New Year. New Me. No, seriously.
Here we are, it's January 25th, 2021 and I started writing this post on January 3rd TWENTY TWENTY. Procrastination is the name of my game when it comes to my own business. I like to think I give good advice, but rarely have I ever applied my advice to my own business, especially after the year of COVID. This year, it changes.
When I started my business I did so out of necessity. I was 4 interviews deep with an IT firm in downtown Atlanta and I made a promise to myself when I got laid off of my first dot com job in 2001. My promise was to never have a hellish commute to work ever again. I didn't know I'd meet a Georgia Peach while living in Utah and then eventually settle just outside of Atlanta. Luckily I have an amazing wife who told me to pursue starting my own business and work from home. Best (professional) decision I've ever made.
My first client was someone I had just met, the husband of a childhood friend of my wife. Army Ranger, successful attorney and all around great dude. In one of our first meetings he told me that I would be very successful and that making X amount of money per year wasn't a stretch. I laughed but he was right, my business doubled every year and I barely did any marketing. And when I say "barely" I mean none.
I'm The Worst Client I've Ever Had.
I have tried (unsuccessfully) to re-launch my own website for at least the last 5 years. I almost hired another designer to design my website and would you believe there's actually a niche for this? Web designers that build websites for other creatives because they know we are our own worst enemies.
I was introduced to something called StoryBrand by my wife who was told to read the book by our financial adviser while she was starting a new business herself. It was a game changer for me. Not only was this going to help my own business but it was going to help me be a better designer for my clients. If you own a business, give it a read and thank me later.
This book and methodology really lit a fire under my ass and then that fire just kind of smoldered for a few months. Then I started to assess where I want to be as a business and why I'm not doing exactly what I'm telling my clients they should do? It was time to get serious.
My roadmap.
In this post-COVID year from hell (let's hope 2021 doesn't suck too) I really need to outline what I need to accomplish this year. I'll admit, last year wasn't too bad for business, but add homeschooling, social distancing and general anxiety over an uncertain future for the economy, 2021 could be a wild ride. This is a great opportunity for me to refine what works for my business and one of my hopes is to blog more and share this journey with y'all.
Stay tuned and buckle up.
