5 Things We Learned in Our First Year as Entrepreneurs
In what seems to be our new normal – here we are celebrating our one-year anniversary four months late. Better late than never we say, especially when it comes to celebrating our surviving this past year (and four months).
Nothing could have prepared us for life as entrepreneurs. Being both one of the scariest and exciting things we have ever done, starting our own business and jumping right in was one of the best decisions we ever made. Here, we share the five biggest lessons we have learned:
1. It isn’t as glamourous as we thought
Sleeping in, and being our own bosses with our own schedules seemed so luxurious when we were working away on the other side. Turns out, it was slightly less so. It took a long time to learn how to be our own bosses and find our working rhythm. Through implementing a plan of keeping each other accountable, having consistent schedules and wading through a whole lot of time management lessons, we’re still figuring this one out.
2. Relationships are everything
This is probably the most important lesson we’ve learned. Every success we have had has been based on our relationships and community of support. We were able to start relate because of relationships, our clients have come from relationships, and even when it came to leaving our jobs, we were fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who wanted to ensure we found success. Note: this also comes with saying thank you. All. The. Time.
3. Imposter Syndrome is a real thing
We joke with each other that every other day we wonder if we are doing the right thing, if we are in way over our heads, if we are actually capable of being entrepreneurs, and if our ideas will actually work. We have so many people that believe in us and yet, sometimes, we can’t even believe in ourselves. Imposter Syndrome is a dangerous thing, and it seems like everyone suffers from it in silence. We are getting better at managing it, but truthfully, it takes a lot of hard work to break a bad habit.
4. Say yes
And say no. But don’t be afraid to jump all in and say yes to things without having it all figured out. It’s really easy to get stuck on what can go wrong and getting lost in the roots of the weeds, when we have generally found that things have a way of working themselves out.
5. Build up your community
We’re just starting to figure this one out. There is a whole great big community out there of other entrepreneurs (particularly women!) who are excited about supporting one another and building each other up. Social media has been such a great space for us to meet and share with one another both locally and around the world. It is really amazing to be able to partner with other entrepreneurs to launch ideas and workshops we hadn’t thought possible.
We are continually learning as we go. We are forgiving ourselves of mistakes we’ve made along the way (like the first few iterations of our logo) and perfecting our business as we go. Every day is different, and as we shift and respond to our environment, our goal remains the same: to do what we can to add value to this world by strengthening the fabric of our communities through social capital.
