3 Years of going solo

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3 Years ago I quit corporate slavery to go solo.

I was unprepared, under skilled and naive.

Every plan I had back then, has failed miserably by now.

But somehow I've still managed to survive.

This is my story -

So I had thought I'd consult startups, become a ghostwriter, build NoCode projects.

All of which I did.

All of which failed.

Within the first year 1 realized that I am not cut out for a service business.

I was making good money, but it wasn't fulfilling.

Very soon it started to feel like another job.

Something which I had just quit 1 year ago.

So I fired all my clients and shut down the agency.

I had 2 realizations - 1. I need to build a product business. 2. I have no idea about marketing and growth I had to teach myself product building + marketing So I embarked on a crazy challenge - 25 in 25 🙈

Most of the products in that challenge failed.

But 3 good things happened because of it -

I tested my own productivity.

With no boss, no clients, no deadlines, I had no idea how much I could work. I learned my limits in those 6 months.

I learned a lot about marketing, sales and copywriting.

I realized what makes people buy/or not buy products.

Which has come in handy every since then.

I started my community. Which is one of the most fulfilling and enriching projects so far.

I get to work with so many interesting founders because of it.

When I quit, I wanted to do it all "alone". But over time I've learned the value of a community of quality friends around

Another change of mind for me was partnering up.

I thought I wanted to be a "solo"preneur.

But I realized that I could be way more effective if I partnered up with someone.

So January 2023, I joined as co-founder of elephas.app

Since then we've grown slowly and steadily.

We've been profitable for a while

We now even have a small team of 2 devs and 1 writer working with us.

It feels good to run a "company" actually.

3 years ago I was running away from the idea of a company, or of employees.

But...

I've realized this is the best way to scale.

If you can get quality talent to work for you, then you can achieve so much more than you ever could working for yourself.

Not having a regular job has made space for all sorts of creative pursuits in my life.

Last year me and my family started a non-profit

This is the most fulfilling project of my life so far -

Now I have the freedom and flexibility to design my day (and my life) the way I want.

My work is shaped around my life, and not the other way round as it is in traditional employment.

I can choose -

My schedule

My co worker

My customers

My projects

I have learned so many new skills in the last 3 years.

Stuff which I never thought I'd do.

Example -

SEO was such an esoteric concept back in the day. Never made sense to me when I was an employee.

And now I can't imagine working on something that doesn't have SEO potential.

So all the plans I made that day 3 years ago, didn't pan out the way I wanted them to. But my life is much much better than I had imagined back then. And way more fun.. This post is getting long now.. so I'll stop, but happy to answer any questions you may have.. cheers 🙌

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