As we enter a new year with festive tunes and mince pies now a distant memory, I am also entering my 2nd year running my own business and working for myself. And so I thought I would dedicate my first blog of 2022 to my experience so far as a solopreneur.
A rollercoaster of emotions
In the words of Ronan Keating ‘life is a rollercoaster, you just gotta ride it’ well, the same can be said for running your own business. In my first 12 months of working for myself I have experienced the highest of highs from winning new clients, billing my 1st invoice and launching my podcast, The Coaching Cast. To some lows or lessons as I like to refer to them as. They include rejection, being ghosted after submitting proposals you have put hours into and on one particular occasion not following my gut and pitching to someone who did not offer me good vibes!
I have learnt that when you work for yourself, you care more, of course you do it's yours. But what comes with that is the highs are high but the lows can be low. The lesson here that I can offer, is to expect that rollercoaster and work on your ability to manage yourself, manage your state, brush yourself off, take the learnings and carry on. I think that is what they call resilience.
Working on holiday isn't cool
Before I became my own boss I had this idealistic vision of having the freedom to travel and to work on my own terms. You know the insta ideal pic, being sat outside in the sunshine on a sea view balcony, tapping away on my laptop drinking a freshly ground coffee, nailing that to-do list before venturing out for a late lunch. Hmmmmm, this ideal doesn't exist, well not for me anyway.
Firstly, because leaving the country over the past year to sunnier climates is more difficult than ever before, thanks Covid. My reality is trying to get a stable enough wifi connection at a caravan park staycation in East Yorkshire, so I can download my emails, is really as depressing as it sounds.
This ideal vision I had of the freedom of working on holiday on my own terms, has not worked out for me so far. I actually found when I did it, I never switched off from work. I was still active in my business, doing, planning, replying to people and so I never fully switched off and this impacted my mental health. At times over the last year I didn't actually give myself the time to pause and re energise as you would if you took holiday working in an organization. I let an ideal guide me and that has been a big learning.
You get to meet loads of interesting people
It kind of surprised me a bit that people are on the whole, really generous with their time. I have spoken to more people in the last 12 months from different backgrounds, cultures, locations than I did in the last few years of my corporate career. Through reaching out, being curious and talking to anyone who will listen to me, I have grown my professional network, got some great advice but also had the opportunity to meet some lovely, interesting people. When you work for yourself you do predominantly work alone and so you have a newfound appreciation for zoom coffee catch ups which you may have ordinarily been less keen on, when working in an organisation. They matter much more than you might think.
Things take time but that is ok
One of the biggest lessons has been that things take more time than you originally think. That goes from doing your bookkeeping to building a brand or a new client relationship. It takes time to learn new skills and for people to learn to trust you. I could have done with this obvious realisation early on, it would have helped me in managing my own pressures and expectations of myself. I have firmly learnt that if it's meant for you, it won't pass you by in one way or another and that belief really does help when it's you, yourself and I. Trusting that as much as you can, is really important.
Believe, believe and believe some more
So, if you are reading this as a fellow solopreneur or you are considering leaping into working for yourself and are holding back, just start small. Take some small actions which will get you going and see where it takes you. Don't underestimate the power of that belief in yourself. If you imagine it is possible, believe, make a start with a sprinkle of realism thrown in and it will happen for you.
Although one thing that definitely won't happen is having enough wifi bandwidth to download your emails at a Haven caravan park, don't say I didn't warn you!
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