A.K.A. Four lessons from the last four months working for myself.
In 2018, I decided to quit my job at Salesforce and work for myself. I offer Salesforce Advisory and Training services, predominantly for small and medium-sized enterprises around Europe. During the holidays, I reflected on the first months. As a one-person band I’m fully responsible for all aspects of the business: from acquiring customers, delivering projects, accounting and all around it, hence it’s constant work in progress.
I was used to the corporate life with a salary, personal development budget, health insurance, fitness reimbursement and a corporate credit card. But I knew at some point I at least have to give it a try and make the transition from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur. And I always reminded myself that all these nice perks I enjoyed weren’t meant for me. There were meant for the position I held. Especially expats tend to forget to make this critical distinction, and it strikes them once they return home.
The world couldn’t care less.
I don’t mean no one cares, but outside my inner circle of family and friends the rest of the world couldn’t care less, and it’s my job to convince them that they should. I think this is how it's supposed to be. Think of a friend of a friend who started a company. It might be an interesting conversation in a pub, but that’s about it.
And because no one cares, wishful thinking isn’t advisable. “If only the prospect had done this...if only the customer had done that….”, it doesn’t matter how you end such sentence. It doesn’t lead anywhere. It only fuels negativity.
Having zero expectations from others doesn’t mean not having any. The only person you should have expectations of is yourself. Being clear of what you want to achieve, getting help in the areas you are weak in and going for it. Big shoutout here to all my former colleagues who continue to be incredibly supportive. It truly means a lot to me.
My default was that if I continue to do what I believe in and continuously challenge myself, I’ll have my shot and it worked out so far. I signed ten customers since starting, and the interest grows exponentially. There is an old saying: "If you hang around the barbershop long enough, sooner or later you're going to get a haircut". So true.
On a different note: The market conditions for Salesforce implementation services are quite good at the moment. But again, there is an important distinction to be made. Just because there is a market for your service, doesn’t mean that you’ll be successful. Look at the restaurant business. Just because people need to eat, doesn't’ mean all restaurants will be successful, even if it’s a trillion dollar market globally.
2. No habits, no progress.
In the corporate world, everyone has obligations; some may be set by yourself, others by your stakeholders. Now, I am all by myself. I have to set my own goals, and that is why I need to be disciplined. I used to dislike working from home but now it’s different, and I’m surprised how well I resist the distractions. Though I don’t want to work like this forever, for now, I am okay with it.
While working at Salesforce, I attended a training called “the seven habits of highly effective people.” It resonated with me, but the effect wasn’t permanent. I was trapped in my routine. I recently went through the book again, and now it makes a lot more sense.
So what do I do differently since starting to work for myself? I realised that if I want to get to the next level, I need to get up early. I was never an early bird in the past, and I haven’t nailed it to my fullest satisfaction yet, but most days I get up before 5:30 am. I listen to some positive videos, learn something new and then start working. I knew I needed to change to get the results I wanted and this typically means working harder on yourself than on your job/company. At the end of the day, I am the only problem and the only solution to my challenges.
3. Do things differently.
Most IT consultancies do not want to share much of their knowledge before the contract is signed. I offer free 30-minute business consultations for prospects. My goal is to provide value upfront, so the prospect learns something new regardless of the outcome. When I evaluated B2B services in the past, it wasn’t always a great experience. It felt like being interviewed, and I don’t want my prospects to feel as such. Of course, I also need to ask some questions, but I prefer much more conversations in which I can share some learnings. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Maybe some people take advantage of free consulting, but this has not been the case so far. You never know upfront what works and what doesn’t. So don’t overthink it.
“When you look at the accomplishments of accomplished people and you say, ‘Boy, that must have been really hard’...that was probably easy. And conversely, when you look at something that looks easy, that was probably hard. And so you’re never going to know which is which until you actually go out and do it.”
4. After all, everyone in business is just a human.
No one knew everything when they started, and no one is perfect. I’m not advocating for people to jump into something they have no clue about, but at the same time, you’ll never feel ready. The timing will never be perfect. There is always another experience you could get to be more competent and skilled before finally starting on your own. But if you like me worked with a solution on a daily basis for four years, you know more than the vast majority of people out there.
You don’t know what will work before you give it a try and learn from it. This isn’t a radical new idea but agreeing with it is not the same thing as feeling comfortable doing it. It means launching something which isn’t perfect. In my case, it was the website. I designed it in a weekend and was probably one of the ugliest websites I’ve ever seen, so I was hesitant to put it out there.
I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. Several people reached out to me with invaluable feedback, not only regarding the design but my positioning and service offering.
Everybody started at some point. Putting yourself out there and thinking about other people's opinion is a significant reason why people aren’t following their passion in the first place. But it doesn’t stop after you started. At the Web Summit in 2016, I remember the CEO of Intercom, a software company with tens of thousands of customers, millions in funding and impressive growth, saying that he never felt more vulnerable. I guess it never stops.
“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your website, you’ve launched too late.”
Conclusion.
I’m still very early in my journey, and yes, I would do several things differently if I started again, but that was to be expected. Mistakes are inevitable if you are trying something new. This year, I’ll take my learnings and will make the most out of it. And so should you.
P.S. Not entirely accurate but indeed entertaining illustration of working for a company vs. working for yourself. Link.