Transitioning To Entrepreneurial Business.

My personal journey from qualified Occupational Health Adviser to successful independent Occupational Health Consultant Adviser.

This journey is also suitable for other entrepreneurial business start ups.

Author: P. . Cambridge. U.K. January 2021. Copyright.

Key words: occupational consultancy independent transition improvement.

Abstract.

Personal journeys on the transition process towards independent Occupational Health consultancy are pretty much non-existent and attempts to identify published process guidance information remains elusive. My successful transitioning journey towards independent consultancy now endeavours to support other Occupational Health Advisers (OHAs) who intend to embark on their own journey. My guidance process template is mentioned later in this paper. Key principles and activities towards ensuring effective transitioning necessitate an understanding of reflective experience, psychological and motivational drivers, entrepreneurial and resource management skills.

Introduction.

The vast majority of OHAs are employees of companies and many are sub-contracted by OH agencies. As such, independent (OHA) consultants currently account for an inadequate number of roles within the OH profession. This is especially true regarding OHAs who provide outsourced services to the private sector and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). We know that SMEs generally cannot afford in-house OHAs, therefore, many employees go without the workplace care they need. This is where independent OHA consultancy addresses this gap.

My journey and its learning process of transitioning to independent consultancy has been one of exploring unfamiliar territory, diversifying from traditional practice and revealing consultancy as a viable endeavour. However, my journey has parallels with other aspiring professional consultants by offering my template as a potential skeleton model to entrepreneurial individuals where behavioural attitudes towards business arenas, regulatory challenges and organisational developments are key principles of successful transitioning. Recent years of European financial turmoil encourages individuals to recognise their own changing market conditions and consultancy outsource opportunities. Articulating ones value with the ability to be flexible will be different for each individual and relate to their client s business cultures and philosophies.

Aspiring independent OHA consultants have many reasons for achieving their consultancy goals. Some wish to gain a more appropriate work-life balance, some wish to work part time but on their terms and some wish to escape employers occasional constraining internal politics.

Key principles of transitioning comprise the disparate nature between:

future job expectations

previous and current physical OHA practice experience

specialist OH knowledge

levels of locus of control

business and socio-political awareness

decision-making ability

psychological and emotional skill management.

Dinmohammadi M, Peyrovi H, Mehrdad N, (2013)1 e four critical attributes: learning, interaction, development, and adaptation which are juxtaposed within the transitioning process. I believe these are fundamental to the successful transitioning process.

Background and current context.

My own field of work comprises 12 years as an OHA employee in both the public and private sectors and 8 years as an independent OHA consultant. My journey has encompassed trial, error, risk and ultimate job satisfaction, career development and occasions to support other transitioning OHAs through lectures and workshops.

The growth in outsourced OH provides OHAs with opportunities to become independent consultants as never before. Successful transitioning towards consultancy has been observed by Robertson H, Brott P, (2013)2 solid preparation was the key to a successful transition .

Rationale.

It has been requisite for me to enquire of how other OHA independent practitioners perceived their own process of transitioning to independent consultancy. The following questions were cogent. Had they undertaken their transitioning via trial, error and risk, via redundancy or from determination, entrepreneurship or personal need? The outcome of such enquiries illustrated there was a need for a transitioning process template, which was flexible and could be adapted to individuals circumstances. As noted earlier, this presentation template is obtainable by contacting me:

The rationale for raising awareness of the vital inclusive elements in transitioning to independent consultancy is:

to ensure ethical OH practice

to comply with legal requirements

to meet professional standards.

Inclusive elements in transitioning comprise:

Cash flow.

Income expenditure. Invoicing.

Business plan.

Marketing plan. Advertising/promotion.

Accounts.

Tax.

Bank accounts.

Inland Revenue.

Business stationery. Business terms.

Web site.

Phone numbers.

E-mails.

Documentation and security.

Insurance.

Maps. Sat Nav.

Communications. Customers/clients. Appointments.

Follow-up appointments.

Calendar management.

*CPD, NMC, RCN, updates to professional standards. Subscri ptions.

Health Safety policies.

Attendance at OHA conferences.

Workshops.

Liaison with colleagues.

Measuring success tools.

Reappraising the business.

*CPD (continuing professional development), NMC (Nursing Midwifery council), RCN (Royal College of Nursing). Other business insurance and membership companies may be necessary.

Benefits of independent OHA consultancy.

Emancipation from the limitations of OHA employee status presents a compatible fit with career progression for aspiring independent OHA consultants. The benefits to be enjoyed from independent consultancy emanate from the biopsychosocial, financial and business spheres. One or all spheres may be sufficient reason to consider and ultimately pursue a consultancy undertaking.

My reflective personal narrative recognises that it is not enough to have KSE (knowledge, skills and experience) of OHA practice. It is essential to have KSE of business environments a synthesis of both is optimal if successful independent OHA consultancy and available benefits are to be achieved. In order to garner the available consultancy benefits, decision trees are integral to the transitioning process. They support added security to the eventual transition process outcome. Pre-decisions, decisions and post-decision stages are key components. Zeleny, M (1982)3 acknowledges, these stages are interdependent .

Risks regarding transitioning.

My links with other OHA consultants has noted that a comprehensive transitioning process has not been accredited to a consummate level to date. Therefore, practice implications for aspiring OHAs towards consultancy suggests a state of incompleteness. Furthermore, implications influenced by OH and sociological inputs are noted by Higgins, M (2001)4 that individuals decisions to change careers are socially embedded . The juxtaposition of an OHA s social context and experience are inextricably linked where each depends upon the other. Aspiring OHAs may regard their motivations purely from simply self-interested goals (such as making a living) Bevan, P (2000)5. If so, then assurance of successful transitioning even from various contexts could be in jeopardy. In addition, Shafer, C (2010) ⁶ accords you need to consider the pros and cons of consulting as a profession .

Caution, regarding the expectation that all aspiring OHAs will succeed to consultancy is well founded. This notion is important if innate entrepreneurial activities do not keep pace with workplace health consultancy demands. This perception emanates from both mine and colleagues comprehensive narratives. However, grey literature authors may well produce non-peer reviewed credible publications that could have beneficial practice implications in the near and distant futures regarding transitioning.

Conclusion.

I have observed the missing syntheses regarding methodologies between fragmented transitioning elements and OHA consultancy practices. Passing through the transitioning criteria driven gateways are not compulsory. Each OHA s decision to commence transitioning will depend upon their circumstances, motivation, agendas, OH KSE, business acumen and available resources. Discourse planning, comprising social conceptions and experiential practices, could augment evolving consultancies in the future. Furthermore, contexts, stakeholder inferences, forward reasoning, perspectives, demographics and geographical economies, could be integral to such constructionist activities. My proposed guidance process template is available separately as noted above: .

References.

1. Dinmohammadi M, Peyrovi H, Mehrdad N. Concept Analysis of Professional Socialization in Nursing. Nursing Forum [serial on the Internet]. (2013, Jan), [cited January 9, 2014] Abstract. Available from: Academic Search Complete.

2. Robertson H, Brott P. Male Veterans Perceptions of Midlife Career Transition and Life Satisfaction: A Study of Military Men Transitioning to the Teaching Profession. Adultspan Journal [serial on the Internet]. (2013, Oct), [cited January 9, 2014] 12(2): 71. Available from: Academic Search Complete.

3. Zeleny M. Multiple criteria decision-making. [Book on the Internet] [Europe: 1982], [cited 2014 January 30]. Vol 25 (3-1:86). Available from: http://classwebs.spea.indiana.edu/kenricha/Oxford/Archives/Oxford%202006/Courses/Decision%20Making/Articles/Zeleny,%20Ch.%203.pdf

4. Higgins M. Changing Careers: The Effects of Social Context. Journal of Organizational Behaviour [serial on the Internet]. (2001), [cited February 7, 2014] (6): 595. Summary. Available from: JSTOR Arts Sciences IV.

5. Bevan P. The successful use of consultancies in aid-financed public sector management reform: A consultant`s eye view of some things which matter. Public Administration and Development [serial on the Internet]. (n.d.), [cited February 7, 2014] 20(4): 291. Available from: Social Sciences Citation Index.

6. Shafer C. How to start a safety consulting business. [Yahoo contributions network on the Internet]. [USA: 2010], [cited 2014 February 10]. The pros and cons of consulting. Available from: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-start-safety-consulting-business-5175591.html