So in the past 1 1/2 years of being full time self-employed, I’ve learned a lot of priceless lessons, had a blast, and have also burned myself and a few clients in the process. Here’s what I’ve learned recently:
The Good Stuff:
- I’m a tech news addict. I want to stay on the “bleeding-edge”.
- I am respected as knowledgeable in the internet & social media scene.
- I love to help people and empower them – no matter how much or little they know now
- I see the big “meta” picture, and can spout out ALL the things from here to there that need to be done
- I will dive head-long into something and give it my everything
The Not-so-good Stuff:
- I have not concept of how long a project should reasonably take
- When I hit a speed-bump or road-block, I pick up the next thing and never turn back to finish
- When I feel others question why this or that isn’t done, I can just freeze and not handle the matter
- I undervalue my own time, especially when accounting for cost of business
- I have chased after the smaller tasks while neglecting building a system that will truly leverage both the clients’ and my time, resulting in too much “winging-it”
Now – what will change? For starters, I am scaling back on what I can and will do until I can put a team in place, beginning first with someone that will take the list of what I know needs to be done all the way through managing the time and assigning the team that gets it done. I may pick up a few jobs that will take me no more than four hours of my own time to finish entirely.
I am building a system. What I cover repeatedly, like how-to operate this website, add thing thing to that place, etc. will be recorded and available for replay, along with MANY other ways to learn. My time one-on-one with clients will now come AFTER a survey has been completed, saving their time and mine. I will make better use of that time, and set boundaries for when, where, and how to communicate. I will not take on more than I can manage.
Those clients and jv partners that I’ve begun work with, I will ensure finishing it. However, I now see that being so scattered is doing us all a disservice. I may know my stuff, and have the best of intentions to serve, but fail in completion because I’ve relied too much upon myself.
For those clients that I’ve dropped the ball with, I will be gifting each one or their team into my overall training program, and opening myself up to any webinars I conduct for others to them.
What changes from here: I stick to what I do best. I learn stuff, interpret it into the average person’s lingo, and empower others to get the tasks done. I will learn all the tricks to making something awesome, and plan out the full scope. I can and will continue to get my hands dirty, so to say, for the sake of learning. However, for your best interest, as well as being more manageable for me, I will forgo some projects (like website creation) until I officially have a team set in place.
Some lessons are hard to learn, and being transparent is key. It’s a learning process… And I lay down all sense of pride to find out how better to serve.
Next up: a personal email to the clients I’ve left in disarray, then back to building the Ark. I’m nearly ready to open the doors on a systematized training program. Getting things done!
