Small, simple and sustainable: Running your own business.

I've been running a successful small business since 1997. This session explores what it really means to run a small, simple and sustainable business.

The Drupal ecosystem is a rich and exotic biosphere of diversity.  From hobbyists, volunteers and freelancing contractors, to award winning digital agencies and multi-national technology integrators, there are organisations of all shapes and sizes earning an income around selling Drupal expertise. 

We didn't start out doing Drupal, but Drupal was the right choice when we needed to face up to the reality we could no longer sustain development of our own home grown product.  Turns out that's a common story in the Drupal community. I suspect it's also why we have a healthy business eco-system around our open source project.

• What skills do you need?
• When should you "outsource"?
• Should you employ more people?
• What legal and financial knowledge is required?
• What support can you access?

There's a lot involved. Small businesses don't usually have the resources to hire specialists in all these areas. Learning how to determine what you need to know personally, balanced against what you can afford to hire or buy is a key plank in building a sustainable practice.  Keeping it simple is important.

It's not always about growth, living within the resources available is one key to success.