Did you ever feel unfulfilled in your job and as if life could be offering you more.
These are the exact feelings that led Ronika Khanna to promptly leave her full-time job three years ago without any prospects and build a business of her own. She has never looked back!
Ronika is our BizSugar “Contributor of the Week,” a designation we grant to members who we feel have contributed consistently to making BizSugar a better place for small business owners and entrepreneurs to be. Here’s more about Ronika and why YOU should get to know her better.
“The urge to start my own business started when I was living in Bermuda,” Ronika said. “I returned home, to Montreal, to work as a Controller in a rapidly growing payments processing company. The work was actually quite interesting and I met some great people, but despite working long hours, there were always impediments to implementing improvements and adding value.”
Frustrated with a work environment that was becoming increasingly routine and offered little room for career development, Ronika took an unprecedented step.
“When I left, I really did not have any prospects and my network was virtually non-existent,” she explained. “I spent the next few months following many different avenues of promoting myself including building a website, advertising on craigslist, social networking, talking to friends and family.”
It was then that she landed a temporary job from a recruiting agency which would change her life forever and set her on the path to owning her own business and being her own boss.
“One of their clients was looking for someone to train a bookkeeper for a couple of weeks,” Ronika said. “The actual project turned out to be far more extensive and resulted in me overhauling their accounting system and staying on as their accounting consultant. It also led to several word of mouth referrals.”
And the opportunities just kept coming.
“Since then I’ve had a fairly constant and growing stream of business (including both the CEO and CFO from my last job) primarily from word of mouth and my website,” she added. “It has been almost three years since I have been my own boss and I truly love it. It helps that I had a lucky break early on, but I’ve also been persistent and am constantly looking for new opportunities.”
It was during one of her quests for new opportunities that Ronika discover the BizSugar community.
I first started blogging about a year ago,” Ronika explained. Her site, Montreal Financial, has become a familiar presence in the BizSugar community. “While I was researching ways to promote my blog, I came across an article that mentioned BizSugar as a great social sharing site specifically geared towards small businesses.”
Ronika joined the community and immediately saw the value.
“It was perfect for my needs and, over the past year, has been integral to the growth of my blog and my business,” she said. “I enjoy discovering great new articles as well as the interesting and lively interaction among the members and moderators (Duncan’s comments often crack me up).”
Would you like to be a BizSugar “Contributor of the Week” like Ronika? It’s easy. Just sign up for your free BizSugar account and start sharing helpful small business news and information with our small business community and join our Facebook community. We hope to see you around the community!
Hey, congratulations Ronika! I’ve seen your name and your postings around many many times. What a delight to get to “know” you a wee bit better.
– Anita
Thanks so much, Anita. This is a great community you have got going on here…
Hi Ronika,
Congrat for being the Bizsugar of the week 🙂 I will check out your site now to see what you have in there 😉
Thanks, Valentine.
Congrats Ronika and well deserved. I must say I enjoy articles you post and your comments add to the discussion on other postings.
Thanks, Susan. The feeling is mutual.
Hi Ronika.
Your work is always Top-Notch, and I know the community always appreciates your expertise. I always look forward to your articles. Thanks,
Duncan
Thanks so much, Duncan
Ronika, I am very happy to hear of your success and learn a bit about you here. Being one myself, I know that entrepreneurs are born entrepreneurs, and that we satisfy our thirst by being entrepreneurial and taking on each day with energy and passion. I am always happy to hear (or read in this case) stories about entrepreneurial successes like yours. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!
Thanks, Garnet. I love reading stories about entrepreneurs as well as they often help to motivate me to keep doing what I’m doing.
Congrats Ronika. It’s nice to see your real face (not that the cartoon isn’t cool). 🙂
Thanks, David. I really do need to change that…
Congrats Ronika,
Nice to learn a little more about you, and look forward to reading more of your great posts on bizsugar 🙂
Thanks, Jackie.
Congrats Ronika! It’s been awhile since we connected so I’ll make it a point to visit you more often. 🙂
Thanks, Ileane. I will look forward to it 🙂
Hi Ronika, It’s great to have you as part of the Bizsugar family. Congratulations on becoming our contributor of the Week. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Thank you, Niall. Very happy to be part of the BizSugar family.
Congratulations, Ronika!
Thanks, Staci.
Congrats Ronika. It great to “meet” you!
Hello Ronika,
Glad to see you getting the credit you deserve. Your writing has been very good, especially the actionable how-to tips.
Regards,
Ivan
Hey Congratulation Ronika. Its really great to see you on Bizsugar.
Congrats Ronika,
Your written blog was beautiful and very informative. Keep it up