My First Year Flying Solo - Part Two.
In my previous blog post, I reflected on the positive aspects of my first year as a business owner and freelance designer. In this second and final part, I reflect on the challenges I faced.
Flying solo
Being on my own - and by that I don’t mean a solo designer, a sole trader or a solo-entrpreneur - it’s being a solo income household when starting a business.
Everyone has a money story - a relationship with it so to speak. And I know mine quite well at this stage. I know where it comes from, from whom and how it shows up. Being aware of it makes it easier to confront, but it’s a learned behaviour and one that I have to work at.
So, walking away from a regular pay cheque was a big move for me.
Since November ‘21, I have worked part time to keep a trickle of income coming in to my home to cover my living costs. And at the time of posting this, I still work part-time - albeit, only 12 hours per week.
What I was starting to earn from the business was put back in to it in the form of software, hardware, courses, subscriptions, internet etc, and I was able to build up a cash flow that would keep the business running if I had a quiet month.
Before Christmas, I saw a post on LinkedIn from a contact of mine, who is a self taught web designer. She shared a post saying that she had started a part-time job to help fill the gaps while her business grew. And what struck me about this post was how she felt almost ashamed to have to admit that she’d to do this. I instantly felt compassion for her, because I was in the same boat. Behind the facade of social media, everyone has to do what they have to do to keep going, and you should never feel embarrassed or apologise for that.
Do I want to be working part time while I build my business? Hell no! But until I am confident that I can support myself and keep my business running through here, then I will continue to do what I’m doing.
Marketing & Social Media
I can hear a collective groan with this one!
Yes, the beloved marketing of oneself and your business. I hold my hands up on this one, I really struggle with marketing and the head wreck that is social media. I am very inconsistent with both, which as anyone knows is not a recipe for success these days.
Anyone who knows me and has worked with me, knows I am a neat freak and like everything to look perfect. And in the world of off the cuff videos and TikToks, my personal style struggles to find its place.
My “place” up until now has been Instagram. I know lots of other creatives who are the same as me, and have struggled with the cross over into more video for work that is meant to be 2D/3D. And we all know how difficult Instagram (or Meta) has been of late for those type of creatives - lack of engagement, drop off in users, hacked and fake accounts, and shut downs for no apparent reason makes it not a very friendly place to be sometimes.
Check out Fiona’s blog post for her recent nightmare with Meta as an example.
But despite my ad-hoc activity, I have miraculously got clients from Instagram! I’ve also done some targeted Google Advertising at different points last year, which paid off and lead to me to partner with an agency. So, when it works - it works!
My marketing and social media report card for 2023 reads “must try harder!”. I am looking at investing more time and effort in building my email marketing which we all know, you own, rather than being owned by the giant social media platforms.
Maintaining confidence & dealing with imposter syndrome
In my last blog, I said that I don’t consider myself a natural business person, even though my dad was self employed for 25 years, so it wasn’t an alien concept in our home growing up. Maintaining my confidence and dealing with imposter syndrome has been something I have had to work on this past year - and for those reading this, I have no doubt you have experienced this at some point too.
Despite having two decades of experience in design, I have questioned is this the right decision? Do I have the right attitude? Do I have enough grit? Am I talented enough? What’s so special about what I offer, compared to the next designer on Instagram?
You can get caught up a large swell of comparison and think that you are failing, or falling behind.
I love following other designers and creatives as they provide SO much inspiration, but following too many can cloud your mind and hit your confidence when you are having a bad week, or a slow month. I find myself having to check out of social media from time to time and find confidence and inspiration from other sources around me.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Rural isolation
I’m a country girl at heart and the decision to not to return to Dublin in 2021 was the absolute right one to make. But being so far north, away from train lines and motorways does isolate you from accessing design cultures and communities that the big cities offer in spades.
I would have been an avid attendee at creative events in Dublin over the years - IDI, FEED and OFFSET for example. You’d usually see me hovering around, burning the ear off someone I knew, networking like a boss. Now that COVID is less of an impingement on our lives (horraayyy) digital access to most events are now non existent, with the majority returning to in-person events.
And I get it! Zoom is s&*t and we got sick of it, but a lot of people left the urban centres over the last couple of years, and you definitely feel like you are left out of the picture again. With the rising costs of fuel and hotel prices, attending these sometimes pricey events, for a rural designer, makes them less attractive to go to. And I have had to say no to a few of late for those exact reasons, which is a real shame. I would love to see organisers have a digital pay wall available, so those of us who can’t access the cities with ease are not left out in the cold and can still be there to get the benefits of the content being delivered.
Conclusion
It’s been great taking the time to look back at the last year and see the light and shade of it as an experience.
One thing is for certain, it’s been a lot of fun and I have learned tonnes! And despite any wobbles I have had, I do not regret my decision to start this business, and forge my own path.
2023 is looking like it will be a much busier year for me, and so far what experiences I have had have given me a lot more confidence in going for what I want. But more importantly its giving me the confidence to deliver great design and end products to my clients which are in turn, helping them succeed.
