That’s a good place to be

This week I celebrate the 5th anniversary of running my agency full time.

On one hand it feels like I’m just getting started, and on the other I can hardly remember what life was like before running my own business.

There have been ups and downs for sure — but anniversaries like this are a good time for reflection.

I’ve thought back on some of the bad choices I’ve made…

• Being too available. In the beginning, the only advantage I had over any other agency was my customer service. Since I didn’t have much going on, I could be available at any time. It’s an impossible thing to keep up with as I grew, and all I had done was set expectations for my clients that I couldn’t live up to.
• Saying yes when I knew better. We all gotta eat, right? I said yes to a lot of projects I shouldn’t have because I felt like I needed the work. I can’t find a single example of those (and there are a lot!) where I actually made money — they always turned out to be more work than they were worth.
• Searching for the “perfect” solution. I spent a lot of time buying tools and creating systems because I felt like what I had wasn’t perfect. After trying everything on the planet, I’ve realized that nothing is perfect. I’m much better off getting something that’s good enough and learning to leverage it to the best of my ability.

But, a few things went right too..

• Making connections. I’ve found it’s almost impossible to waste time if you’re spending it making connections — especially genuine ones (not “superficial” or “manufactured” networking).
• Keeping a schedule. My schedule is strange (I get up around 4am), but for 5 years I’ve kept a pretty consistent schedule that means I don’t miss dinner with my family during the week, and spend my weekends without client work.
• Watching my numbers. I’ve always tracked my income, expenses, MRR, and any other financials I could. It’s been a great “early warning detection system” for avoiding issues and keeping my income as consistent as possible.

My business is far from perfect — I’m sure you feel the same too.

But if I had to put an assessment on it, I’d say I’m ahead of where I thought I’d be and far from where I’d like to go…

And that’s a pretty good place to be in.

It’s easy to feel like your momentum comes and goes — even to a point where you might feel completely burnt out… But I’ve always found it handy to “zoom out” and look at how far you’ve come.

You’ve come a long way, haven’t you?!

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