Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in human resource services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Amanda Haddaway, Managing Director of HR Answerbox, located in Frederick, MD, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

HR Answerbox's mission is to make better workplaces. While this may seem like a lofty goal, the organization has been successful in solving employee management challenges for its clients during the past seven years. At its core, HR Answerbox is a human resources consulting firm specializing in solving workplace problems for small and mid-size organizations. We offer advisory services, management training, and coaching.

Tell us about yourself

In 2015, I identified that there was a lack of human resources support for companies that either didn't have their own in-house HR department or had one or two people handling the function internally without all of the necessary expertise to deal with the more complicated employee relations situations. That market gap was the initial foundation for launching HR Answerbox. I actually got into HR accidentally. My undergraduate degree is in public relations, and while I was a student at James Madison University, I had an opportunity for an internship with an IT company in Northern Virginia. It was a great experience, but after the internship wrapped up, I didn't think much about it. Fast forward to my senior year, I received an invitation to interview on-campus with that same company. The interview went well, and I was ultimately offered a position as a junior analyst.

I started soon after graduation and was assigned to a project in the Health Systems business unit. I had been working there for about a month, and my project manager came to me and said that our funding had been cut. I, of course, panicked, but I quickly learned that I had a few weeks to find another position internally. One of the jobs that piqued my interest was a position for a junior recruiter within the HR department. I interviewed internally and started in that role soon after. As they say, the rest is history. With that same company, I had opportunities to do professional-level recruiting as well as college recruiting. I also spent some time working in employee communications and learning and development.

From there, I had an opportunity to become an HR director at a different company. This position allowed me to create the HR function from the ground up, as I was their first HR person. The owner and controller had been handling those duties prior to my hire. As an HR director and an HR department of one, I oversaw recruitment, orientation and onboarding, benefits administration, training, employee relations, and compliance. I also had some responsibilities for marketing and IT. At the end of 2015, I left that role to launch my own consulting practice, HR Answerbox. I had done some freelance work over the years, and it got to the point that I needed to either back away from some of those projects due to time constraints or pursue it more fully. I decided to take the leap. HR Answerbox officially opened for business on January 19, 2016.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Launching, running, and growing a business has definitely been my greatest professional achievement. The statistics show that most small businesses fail in the first few years, so I am exceptionally grateful to all the clients who choose to work with us.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

It feels like there's never enough time to do everything that needs to be done. My to-do lists are never complete, and I've had to learn to be OK with this.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Do it, but do your market research before you launch to ensure that there's a need in your market.
  2. It's OK to be scared about launching your own business. Most business owners will tell you that the fears don't totally go away, but you learn to manage them.
  3. Build a team around you to help with things that aren't your strengths. One example for me is having an outstanding bookkeeper.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://hranswerbox.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hranswerbox
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ahaddaway
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandahaddaway/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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