01 Nov Risks and Rewards

So you registered self as employed, set up your website, got a few clients and called yourself an entrepreneur! Great, right? Or, perhaps that steam train you were so proud of is still sitting in the station, fully loaded and awaiting new clients? Sound familiar? I know, because I did it too!

I spent 14months waiting. Working and waiting and wondering why I wasn’t progressing. I was putting in more hours that I had in my full-time job, I was committed to achieving success, I was going to the networking meetings, buying the books and doing the short courses. I had all the tools I was told. I should have.

The problem was I had the wrong tools, I was listening to the wrong people and I didn’t utilise the best resources I should have to move forward. But more significantly, I was too afraid of the risks to take any chances. I focused all my energy on the few clients I had at the time. But you cannot progress your business when only working in it and not on it.

So I began researching my ideal target market and using my copywriting skills to talk to them. I read books by inspiring and successful business owners, listened to podcasts, learned from the best, reviewed other industries and picked apart successful strategies and marketing plans. I rebuilt my website and increased my prices, finally got around to writing my blog and created a more structured business plan and sales funnel.

Within a couple of months, I was working with incredible clients, had secured an interview in a local newspaper with an upcoming one in a national one to follow, and even freed up some of my time to devote to writing my first business book on the heels of my published debut fictional novel.

When you believe in yourself, you can achieve great things. Isn’t it time you gave yourself the benefit of the doubt and took a few risks in the pursuit of success?

Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash