CPA by trade, so marketing is foreign to me. Marketing courses would have better prepared me for marketing my business.

Before attending B-school, I had no desire to own my own business. The MBA gave me an opportunity to change my career direction into something very rewarding and enjoyable. I'm able to choose my clients and the type of work that I perform. In addition, I have the freedom to determine my own schedule and manage my work-life balance effectively.

The MBA has also provided me with the opportunity to teach graduate-level courses. Teaching lets me mentor and help develop personnel, which is missing when you're the lone employee of a company. I hope to add employees in the next 12 to 18 months and an intern for the summer of 2006.