Being On Your Own
5 Questions X 5 Answers
@Home in the Office to in my Study @Home.
I have been on my own…. one year now.
Liberating, Fulfilling, Satisfying, Enriching, Uplifting…. yes indeed.
Challenging, Stretching, Confusing, Terrifying, Stressing…. yes, of course.
While these positives and negatives inter-played, I have had my learnings, un-learnings & re-learnings, sharing the same through the lenses of 5 key questions and 5 answers for each question.
WHY BE ON YOUR OWN
- You can pursue your PASSION.
- You can enjoy a greater AUTONOMY.
- You will have an enhanced FLEXIBILITY.
- You will build something with full OWNERSHIP.
- You will be in CONTROL of yourself and your entity.
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF BEING ON YOUR OWN
- There is no guarantee of success.
- There will always be an element of risk.
- Financial uncertainty and un-predictability of ROI.
- Can be time-consuming, requiring longer hours of working.
- Since the responsibility lies with you, it can be overly stressful.
HOW TO PLAN TO BE ON YOUR OWN
- Identify your areas of interest, expertise, and strength.
- Research about the area and the people/groups operating in it.
- Keep building your finances to take care of responsibilities/liabilities.
- Keep adding to your knowledge/skills with certification/accreditation.
- Understand the legalities and compliance requirements for your entity.
HOW TO GET GOING BEING ON YOUR OWN
- Know about your potential customers and what matters to them.
- Understand your own ability/strength to deliver the desired value.
- Identify a niche which relates to you and connects with your market.
- Create a business plan, set goals, and create tracking & measurement.
- Build a support network of friends, family, mentors, & peer community.
HOW TO SUCCEED BEING ON YOUR OWN
- Build a strong personal brand as a contributor and an influencer.
- Know your target customers’ problems and their needs/expectations.
- Design solutions which matter and keep creating and delivering value.
- Go omnichannel- website, social media, blog…- for yourself/your entity.
- Be organized to focus on what you need to do/deliver, outsource the rest.
My journey of deciding, preparing and then being on my own has loads of learning. I have tried distilling and presenting the same to you.
Each one of us has our unique life/career stage, situations & circumstances, and we make our choices and decisions based on the same. If you decide/plan to be on your own, my blog will be of value.
To conclude, I would say, while learning agility is a key factor in your being on your own, the courage to do so is even more critical, and hence I say,
“You Fly on the Wings of Learnings & Courage.”
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