Time For Take Off!
Yesterday was my first official day as a full-time freelancer. In the weeks leading up today, I have been through the whole range of emotions.
From excitement of the incorporation of Summerstowe as a company to those fleeting moments of “What the hell have I done?”. Leaving a well paid position as a sales manager to become an unstable freelancer is seen by many as a maverick move.
Consequently, a quick lesson has been to not put too much value on the opinions of others. Self-belief becomes your closest ally. You will need it. The admin and work piles up surprisingly fast. In a company, you rely on others, alone you rely on yourself. Or not really, in truth you rely on endless google searches and video tutorials. The learning curve is sharp, from how to add code to a website to the intricacies of tax law. Exciting, I know!
However, administration and setting up a company in 2023 are surprisingly straightforward and cheap. There are so many software (Calendly, Google workspace and Squarespace to name a few) that provide you with the infrastructure to get started straight away.
The choice of my target audience has been an easy choice. After over three years of interaction with (2000+) founders in start-ups and small businesses in the creative space, I not only feel like I have a good understanding of what makes them wake up everyday or keeps them awake at night, but simply put, I like them.
In all honesty, the biggest challenge for me, has been how my brand positioning in the market, from the services I wish to provide onto how to reach out to my audience.
So I did my research! After watching too many videos (A lot of which contained very generic information), I first came across a presentation by the US-Canadian businessman and motivational speaker Brian Tracy, which if you are interested you can watch here. Meanwhile, a YouTuber of a different generation, Ali Abdaal has a great vlog on setting up a business from scratch.
These alongside my own insights assisted me in the design of my brand positioning and my intended approach to business:
Public Journey: This is something I realised was going to be non-negotiable. Like, everyone I have a fear of failure, but the best way to learn and adapt is to expose yourself to a wider audience.
Client-Oriented: Clients need to be your biggest cheerleaders, they are 10X more than any marketing. To do this, improving and building upon services, and taking in any feedback from the market is critical to provide an excellent and consistent standard of service.
Value First, Business Later: Potential clients need to be shown that they can trust you that you know what you are talking about, before opening up their wallets.
Constant Adaption: My original services will likely evolve over time, and through my conversations, I want to accelerate this process. I recognise for this to be succesful, I need to put any assumptions I hold to one side.
So to begin this process, I want to learn and speak with my audience (founders of start-ups and SMBs), via direct and (hopefully) open conversations.
These conversations are not about me selling my services, but rather providing insights where I can. Obviously, in the long-term, I would hope that partnerships and business can grow organically out of these conversations. As a starting point though, it is more about building longer-term (non-transactional) relationships and learn what makes them tick, or conversely results in a headache. Listening is the name of the game.
During these first six months (if not longer), I will be journaling my experience of being a freelancer on a bi-weekly basis with any insights I learn along the way with what I expect to be the highs and low of this new endeavour. Stay tuned!
If the idea of my open conversation format sounds potentially interesting to you, please feel free to plan in a time here
