3 things I've learned in 3 months of being my own boss
This week marks 3 months since I worked my last day of traditional employment and officially became my own boss. It feels kind of crazy to think that I’ve been doing my own thing for 3 months already, and yet, at the same time I already feel quite far removed from corporate life.
I’m pleased to report that 3 months in, I’m still very happy that I made this leap, and I’m finding so much joy in the work that I do. That being said, running a business full time isn’t without its challenges, and it’s safe to say that the last 12 or 13 weeks have been filled with a lot of highs, lows and plenty of learning opportunities.
And so today, I thought I’d share 3 of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in 3 months of being my own boss. I hope it’ll be useful to any of you out there who are thinking about making a similar leap, and I also hope that some of these learnings are relevant whether you dream about being a business owner or not. Here goes...
1) It takes a while to settle into a new routine
I think the biggest surprise for me is how long it’s taken me to settle into a new routine. I’ve dreamed about the flexibility and freedom that comes with working for yourself for so long, and I rather naively thought that because of that, I’d slip straight into a new routine and cherish planning my own schedule in a way that works for me.
The truth is though, I didn’t really know what would work best for me because I’d only ever worked in one way - Monday to Friday, 9 till 5 (or 6 or 7 if I’m being completely honest), sitting at a desk somewhere. It’s taken me some time to let go of my “corporate hangover” and start figuring out how I like to work and what works best for me and my clients, but three months in, I feel like I’ve finally found a routine that feels good.
One of the key things I’ve learned is that it’s important to still have some permanent fixtures in your diary each week to act as anchor points and make the whole “planning your own time” thing feel less overwhelming. For me, that looks like keeping Wednesday and Thursday as my main coaching days, spending Tuesday mornings volunteering at the foodbank, and planning at least one coffee date or meet up a week to get me out of the house.
2) Self belief is your most precious resource
When I was making the transition from traditional employment to business owner, every single piece of advice I read highlighted how important it was to build up some savings before taking the leap. And while yes, having a financial buffer has been helpful, I wish someone had also told me to concentrate on building up a reserve of self belief before making this change.
Because on those tricky days when it feels like everything is going wrong and you have no colleagues to turn to, there’s no amount of money or time that will get you out of a funk. Nope, on those days, it’s self belief that will pull you through, and that’s why I think it’s your most precious resource whenever you’re making a change or pushing outside of your comfort zone.
If I was able to go back 6 months and give myself some advice, I’d tell myself to focus on building that self belief in any way I could - creating evidence banks of the things I’d already achieved to read through on tough days, practicing positive affirmations, and generally prioritising taking really good care of myself during that transition period.
3) Doing work that has an impact is the very best perk
Being a full time business owner isn’t all sunshine and roses, but there’s no denying that there are plenty of perks - getting to set your own working hours, being location independent, never having to go to the Royal Mail sorting office because you’re always in when the postie calls… I could go on.
I’ll admit that a lot of my motivation to make this leap was the heady promise of flexibility and freedom (something that I ached for during those long days of office presenteeism), and while I’ve certainly enjoyed that freedom, I’ve been surprised to find that the biggest perk of this transition for me has been finally doing work that feels impactful and fulfilling.
I’m not sure if it’s just the companies I’ve been employed by, or whether this is true of all corporate life, but in my previous jobs I would so often get to the end of a busy week and struggle to identify the value I’d added or the impact I’d made. Now, that couldn’t be further from the truth - even on the difficult weeks, I get to Friday knowing that I’ve made an impact, however big or small, and the sense of purpose and joy that comes with that is by far the most rewarding perk.
Can you relate to any of my learnings?
