Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in human resources but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Mari Anne Snow, CEO of Sophaya and the Remote Nation Institute, located in Providence, RI, USA.

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

Sophaya and the Remote Nation Institute (RNI) work with organizations to show them how to use remote work for competitive business advantage. We help them build the operating structure; then, we teach their leaders and employees the professional work skills they need for top productivity and long-term engagement. As experienced remote professionals with over 20 years of experience working remotely, we work with lots of industries all over the world. We provide practical, actionable solutions we've developed in the field. We live our own systems and adhere to the business principles we teach as our team is fully remote.

Tell us about yourself

I started working in dispersed/remote teams in the early 1990's inside companies. I observed remote professionals who were effective were highly disciplined problem solvers who were great assets to the company, yet they were often dismissed or overlooked for promotion because they worked outside the "home office" or worked from field locations. In 2009, I had an opportunity to transition out of my corporate job and study remote work. I developed my proprietary business operations systems, Leader-Lead Accountabilityâ„¢, and my professional certificate course curriculums in remote leadership while I was teaching digital business at Bentley University in Waltham, MA. In 2015, I left academics to launch Sophaya and, subsequently, RNI. Since then, the business has grown substantially through word-of-mouth advertising. I was fortunate to be a practitioner well before COVID, and as a result, I was positioned during the pandemic to be on the front lines, helping my clients navigate the last few years. I get up every morning knowing our work makes a substantial difference because of its relevance. I am very excited that I have a book coming out this Sept 2022 - The Remote Work Handbook - so we can share our work with an even wider audience.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My team's growth and my clients' success. I am most jazzed when our work results in a positive impact and an improved work environment for our clients. It's also satisfying to build a sustainable business that allows me to do work I love while also providing me an opportunity to support my family and my team. I am grateful every day.

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

Being a small business owner is not for the faint-hearted. No one is waiting for you to arrive, and it's up to you to build your business reputation and establish yourself as a legitimate expert. Anyone can say they are an expert, right? But we have to prove our capabilities day after day after day, one client, one class, one student at a time, particularly at the very start of your business. There is a lot riding on the owner/founder, and some days, that is stressful and hard. You really need a good support system, a lot of self-belief, and a whole lot of will to keep going on the tough days.

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

  1. Define your niche. This was really hard for me to do at first because it feels counterintuitive to "limit" yourself. But the more I've stuck to this mantra - we are remote work experts - the better I can focus and allocate time and resources.
  2. Look for ways to productize your offerings if you are a "fee for service" business provider. Sophaya is a consulting company. We earn our revenue through hands-on consulting, and we have a per-hour rate for our service offerings. Fees for service businesses are notoriously hard to scale. We launched RNI and built our certificate programs and our online, self-paced remote work skills classes as they expanded our service offering and allowed us to scale without adding as much overhead. We wrote several self-published workbooks with remote work best practices; now, my book will be published in Sept 2022. We also have an eCommerce store www.remotenation.com that provides consumer products designed for remote professionals. We've done this, so we have multiple revenue streams and more product offerings that support our core mission - we aim to promote standardized remote work practices that provide any business with a remote workforce with a proven system for effectively managing remote work for competitive business advantage.
  3. Take stock before you take the leap...if possible, start your idea as a side project. Set up a budget for yourself and keep your paying job until you have road-tested your idea and really examine your risk tolerance, as it's easy to get in over your head if you aren't careful.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Don't underestimate the difficulty or the risks associated with starting a new business. There is nothing romantic about it, and you need to really think it through and operate with a plan. Do not assume anyone will care about your business as much as you do (even if your best employee is still an employee)...no one is waiting for you to arrive...you have to go out and actively work to establish yourself and achieve your goals.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://remotenationworks.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/one.remote.nation/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/remote.nation.institute/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/remotenation
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariannesnow1/

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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