The Glamorous Entrepreneur

This is one of those ‘I want to write this but I don’t want to show you behind the curtain’ articles. A season that occasionally reminds me of a failed baking attempt, or a hashtag#PinterestFail. I am pretty uncomfortable sharing this view into my new world, but we all know I’m an over-sharer. Because why let others see only the good, when it’s the bad that makes us who we are!

The truth is becoming an entrepreneur, a business owner, and going out on my own, sounds amazing. It is bold. It is risky. But what I don’t talk about is that I took a huge hit; my family took a huge hit on income and security. We have had the conversation that "Things will look a little different this year", and "no we can’t have sushi every week". I went from enjoying spas and salons to hopping up on the bathroom counter, sticking my feet in my sink to soak while doing my own facials. Totally first world problems, but I just wanted to shed some light to future independent consultants,

Our world is going to see an uptick in the gig economy. Gartner has shared that by 2025 gig workers will account for 35-40% of the workforce. That means a lot of independent consultants like me, are going through this messy middle. While there are so many pros to going out on your own, I wanted to share a few things that I have learned so far you may want to consider FIRST. These considerations are applicable to you if: you don’t have a huge bank account to float the business until you get clients, and you don’t have funding because you’re a non-service product.

• Consider what type of lifestyle you want to have. Are you used to eating out frequently, spa appointments, skeet shooting outings, having your car cleaned, house cleaned, yard mowed, thought you might get a new car? These might be the first things to go. If you're salary just got changed to nothing and you're living on savings, save your money in case the work doesn't come as fast as you want. Save now. Expect the worst and hope for the best. If you can't give up some of those luxuries, this might not be your path.

• Do you really want to do this work and be independent? It will be easy to quit if you aren't passionate about what you want to do, or your vision for what this will look like once you get past the messy middle. Some days I'm like, 'oh look a salaried job'. Then I have to remember two things: 1) I love this new balance I have and it is worth. not. getting. a. pedicure. 2) this is a season. Oh and # 3 I believe that once I get established I can do a lot of good things for A LOT of companies. The Independent piece, well it's kinda lonely in my office. I love my dogs, but they don't inspire me or make me laugh during the day. So, if you like being around people or in an office setting expect to add the expense of a Co-Working space to give you that community feel. 

• Are you ready to be your own promoter/CMO/CFO So you're amazing at <insert superpower> ... are you also good at creating your own website, social media posts, and selling yourself? Can you describe the services you want to offer? You should plan to find a lawyer to review contracts, an accountant to answer questions and set you up properly from day one and pick a website from 2000 different providers. And email, you're Gmail/Hotmail/yahoo account might not work for some businesses. Oh, and a domain! Wait, I have to give my company a name???? I just want to do the work!!!

• Be willing to ASK for work. So this is a weird one when you're going from the corporate world to solopreneur. Before you didn't ask for work, you knew there was always* something next. In this new role, as you're building your business, you're going to have to ask for work. Follow up with people that said they are interested at some point, or someone that shared they had a lead. You just got a New job -> Sales Person. You have to be willing to go to those folks rooting for you and say "Hey, you know I'm doing this new business and I would love any leads you have." Then tell them what you want to do and let them see your eyes light up when you talk about it. This is also something you need to refine and practice. Have lots of conversations with known acquaintances so you can practice your pitch. Mine changed several times because the more times I talked to people about it and got their reactions, I realized I wasn't explaining myself well.

  
  

• Get used to MVPs. Accept that you don't know what you want to do YET. Unless you are a python developer, or in a very specialized field, you probably don't know what your superpower is in this new world yet. And that's ok. As you do services like facilitation, you're going to know if that's your jam. It's ok if your services are not 100% refined. A web page is dynamic for a reason! This will change as you find your stride and when people ask you to do new things. Start with a few basic services that you KNOW you love and can deliver...with or without confidence.

Listen, I am not Debbie Downer, but I want potential new solo entrepreneurs to know, that while it sounds exciting and people are ROOTING 🥳 for you, unless they can also give you some contracts that ROOTING only goes so far. You've proclaimed your independence! Now you're on your own with your very inspired self, knowing you have a team of cheerleaders in your corner for YOU to put in the hard work of building your business. I am growing my skills in ways I've never imagined. At the end of the day, I'm giving this new role a college try because of these things that are also incredibly important to me 👇🏻

Best of luck, Wendi

Originally published on LinkedIn