It has been a crazy journey for me over the past three years, especially during the COVID-19 lockdown. I had a lot of time to reflect on the life I desired and what I needed to do to achieve that goal.

I used to work as a client project lead for a smaller agency and got to learn the ropes of managing clients, but over time it was not sustainable because I had to deal with the stress of managing my boss while also working long hours, and it took a huge mental toll on me. I badly wanted to upskill, but I also did not have the time to do so while working my full-time job.

It was a mindset shift that pushed me to take control of my own life and build toward the work-life balance that I wanted.

I tried the nine-to-five and hated it because I love my freedom of working wherever I want. My creativity certainly does not suit the corporate environment either, so I knew that I had to take things into my own hands.

Also Read: Dedoco: A founder’s journey to building next-gen digital trust technology

When I decided that I had enough and quit my job, I positioned myself as a digital marketing consultant and, over time, built my pool of freelance clients who would eventually refer me to more clients, but I eventually realised that there was a cap on how many clients I can manage as a solopreneur/freelancer because I do not have the time to juggle so many things concurrently. I am but one person with only 24 hours a day. That was when I decided to build my own team.

It was very profitable being a solopreneur, but when I built my team, I slowly realised that I had to pay more expenses and, simultaneously, make sure I would bring in more revenue to support the business growth. It was a new set of problems that I had to work through, but I had to do it if I wanted to scale.

It was not an easy journey for me because the rigours of entrepreneurship demand sacrifices. I was working 24/7, wearing a dozen hats, and pushing myself to learn dry subjects I had never considered.

The mindset shift from freelancer to entrepreneur was the toughest, in my opinion, because I had to remodel my offerings and be comfortable delegating and increasing my pricing strategy.

Lessons I have learnt as an entrepreneur

Here are some lessons I have learned along the way in bootstrapping my company from the ground up:

Concentrate. Try not to juggle too many things in one go.
Understand dealing with setbacks is an ongoing process, and you will get better at handling failures over time.
If you are an introvert and don’t like to network like me, try mastering other verticals like social media ads, Google ads, email marketing, influencer marketing and etc. Set up a solid funnel and drive leads you can convert into sales. Keep A/B testing and optimising one funnel if you are strapped for time. I see many businesses driving leads successfully by mastering one funnel, and they do it really well as opposed to creating multiple funnels and becoming a jack (or funnel) of all trades.
Set up your SOPs, then delegate everything. I hate to break it to you, but you are not so special that the business cannot function without you. You should want the business to function without you because that indicates that you have built a business, and ‘you’ are not the business.

Also Read: From hobby to startup: Here’s my story as IKIGUIDE’s Co-Founder

Learning is a continuous process. It never ends. So it is important to set aside time to build on your knowledge and skills. When I started building my agency, I fashioned myself as an autodidact and continuously scoured the web looking for answers to every question that I had, which led me to understand design thinking, marketing, and how to run a business. I believe you can learn anything online these days.
Be a reasonable yet firm leader. I believe that if you are genuine and want the best for your employees, they will feel it. At the same time, when shit hits the fan, you need to be firm, you need to be direct so your employees have the structure they need to get the job done and learn and grow from their mistakes.
Find a mentor. I cannot emphasise the importance of this enough. You need at least one person to bounce ideas off, gain new perspectives from, and also give you advice. He or she will be the one that impacts your career trajectory.
Choose your network of friends wisely because they influence your decision-making process. And if you are an introvert like me, there is only so much time you can afford to socialise until the overstimulation and fatigue hit you. I like to spend my social time wisely and surround myself with entrepreneurs because of their spirit and resolve. I have realised over the years how big of an impact these people have on my life and how vital it is to surround myself with people who challenge and elevate me.

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