Taking a step in a different direction with this blog post.
I never imagined that I would be running my own business. It’s not something that entered my mind when I went through school. Then again, I didn’t really know what I wanted to be once I knew I couldn’t do the original course I wanted to do at university.
As such, it’s been a steep learning curve for me. However, there have been three massive lessons that I’ve learnt through running my own business, which I am grateful I learnt early on. It doesn’t mean that I haven’t been guilty of doing these, even after learning my lesson!
Price yourself accordingly
I’ve seen in a few Facebook groups recently what people think they should pay for similar services as to what I offer and bulk when others mention how much they charge.
These types of conversations can cause you to begin to doubt yourself. I know when I started I picked the amount I saw most people were at. Then I began to hate doing certain work because as I got faster, I lost money.
I then started to change my pricing and when I did, I lost some clients. I freaked out, and was upset over it. This is when I learnt the second lesson.
Not everyone is your client
My business mentor was so patient with me over this point.
This was the main thing she pointed out to me. People who tried to negotiate with my prices were not my ideal clients. If they couldn’t value the work I would do, then they weren’t the right ones to stress over.
She expanded it to potential new clients too. Would I be interested, challenged and fulfilled working on that particular project?
It was this point that helped me to learn the third lesson.
It’s okay to say no
Yep. That’s right! You can say no.
It’s often the hardest lesson to teach yourself.
When you are in business for yourself, it can be hard to turn down work. Often, when you are just starting out, you kind of want to take on work because it’s income… because you need to build your brand… because you feel you need to.
I totally get it.
You need to make a living, but at the same time, think about the client, the work and the challenges you may face. Are they the right fit for you?
What have been your top three lessons in running a business?
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