6 Months Into Self-Employment, My Secrets Revealed!

I can't believe it has just been 6 months since starting this journey, it feels like years! I've never learned so much in such a short space of time. Up until 6 months ago, I like many others lived in fear of doing something different or taking a risk. Many factors made me feel that way - money, family, what other people would think, how it would affect my mental health, how much time would I have for myself, and the list goes on. In this blog, I want to share all the tips and tricks I've learned in the hope that it will encourage others to embrace their dreams and consider going solo too.

Planning and Preparing

The Idea

If you don't have a business idea yet, consider what parts of your current work or previous work you've enjoyed the most. You won't like 100% of any job you do (in my opinion), you will always need to do tasks you don't enjoy so much, but the idea is that you enjoy your job enough for it to fulfill you. You may want to consider a skill test to see what job ideas will align with your skill set.

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to run my own business and be successful professionally. I always had this nagging in my head telling me that unless I had a niche business idea or had invested in something completely different from anything on the market then there was no point in starting a business. This couldn't be further from the truth, so many successful entrepreneurs will tell you that all you need to do is copy an existing idea but make it better, put your twist on it, find your unique selling point, and roll with it. Or, if you have something niche, what are you waiting for!?

If you're still unsure, here are some great ideas: https://www.shopify.com/uk/blog/low-investment-business-ideas#:~:text=Writers%2C%20graphic%20designers%2C%20virtual%20assistants,business%20that%20advises%20on%20projects.

Remember that whatever you choose to do doesn't have to be forever, you can always venture into something new at the right time.

Where To Start

Whether you have an idea or not or are one year in, Business Gateway is a free service that I highly recommend. In the beginning, I attended every webinar I could from bookkeeping to marketing to sales skills. I managed to learn everything I needed to, generally, however also had some expert advice from my advisor. When you contact Business Gateway you'll be assigned a business advisor who can support you one to one with any queries or support you require. So if you don't know where to start, contact them!

There's also a team within Business Gateway who can carry out exceptional market research on any idea you have so you can highlight any competition, risks, and gaps in the market before going ahead. The last thing you want to do is plan out your entire business and just as you're about to launch, you realise that the same service/product is already on offer and you can't compete.

The Financials

Arguably the biggest worry for anyone when starting a business is how they'll finance it or how they'll afford to live. My advice is to work out your income and outgoings - how much do you NEED to live on every month? You want to ensure you have at least 6 months in savings to be able to start. Other options are a loan from family and friends if you're lucky enough to be in this position, and a start-up business loan (you can get some with less than 4% interest at the moment), or working for another few months to save. Lastly, if you have a family and one of you is in full-time employment (or close to it), it may be worthwhile utilising the start-up year that Universal Credit offers to enable you to build your business whilst ensuring you have enough money to live on.

You want to make sure you have completed a cash flow and financial forecast for your first two years, based on research and not made-up numbers. You can get support with this through Business Gateway or from a financial advisor (however, this will likely cost you money).

A huge part of starting a business is getting your name and face out there and known (usually), a great way to use some money is to invest in a membership with the Chamber of Commerce. In your first year, it's only £100 and a great investment!

The Business Plan

Then, you should be pulling everything together into a good business plan. I wouldn't recommend skipping this, you often need it for focus or investment so it's good to have on hand.

Networking and Support

Networking is a great way to get to know other businesses and individuals, they may help to support you, shape your business, suggest improvements, and help you find better ways of working.

Some of them are free - great! But, be aware of the costly ones. My advice is to try them all out, you usually get some free entries before you need to pay. This will help you work out which one is worth the financial investment. Bear in mind that others may give recommendations or tell you to avoid certain networking groups, but I'd still recommend trying all of them and deciding what's right for you and your business.

The best places to look for events are the Chamber of Commerce (you should have a local one), Eventbrite, LinkedIn, and business pages on Facebook. The Chamber has been great for me to increase my visibility and learn more about other businesses and individuals. I also check at least weekly for general networking events across Tayside and Aberdeenshire.

If you do have time before you start your business, grow your visibility on LinkedIn, and become part of the community. It will help when you launch. Remember though, it isn't just about making connections, it's about keeping that relationship going, referring connections to other connections or businesses.

Most importantly of all, make sure you have the best support system, family, and friends. Ones that understand what you're going through, they don't need to understand the business or even what it does but they do need to be there for you on the bad days when you're wondering 'is this going to work?'

Fake It Until You Make It

Now, I actually don't like this saying, but my interpretation of it is that you can't know everything straight away. Learning continues through life. Sometimes you need to talk the talk a little bit, but you shouldn't lie or lead someone to believe you can do something you can't. Most importantly, you shouldn't jeopardise who you are or your morals for the benefit of pleasing someone else.

You also can't 'fake' the entire time, you need to learn as you go and soak in everything you're 'faking'. If you don't learn anything as you go, you'll be faking your whole life.

Be you, don't be afraid to be you, it's what people buy.

Plan, LOTS

I can't express how important it is to have realistic goals for the first year and long term, this will keep you focussed and working towards something. For me, I have a set amount of clients I want to reach, so many networking events I want to attend, and so many connections I want to have on LinkedIn (as I'm B2B). These goals will completely depend on the business you're starting or thinking of starting.

Then, break this down into how you'll achieve this. For me, I like to do this weekly. I make sure I'm working a little towards this every week.

Have fun!

The most important thing is to enjoy the journey and have fun.

My advice might be different in another six months, but after everything I've soaked in over the last six months, these are my top tips. Plan, plan, and then plan some more. Network as much as possible, and follow up on LinkedIn. And, just have fun, otherwise what's the point?

I'm always happy to meet with others, give advice where I can and just connect. If you want to meet up for a coffee, feel free to use this link:

Lucy