7 Lessons I Learned from 1 Year of Entrepreneurship
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They say that time flies when you're having fun, and that's totally true! Running my own business simultaneously feels like a lifetime of experiences and one whirlwind of a month. If you're also an entrepreneur, then you may understand what I mean. As I look back on the 1 year and 1 month of successful business management that I have under my belt, there are a few lessons that stick out to me, lessons that I believe would help any new entrepreneurs!
Today I'm sharing a list of seven of those lessons so you can hopefully take a page out of my book and learn from my mistakes!
What I Learned
July 13, 2020 is the day I launched my business, and since then I've learned a few precious lessons! This blog post goes is perfect for all the new entrepreneurs out there! When I first started my business, the first blog post I wrote was about some of the biggest mistakes I made in my previous business that ultimately lead to its failure. You can read that blog post here (needs to be linked). But today, we're talking about the lessons I've learned that have helped me build a successful business.
In my first year of business, I was able to help dozens of female brand and web designers, make more money, take vacations and work from where ever, and leave my previous job to work from home. And the best part? I didn't have to waste years of my life at college (ok, I know that's a controversial opinion, we'll talk about it in more detail at a different time).
Lesson 1: start with strategy
I cannot emphasize this enough! Before diving into software, processes, marketing, and so on, take time to think about your core values, ideal client, the voice you're going to use, the services you're going to offer, and so on. It's easy to get ahead of yourself and focus specifically on what's in front of you, but try instead to look at the big picture and make decisions now that will help you years down the line.
As a new entrepreneur, I definitely had a bad case of shiny object syndrome. I tried every new project management program (now I use ClickUp), spent hours setting up a CRM, changed email service providers and 110 other things within the first few months of business. This definitely could've been avoided if I nailed down a strategy and stuck with it from the beginning!
Lesson 2: Don't be afraid to try new things
Within my first year of business I went from virtual assistant for coaches and designers to virtual assistant for brand and web designers, finally to copywriter for brand and web designers. I was able to confidently pivot into copywriting because I didn't box myself in! If something looks appealing or interests you, go ahead and learn more about it! You can pivot or approach business in a completely different way at any point in time and people will most definitely appreciate you for that.
The best businesses are ones that solve problems. Flodesk is a wildly successful and popular email service provider amongst brand and web designers (along with other small, service-based entrepreneurs) because they specifically target a niche audience who wants beautiful yet effortless emails. Successful entrepreneurs find a problem or a gap in the market, then create products or services to solve those problems. To stand out and make a profit as an online business owner, you'll have to try new things!
Lesson 3: Niche down!
This goes hand-in-hand with what I was saying about starting with strategy. When you have a strategy for your business, take time to create a crystal-clear ideal client avatar and bring to life the kind of person you want to work with. No, you won't lose out of potential client opportunities by niching down to a specific target market. You'll actually be able to position yourself as an expert in your industry easily, form genuine connections, and get more business specifically from your ideal client and people outside of your target audience.
Lesson 4: Increase your prices
I've heard it said that $25 per hour is the minimum a service-provider should charge online, and I totally agree! Charge your worth and raise your prices. Take a look at competitors and use a pricing calculator (The WildHive Studio has a great one) to figure out a solid hourly rate. After a while, I realized that hourly pricing was not the right way for me to price my services. Instead of trading time for money in this manner, look into flat rates and value-based pricing to increase revenue and not become a slave to your laptop. Don't simply charge less because you want your services to be affordable to others, take into consideration your monthly expenses and how much you need to make to run a successful business. Base your prices off of these numbers!
Pro tip - Research the industry standard for packages and pricing. Make a list of competitors and see what they're charging to increase your confidence in your own services and price yourself in a way that accurately reflects the quality of your work and the others in your industry.
Lesson 5: Don't take criticism from someone you wouldn't go to for advice
Many say that you shouldn't care about what others think of you, but I disagree - with a twist. Instead, think carefully about whose opinion genuinely matters to you. For example, I would take criticism from my mom, but not a new follower on Instagram who gives me advice the day they follow me. When you pick and choose what to learn from and what to overlook, you won't be bogged down by the opinions of others but still able to learn and improve from the constructive feedback of those who matter.
Lesson 6: You only have to do something once to have the confidence to do it again
A bit of a short and sweet lesson since this is really all there is to it! I tell myself this when I make a decision that goes against the grain so to speak in the online space, launch a new product, or raise my prices. It helps me so much to do things that I might normally consider scary! Confidence comes in waves in business, so this one isn't always easy!
Lesson 7: No one can define success for you
And last but not least, we have what I might consider the most impactful lesson I've learned in this first year. Once again, this isn't something complicated or deep, it's a simple truth we tend to forget about. No one can define success for you - create your own definition of success and you'll be happy with the amount of work you're doing, client projects, money you're making, etc. Write it on a sticky note and put it on your computer, tell it to yourself every morning, make it your phone's wallpaper - whatever it takes, remember that success isn't hitting six figures for everyone, for some of us it simply means being able to work less and spend more time on the things that matter outside of work.
All in all, this blog post boils down to one simple thing: business doesn't have to be scary or hard! And you don't have to do it alone! Ask for help when you need it, keep educating and investing in yourself, look for people you can lean on, read as many blog posts as you need to learn what to do and what not to do when starting your business. Every person is different, so take what you need and leave the rest for someone else. You can read all the articles, but nothing is going to take the place of just starting and learning as your go. Don't be afraid to make mistakes!
