24 months. That’s two whole years. Two years of Lunax. Actually, that might be a teeny tiny lie. Although I’ve been doing this for 24 months, ‘Lunax’ wasn’t created until a couple of months in. In fact, I started my business journey freelancing as ‘Francesca Irving – Marketing’ (creative, I know) on-the-side of my regular 9-5. Yep, it was just my side hustle, but I fell in love with it and pretty much immediately handed my notice in to pursue my passion.
So let’s rewind.
April 1st 2016. My first day of being unemployed. I can’t really remember what I did but seeing as we were moving house, I imagine I was packing, or more likely shopping. I’d freelanced on the side of my job for a couple of months and started picturing myself as one of those cool freelancer writers working on my Macbook in Starbucks. Despite studying business through to post-grad degree level, I didn’t really know what I was doing – I just knew I needed at least £1000 a month to get by. Fast forward a couple of years and I life has changed completely. Living on my own means I now need double what I needed before just to run the house before I can even think about a sneaky trip to Zara. I still don’t really know what I’m doing, but I now know that no-one does. We’re all just wingin’ it.
To celebrate making my own opportunities and earning my own money for two whole years, I’ve compiled 24 things that I have learnt over the past two years. I’m not Warren Buffet yet so this isn’t really advice, just personal thoughts that have helped my journey.
- Positivity beats negativity, every time.
- Surrounding yourself with people you want to be like really does get you where you want to be quicker.
- Money matters, so don’t ignore your finances.
- Imposter syndrome is very real, but you have to fake it til you make it.
- Being in business is super lonely. But when you’re up at 3am finishing a proposal, just remember, we’re all doing the same thing too.
- Learning to network effectively will transform your business.
- Self development isn’t something to be laughed at. NLP coaching changed my whole life.
- People are lazy. Get used to it.
- No-one loves your business as much as you do.
- Sometimes it’s not the client, it’s you. But sometimes it’s the client. Learn to recognise when.
- Not every opportunity will be for you. Learn to say no.
- You should always listen to advice but that doesn’t mean you have to follow it.
- Read.
- Things will go wrong but you can always turn it around.
- You can start again whenever you want.
- Not all your friends will support you or care about your business.
- Business friends are super important.
- The competition doesn’t have to be competition. Collaboration helps everybody.
- There will always be another opportunity.
- Listen to what your customers or clients actually want from you.
- Take a break and prioritise something else, like family, once in a while.
- If you’ve made a mistake, people will respect you a lot more if you are just honest about it.
- Word of mouth is the best form of marketing.
- Planning and goal setting can keep you focused and on the path to where you want to go.
It’s crazy to think that in another two years time, Luna will be in school. I’m already salivating at the thought of all the money I’m going to save from not paying nursery fees (which reminds me, I haven’t paid this month and it’s due tomorrow FFS). But I have no idea what I’ll be doing in two years time. Will I still be running this business? Will I still live in Wales? Will I be able to get a brush through Luna’s hair without causing World War 24? (WW3 – 23 have already taken place inside my living room).
Obviously my plan is to continue growing Lunax, whilst launching my online training school and pushing my product businesses. In the grand scheme of things I’m so new to the business world but the lessons I have learnt so far seem to aid exponential learning and growth, and I’m super excited for what else there is to learn.