My first year as a Solopreneur
In July I took a month off social media. Some marketing professionals would frown upon this as they may think a business wouldn’t survive without it; others, on the other hand, would totally understand where I’m coming from. But you need some space from posting, scheduling, thinking of content and scrolling for engagement, as it can really drive you mad.
As I have been fortunate enough to see growth in the business recently, I thought it would be a good time to share my experiences (including the challenges) to those of you who are thinking of taking the plunge and starting your own business. I wanted to give you an insight into my experience of managing my business, including making key decisions, wearing all the hats, client relationships, self-doubt and changing plans.
This year’s strategy was a content strategy for my website, which I have so far kept on track. I have produced an article a month based on a specific marketing topic and have shared this on social media with a video of myself introducing it. These videos took me outside my comfort zone, but I am a firm believer in pushing yourself. This is a useful tip when starting a business, but so is knowing when to give yourself a break to return to work both stronger and fresher.
Where to begin | Making the choice
They always say the hardest part is taking the plunge or making the decision, but this was a little different for me. I had thought about going solo for many years and had even done some freelance work when I first graduated. But I was keen to gain some corporate experience first, so that’s what I did for about 10 years. I knew that this experience would teach me the skills and knowledge that I required to be a successful marketing professional.
When the time came to make the decision, it was simple. I was hungry for more independence and autonomy over projects / extremely unhappy in my role and spending 10 hours out of the house each day away from my daughter was not worth the misery that came with it. Every corporate role has taught me something different, but I realised that my future wasn’t in an organisation / I knew very early that I didn’t see a future in this company. Therefore, I started planning for the next chapter in my life. I didn’t know what that looked like, but I was excited.
Quick learning | Wearing all the hats
I have to do everything myself? Kidding, I knew I wasn’t going to have a team of people behind me ready to do my accounts, customer service, branding, promoting and all the things that come with managing a business. It was daunting, but it felt good, learning all this new stuff. There’s never a dull day when you’re wearing all the hats in the business.
If I were to offer any advice for anyone starting on their own, it would be to look for help and support. Surprisingly, there is a lot out there, like Business Wales are great as they offer training courses for all the things you need when taking the plunge. There’s also YouTube where there are videos for everything: from anything technical to putting yourself and your business out there. Also, outsource if you can. As a marketing professional, the easy mistake to make is to think you can do everything and you might be able to or you might just burn out, things like my tax return, that’s the first thing I outsourced, purely because it’s not something I knew much about, and I didn’t want to spend the time figuring it out.
Doubt | Imposter syndrome
The easiest thing to do is to doubt your ability, particularly if you’ve been highly criticised in the past; it’s easy to think I can’t do this or I’m never going to make it. I felt this a lot initially, but not just throughout starting my own business; I’ve actually felt like this at some point in all my previous roles; I never knew how common it was.
Maybe starting a business during a pandemic wasn’t the best decision I ever made, but I had already begun the planning process when I realised how much of an impact the pandemic would have on everyone. I feel like we’re now coming out the other end with restrictions being lifted in Wales last week, and although it’s been one of the biggest challenges I have faced, I keep telling myself if I can get through this, then I can get through anything. Hopefully.
Pushing forward | Client relationships
Communication is essential when dealing with clients and coming up with agreements. There are so many grey areas that every tiny detail needs to be clear to avoid assumptions. Managing client expectations can be a challenge as each client is entirely different to the next, but reiterating communication is essential and having client agreements or contracts in place will help here. I may have had to learn the hard way, but it’s all experience and relative to building who you become as a business owner.
Things change | the five-year plan
Ok, I’m guilty, I haven’t made a five-year plan yet, but I know where I want to be and where I’m heading. I won’t lie, I lost motivation on some occasions throughout lockdown, and I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision. The lack of motivation is real, too. There’s nobody here telling you to get your work done and checking up on you. Setting your own deadlines and creating schedules is crucial for a business to succeed.
Following small successes within the business, I have been able to start working with other professionals such as copy writers and social media managers to complete client projects. This has come at a good time as I’m about to embark on another challenge. I currently have an almost four-year-old daughter, but we are also expecting baby number two late in October. Bringing a new and exciting chapter to our lives, as I imagine my maternity leave won’t be as calm and relaxing as it was the first time around.
The exciting thing about managing your own little business is not always knowing what you’re going to be doing from one day to the next, and I like that. I always found myself wanting new challenges within previous roles. I also like the fact that I work on such different brands. Being able to work within my own time is a big tick for me, it might be that I’m up till midnight some nights finishing off projects, but then I’m free to collect my daughter and attend any events that she has going on in her life, which makes it totally worth it.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience so far and that it may have inspired you to set out on your own. It’s scary but worth it.
It will be back to the marketing stuff at the end of the month. Did you see our article on Content Marketing? Also don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for any Marketing tips.
