What I've learned from starting my own business.
I always wanted to start my own business. Before The Social Girl, I gave a few business' a try, one that was a fairly successful swimwear brand until the pandemic hit.
This only taught me the importance of having a business that was more flexible (especially in UK weather!) and that online is more important than ever for any business.
With over a decade of experience as a social media manager, I thought why haven't I made a proper business out of this? So when my son was born mid lockdown, that's what I decided to do.
After scaling to a six figure business and growing a team of 7, I've learnt a hell of a lot in the past 15 months.
Here are some of my top takeaways if you've ever considered starting out on your own...
Just start: There's never going to be a right time, and it most likely won't be what you expected. The best thing you can do is start. Learn from the market once your product or service is out there, learn from your first customers, do constant research, keep up to date with your industry and don't stop trying once you start!
- Check out our blog post on how to run a successful social media business.
Set goals: Set yourself goals from the very beginning, short and long-term, and do this every single month. These are going to push you, and will allow you to envision where your brand is going and will make every little step you make build towards the big ones.
Believe and live your brand:You've created your brand because you believe in it, never give that up. It may change slightly here and there but the core of what you want to do should be in everything you do.
Your client problems become yours: When you start your business, you’re doing so to provide value, to provide something worthwhile in your sector and to your clients. So when their needs change or a new problem arises, taking on this problem and become a resource to solve this is going to bring you justification, trust, revenue and longevity.
It won't go to plan: Don't think that the plan you've set out so rigidly is going to happen exactly as you planned it to, or in the direction that you set out. It won't always be easy, it may take longer than you expected and there will be setbacks, but everything you learn is going to be valuable to your and your business' growth.
If you're wanting to start your own business, but something's holding you back, what is that? Jump into my DMs on IG I'd love to chat to you!
