My 5 tips for a budding Entrepreneur
My way of working derived through my Experience, much Reading and Wisdom of loved ones
What makes an entrepreneur?
Is it the ability to have a good idea and execute it? Is it using an existing concept and making it better? Is it being able to do everything on your own? Or is it being part of a great team and working in sync?
A: It is all of the above and then some.
When I began working for myself I had no clue how to do things. I just spoke to my “only” client and did as she told me to. She said, “Sanaya, I need to send out an email to my whole database and I want a follow-up sent 2 days later.” So I went online and researched how to create chain mails. She said, “Sanaya, I plan to do a 3-day workshop for my clients abroad which I need you to attend and take notes for and send out as a summary every day.” So I stayed up at night and worked all of the next day. I realized I was not working as an entrepreneur. I was simply working as her sidekick. I wasn’t working with her but FOR her. Yes, I was working solo, by myself, at my own fees, but that did not make me an entrepreneur. That just made me a really good remote team member.
Have you ever felt that way? Are you also freelancing but NOT really “free”? If you’ve answered yes to this or have faced a similar situation and relate to this, then let me tell you, you’re not alone. I went through it too (as you read above) and honestly, I don’t think I know of anyone who’s an entrepreneur who may not have gone through it at least once in their career.
Today, I want to share with you a few tips that helped me get my “free” back! I genuinely believe that sharing my experience and life hacks could help someone out there, so I took the plunge and am rambling on here. Maybe these tips will work for you and maybe they don’t but at least give them a shot, you will never know until you know, right? 😃
Tip 1: Prioritize and allocate
An entrepreneur is as good as her planner and to-do list. My day begins with a cuppa chai and my laptop opened to Notion, and I jot down everything I have to do, EVERYTHING!! Then, I categorize all the tasks into their priority levels:
Red: Low | Amber: Medium | Green: High (yes this is my colour coding system)
Finally, I pick 3 tasks on my Green Tasks and ensure that I get them done by 4 pm of that day. Anything I achieve after that is gravy … (yes you will see a lot of food metaphors in my newsletter)
The result. When I began to list out, prioritize, and ONLY focus on tasks at hand, I was able to get my chosen tasks done and hit deadlines to the T. My concentration resulted in better quality work and happy clients!!! You are going to FAIL at this the first few times, especially if you’re a workaholic with an overthinking, superfast brain. But then it’s going to get easier, and soon will become your way of life.
Tip 2: Plan your work hours (OMG! so crucial)
As an entrepreneur, and especially someone who’s just starting out and wants to please everyone, we tend to forget that there is something called taking a break. I personally used to forget I needed to have lunch, or that my husband was waiting for me to play the next move in a game, or that my cats were crying for food. We get so lost in our work which in turn leads us to become cranky with others around us and THAT in turn (icing on the cake) makes us detest our work itself, blaming IT for us having “no time”.
Work-Life balance is not jargon, it’s for real. I decided that enough was enough and that I had to plan my work hours just as I would do if I were in an office. So how did I do it?
Step 1: Figure when are you most productive. Factor in housework, playtime, sleep, EAT, family and of course ME time (which I talk about in a bit). For me, these are morning to afternoon hours so from 9 am to roughly 6 pm with a dedicated lunch break and mini-breaks scattered through.
Step 2: Once you define your work hours, let others around you know this as well. (if you don’t have anyone, shout out to me I will help you 😉 ) This is so important because these folks are YOUR support system who will push you off the chair (literally sometimes) to have a shhhhowerrrrr too 🤭. When you’re lost in thought and work, they’re the ones who will bring you back to life.
Step 3: Don’t CHEAT. So this is a tricky one. Cheating in a workaholic freelancer’s life means NOT taking their breaks on time, but for a high-intensity freelancer, cheating maybe NOT beginning work till the very last minute before the deadline. (Secret - I am both!) If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you owe it to your clients, your customers, and the community to give them dedicated time and deliver quality top-notch work. THIS can only happen when YOU are well-rested, energetic and enthused TO perform at your peak level. (ask me again in the comments section if this was a bit complex to understand)
Tip 3: Don’t work in silos (even if you love it)
Ok, so this I learnt the hard way! Have you ever had this said to you, “Shhh .. don’t tell everyone just yet, they may steal your idea? OR Shhh .. don’t talk so much about this or you’ll jinx it!” To this, I want to say STOP! If shit like this is going to happen it will happen anyway, that’s life. But that doesn’t mean you should close yourself off from others opinions, feedback, support and ideas.
When I started I thought I could do everything, but then slowly I realized if I did do everything then I would be stuck with monotonous tasks rather than do MORE quality work! Slowly and gradually I began to automate things, even got my folks on board so I could help my clients .. wait for it .. DO THE EXACT SAME THING! (I’m a Virtual Assistant and my job is to make life easy for others)
One of the best things to work in a team is that you are never short of someone to bounce off ideas with or talk to while doing work. Yes, music helps but to what extent? Of course, there will be stages in your work when you need to fully concentrate but that’s fine, get company for the other times. The important thing to note is working alone will get you even more frustrated and “feel” overworked. But sharing is going to make life simpler and more “entertaining” 🤩
My workmates include: my mom, husband, sister and 4 adorable cats (yes I reference my cats a lot!)
Tip 4: You are not PERFECT. Accept this & Appreciate others.
Boy oh boy! But true true true.
I can’t put this in any lighter way, but you are not Perfect. Yes, you will make mistakes, yes someone else will have a better way of doing things, and YES sometimes your clients/customers will be stubborn and want things done their way. THIS IS OK!
Don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake. Accept, apologize and move on. When it comes to tough clients/customers choose which battles you want to fight with them. Sometimes you’ll win sometimes they will. But try to smoothen the situation without getting into a bitter disagreement.
Always research and find the best possible solution to your idea. And if your way is not the best way, either you change your way, or stand up for it anyway.
Own your Good, Bad and Silly!
The truth of the matter is everyone has some things they’re good at and others they’re not. (If this was not true, we wouldn’t be going out for dinners, coffees, and ice cream) We have to accept this, better ourselves and elevate our skills.
This brings me to the next point about appreciating. If I didn’t have my Mac, I wouldn’t be able to write this newsletter. Had I not been taught the ABC I wouldn’t have words to share. If I wasn’t reading others blogs (and getting excited) I wouldn’t be bothered to bring my writing skills to paper! (Thank You Kritika)
See where I’m going with this? 👆
Everything and everyone matters. So appreciate their contribution to your work. Give credit and acknowledge those around you. Never let go of an opportunity to include others in your Vote of Thanks! You never know what might come back to you someday in a good, big way.
Tip 5: “ME” time
This kind of goes in line with Tip 2 about taking breaks and allocating time, but is a step further. (You'll sometimes find that few things are contradictory to each other but bear with me, contradictions are my thing!).
ME time or as I call it “a date with me” is when you cut off from the world, from work, from family, from house chores, and just do something for yourself. Now don’t get me wrong family time can ALSO be ME time, but take a moment and think, is it really? At some point you might give in to their needs and wants, then that’s not ME time.
For me, cooking gives me immense pleasure. Also, reading books, painting, shopping online, playing games, the list goes on. And all these things I prefer to do on my own. It helps me calm, relax and rejuvenate. And mind you not every day will something work, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Sometimes you might just want to chill and Netflix. Some people would like to hit the gym or run. To each his own kinda DATE.
Your ME time cannot be judged or dictated by others. It is what you like to do. Think of it as your reward for being the “Best Version of Yourself Today.”
There were a lot of tiny things that helped me become my own boss today. But I think the above 5 tips sort of sum up the key changes I made for my entrepreneurial journey. I’m no expert and my journey is not even a year old, but I think anyone starting out right now will benefit from reading from ‘me’ because I am someone who is as new to this like them, rocking the same mini boat.
Tell me more about your journey; share your life hacks, as I am sure I could do things better.
Signing off!!
💖S
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Congratulations on ur very first blog post sanaya! I loved reading it and could really identify with a lot thats in it, esp point 2.
Read your post. All five tips are important and will help you a lot in your entrepreneurial journey. Keep going. Be agile and flexible. Keep exploring new opportunities in this VUCA world. Study emerging trends and build a future proof strategy.
Good Luck
Dolly D