10 things that I've learnt so far from being entrepreneur

Almost exactly three months ago I joined the business accelerator at mylance.co and left my job at Amazon. All of a sudden I became an entrepreneur - starting entrepreneur. With the third month of my journey passing, I'm reflecting and sharing ten lessons that I've learnt so far.

1. Your mindset is a key to survival

When I started writing this newsletter, the first issue was dedicated to the so called "Stockdale paradox":

You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

Needless to say: easier said than done. Being an early entrepreneur, freelance consultant in my case, is literally eating rejection every day, a couple of times a day. It takes time and effort to get to people that are willing to talk to you and then there's an even more compelling task of making them buy from you. It is hard, it hurts. Deal with it.

2. Have a strong "why statement" - one that is worth fighting for

You need to know why you do this. Why do you want to let yourself in an area of uncertainty, risk, rejection, etc. It should also help you to go through hard times or moments when it all seems worthless, not heading into the right direction. Here's my "why?" from the very beginning:

Because starting my own business is epic. It’s cool to be an entrepreneur, it’s cool to manage my own time – start late and finish late. It’s cool to search and work for clients world-wide. It’s cool to think about how to grow, develop and customize my own business. It’s cool to determine my own pay each month. It’s vital to increase my power in relation to anyone with whom I might cooperate.??

3. You cannot buy revenue, you need to earn it

Making it on your own you start seeing things differently. First of all: you very quickly transition from your "ideal" to "whatever" client. Getting increasingly desperate to get there, you will see that your propensity to spend money on getting there is rising to dangerous levels. You will likely buy another Linkedin training, buy a pro plan on every application you may use - regardless of if and how often you are going to use them.

Remember about the old saying: when two people meet - one has money, the other experience. When they part - the first has experience and the second now has money.

4. What seemed perfect at first most probably leads to nowhere

As I started three months ago I thought I had it all worked out well. My Linkedin profile, my niche, my professional HQ. However, as I've started evaluating, refining and also analyzing results I've found that the opposite was true. The same goes to networking, approaching potential clients, prospecting.

I've heard an opinion that it takes up to two years to actually stabilize all of the processes and get to your actual niche, where you will bring the most value to your clients. In short: build, test, reiterate!

5. Search for allies and progress on many fronts

The one thing I believe is worth investing is finding and investing in coaching relationships. It can give you comfort during the hardest times.

You should be also looking for allies in achieving your goals on the widest front possible: your network, former and current colleagues, colleagues of colleagues and the like.

Do not be afraid to reach out, say hello, ask for a call. What's the worst thing that can happen - you'll be ignored, meaning maintaining where you already are.

6. Mind the breaks, do not overwork, rest

The paradox is this: there's no boss, there's no office, there's no fixed working hours. Yet, the need for working virtually without breaks is just incredible. Your weekends actually become what used to be normal weekdays - something to endure, an unnecessary break.

And there's a virtually limitless amount of time that you would spend in front of your computer - searching for leads, writing proposals, sending invitations, etc.

In order to maintain health, stay sane and focused - you need to break, go away from the computer, take your thoughts out of your work.

7. Do not burn the bridges with your previous professional self too soon

I like to have a safety net. That goes particularly true with regard to my professional life and my finances. As I'm sure that one day will be my "last, last" day in somebody else's office, right now I'm still ready to be engaged as an employee. I regularly take part in the recruitment processes, I meet with headhunters, etc.

It is wise to be flexible in your approach - your full time freelancing job can easily be transformed into part-time freelancing.

8. Prepare your personal finances before you start

You cannot start without a financial safety net. You just can't. Period. It's just too risky and the lack of alternative or simply calming effect of having your back secured - bad emotions will win over you.

When I started I secured myself with a diversified portfolio of savings, investments and low fixed cost in my budget. I basically prepared myself for a long period with no income (hoping for it to be as short as possible).

Still, I feel distressed because of a lack of money pouring into my account every month. I can't imagine how stressed and desperate I would be when seeing definite and to my resources. You just can't let that happen.

9. Rome wasn't built in a day, be patient

I think it's only in the movies or silly-motivation slogans where the businesses grow out of thin air, the process is painless, seamless and pleasant. The reality is different: it's more like blood, sweat, toil and tears. The worst thing is that you don't actually see what's beyond the next curve - are you already there or not. And there's no way you can actually make things faster. At least not in my view - it's a maturing process.

10. There's not the right way - you will have to find yours

I do not believe there's a blueprint for building a business. Sure, you need revenues, you have costs and then there are profits. All in between is a fog of war. There are a number of advisors, people who are going to tell you that they will show you "how?". At the end of the day it is you who will have to make it work.

You will have 100% freedom with regard to what to do and you will take all the rewards and the consequences.