10 lessons from my first year in business
In August 2022, I ventured out into the wondrous world of entrepreneurship. If you’ve yet to hear why I quit the corporate ladder to pursue my passions, you can read that story here.
In the year since I kicked off my career as a full-time freelancer, I have learned so much—about business, relationships and self. I like to think these lessons aren’t only applicable to me, or just to freelancers for that matter. They’re applicable to anyone trying to hack it in this thing called life. So without further ado, here are the top ten lessons I learned in my first year in business.
1) Know your worth
From my POV, one of the greatest challenges starting a service-based business is striking a balance between staying humble and fair while still advocating for the value you create. Imposter syndrome really sets in here. So, I spent much of my first few months reaching out to other content creators, agencies and freelancers alike to ask a seemingly simple question: What do you charge?
Turns out, the answer is almost always “it depends.” Having never worked for an agency, I started out with little-to-no understanding of industry rates for the type of work I do.
DON’T — I started by setting an hourly rate that I thought was fair to both myself and my clients, but quickly realized I wasn’t charging nearly enough. The truth is, calculating your corporate salary and working backwards to determine an hourly rate will never make you the money you deserve.
DO — Instead, focus on the value you’re providing through your work. Your price is more than your time—it’s your years of skill, the tools you use, the behind-the-scenes of your biz and so on. But mostly, it’s the value you create. If I’m writing a webpage for a software company that does six-figure deals, and I know that webpage could help them close even one sale—well, therein lies sustainable value.
2) How to hop off the hamster wheel
Transitioning out of a corporate career was a major culture shock… so much so that a year later, I’m still deconditioning myself from the daily grind.
I want to preface this by saying I was fortunate to work with some wonderful organizations that provided me with a great work-life balance. But even so, unlearning the always-on mentality — i.e. constantly checking emails in off hours, feeling guilty for taking a mental health day, making sure that little green Teams checkmark is always lit up — is a serious process.
My greatest mindset shift: we do not live to work. The pivot from producer to creator is a metamorphosis I hope everyone gets to experience one day.
3) 99% of meetings are useless
Remove the dreaded back-to-back meeting blocks from your day and watch your productivity — not to mention your sanity — absolutely soar. Charging my clients for meetings [in most cases] ensures my time is optimized and is rarely spent in runaround conversations. Today, my client meetings are productive, to the point, and a l w a y s planned with goals, objectives and an agenda.
4) Mental health days can be hard
When you’re your own billable resource, mental health days hit different. During the first few months, I found myself stressing hard on the days when my productivity slipped. But as a creative, it’s impossible to be “always on”—especially when that mid-week melancholy [not to mention the occasional existential crisis] sets in.
The key? Radical self-compassion. You are not a workhorse… you are human, and so are your clients. Take the time when you need it and you’ll come back with a clearer mind—fresh and flowing like a wellspring of creativity.
5) Confidence is key
Fake it til you make it, baby. But actually—that’s one cliché that’s chock-full of sage wisdom.
Even if confidence comes to you au naturel, beginning something that feels completely unfamiliar — whether that be writing proposals, networking, or selling your services — can feel utterly cringeworthy. But while your mind is having a holy-f*ck-I-have-no-idea-what-I’m-doing type moment, remaining calm and cool on the exterior is an arguable artform. And it’s an important one to learn…because that outer confidence is what closes deals and wins hearts.
6) Lean on your network
You don’t know who you know until you know… you know? But actually… I recently learned that the average person knows 600 people [source]. Odds are, there is someone in your extended network that can make the intro, recommend a resource, or could benefit from your services themselves. It’s true when they say, “ask and you shall receive.” What do you have to lose?
7) Never stop learning
Working for yourself, the temptation to make every hour billable is real. But at the end of the day, the more skilled and educated you are, the more value you can create for your clients—and that equates to more dolla-bills in the long run, anyways. Setting time aside for up-skilling, reading, taking courses, attending events—however you love to learn, do it. Because [prepare for the cheese] there’s literally no greater investment you can make than expanding your own mind.
8) Be humble, or you’ll be humbled
Just when you think everything is going easy breezy, BAM—a good ol’ slice of humble pie hits you right where it hurts. I joke that working for yourself can feel a bit like a game of Crossy Road… you’re the chicken trying to run through the traffic, and it all feels realll easy until things start to speed up. Long story short, expect the unexpected and come over-prepared. For me, this manifested through lessons like:
Schedule yourself to 75-80% capacity and leave the other 20% for contingency [b/c you will 100000% need it, and over-booking yourself sucks]
Accept that not everyone can afford you, not everyone will like you, and not everyone will see your value. Be okay with it and move on.
Things [often] take longer than you think they will. Plan accordingly.
9) Practice radical self-compassion
This one is critical, folks. I mentioned it before and I’ll say it again—you are human. You are going to make mistakes. You are going to fail. You are going to have self-doubt, imposter syndrome, think your work is sh*t sometimes, forget why you made this decision in the first place, and possibly shed some tears [or in my case, plenty]. Know that it’s all part of the journey, and experiencing the highs means riding the lows.
10) Nevermind what others think
To be candid, I struggle with this lesson the most—and I think it’s one I’ll keep on learning for a long time. But to truly do big things, you’re going to have to drown out the critics and carry on with conviction. That may mean keeping quiet in rooms where you know you won’t be met with real support or even blocking certain people on socials.
An exercise I love that’s helped me with this immensely: pick 3-5 people that are your core crew. These are the people you tell everything to, turn to on difficult days, and want to share your greatest news with. When you’re experiencing intrusive thoughts based on other people’s opinions, ask yourself this: Are they in my core crew? If the answer is no, why do you care what they think?
11) You were born to do this
BONUS — You were born to do this. You may not have all the answers or even a clear path for the year ahead… but if you know [down deep] that this is what you want, you’ll find your way.
If you made it this far, thank you [ for real ] for reading and keeping up with my journey. As I reflect on these lessons today, I’m realizing how very much I have to learn. But that’s the beauty of it all—the learning never ends.
Manifesting all the best + the rest for your second half of 2023!
With love,
Ros