What I learned in my first year of business – Part Two

I have learned a lot over the last 12 months from getting things right and from making mistakes. I've jotted down a few of the things I learnt. This is part two – here is part one if you missed it.

Believe in yourself

When you do not have a guaranteed wage, it is tempting to take on any work that comes along, especially in the early days before you have established yourself. In year one, I didn't always follow my gut, and it has cost me. Don't let anyone mess you around; you're better off with no clients than bad clients – bad clients cost time AND money. This is obviously a lot easier to do once you have a fair few clients on your books. But do listen to your gut. If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

I even ended up doing free work for a business based on promised work that never came through because they claimed they misunderstood my original quote for a workshop. It was only after they came back with excuses about said promised work that I looked back at that original quote – it was crystal clear. If I had believed in myself – reiterated what the quote covered, I would never have wasted my time. Who knows, they may even have agreed to pay for the work rather than taking me for an absolute mug.

This brings me on to imposter syndrome. You've launched a business because you have a great idea or you're already an expert in the service you offer. You know what you're doing. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you're not working hard enough, or you don't know what you're doing, or you're not good enough just because your business hasn't grown as quickly as you expected, or something goes wrong. This happens to everyone. You are not alone.

One way to help hold your confidence together is to have a network of people in your shoes or who have been there that you can just chat with from time to time. It will help keep you sane. Having that person at the end of the phone makes you feel a lot less isolated. Thanks to networking, I have a list of people that I can just pick up the phone to if I'm questioning myself or whether a client is being reasonable, or just something has come up that I've not experienced before. Just to ask a couple of pieces of advice. Equally, I do the same for others. I have People who call me for advice now that I've been doing In this for a while.

Know when to delegate

When you're launching your own business, chances are you don't have the funds immediately to outsource everything that you're not an expert in. Obviously, your life will be a lot easier when you can. Getting bogged down in your accounts, answering all your business calls and emails, sales, HR (if you have employees), and I guess for most people marketing, takes up a lot of valuable time when you could be getting on with what you know, and what you make money from. I am only really just starting to be able to outsource non-marketing tasks.

It can be challenging to know who to outsource to. Your resources are particularly precious in the early days of building your business. As well as finding potential clients, networking is really good for finding suppliers who come recommended. You can have more confidence that you are working with someone who knows what they are doing and that you are investing your money wisely.

Outsourcing work for clients is often worth considering too. As well as working with other freelancers and businesses for outsourcing client work (I'm no graphic designer or web developer for example – I couldn't deliver quality work for clients without my network) I've discovered Udrafter. They offer what they call micro internships. They are paid, but a student or recent graduate can sign up to do projects for you. This is great for both you and the student. It offers them paid work, which always comes in handy when you're a poor student and something that's actually relevant to their field that will help them find a job when they leave University. Equally, you get project work done. You may have to check their work more than you would someone with more experience, and they are likely to take longer to complete it, but this will still save you time in an affordable way. And if your business is starting to grow, you might even get an employee at the end.

Outsourcing some of your work means you don't have all the risks that come attached to having a full-time employee. But at the same time, you're able to grow. Once I'm outsourcing enough, my plan is that I'll actually start growing into a full-service marketing agency.

Even where you can't delegate, there are other ways to save yourself a lot of time. There are a lot of time-saving software and automation tools available (some are even free). For example, HubSpot has a free CRM tool that makes tracking clients and projects much more straightforward. Otter AI is also a handy tool if you speak quicker than you type; it's a voice to text tool that is very accurate and learns as you correct it, and for most, the free version is probably sufficient.

Take breaks

Pay attention to your body and what it's telling you. If you need to take a break, take that break. You need to make sure that you take time off for lunch rather than eat at your desk. Take yourself away from that space. Make sure you finish when you planned to – it's no good working nine 'till midnight. When you are your business, it is so easy to overdo it, working every hour on something you are passionate about, but that is no good in the long run – you will burn out.

It's not always obvious when everything's getting too much, either. COVID, in particular, has been a nightmare for me. I kept working harder than ever because it felt like I needed to do more to bring in less business. I don't think I realised how stressed I was until I almost collapsed. I had to take a few days off to de-stress.

When you switch off, really switch off, don't check your work email, don't get distracted by LinkedIn. You need that time off. Set "Do Not Disturb" hours for work email. Just because you have a mobile device doesn't mean you should be available 24-7.

Also, make sure that you book time off. It is tempting to keep going (especially if you can't go anywhere), but you need that time off just like you did when you were employed. Book well in advance if possible so that you can make sure that any new clients who come on board are aware when you are on holiday. Don't panic. There aren't many clients out there who will refuse to work with you just because you're not available the very next week. Let's face it, once you've got a lot of customers, that won't be the case anyway. If a client does refuse to work with you because you dare to take a week or so off, they aren't a client you would have wanted anyway!

Make sure you take time off if you're not well too. You'll only make yourself worse if you keep going, and you'll end up having to take more time off.

When to take the plunge

It turns out that there's no such thing as a good time to set up your own business. You never know what might be around the corner (although I hope there aren't many more pandemics on the horizon). If you wait for the perfect time, it will never come, so if you have the capital to start and it is a dream – I say go for it! It has been incredibly tough, but I do not regret it. I cannot imagine going back into the corporate world now. It has been so liberating becoming my own boss and making the right decisions for myself and my clients without interference from anyone else.

Thinking about setting up your own business and want a chat with someone who has already been there? call me on 07791 521439 or email me at samantha@labrakita.co.uk

Author: Samantha Tonge, Marketing Consultant, Labrakita Marketing