Celebrating 1 Year of Being Self Employed! Here is What I Learnt in My First 365 Days

https://youtu.be/FUxTbGVL3iI

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:25:37:47

00:27:12:03 - 00:27:21:12

Unknown

Hey, team. On today's weekly Reminder. I'm excited to talk to you about this topic because it's my favorite topic of all time, and it's about being self-employed.

00:27:21:12 - 00:27:30:04

Unknown

Today marks one year of working for myself full time, which is so exciting. This has been a dream of mine and I can't believe that I've been able to do this.

00:27:30:08 - 00:27:49:23

Unknown

I'm 28 years old right now and we've been able to build a six figure business, which is unbelievable. I never thought I would be able to say that at this age anyway, so I'm excited for what we're building here and I hope that I can get you guys inspired for all the people out there who want to build a business of their own and want to be self-employed.

00:27:49:30 - 00:28:11:09

Unknown

There is so much to it and there's a lot of good, but there's also a lot of challenges that come with it. And today I want to share some of the things that I've learned in the first year of working for myself and hopefully you guys can get some takeaways from this. So if you're newly self-employed or if you're thinking about leaving your job to do your own thing, you kind of know what you're in for.

00:28:11:09 - 00:28:19:32

Unknown

So let's see, let's let's try and get through it all. I'll stick to the my top learnings so you guys can just take away what's most important to

00:28:19:32 - 00:28:35:38

Unknown

Okay. So the thing that I learned really quickly in this, and I think I learned a little bit from deejaying as well, is that consistency is like the main thing you need to get good at, whether you're selling a product, running a service based business, or you're a content creator.

00:28:35:43 - 00:28:58:04

Unknown

Consistency is like the key thing. For example, if you run a donut shop and your donuts are sometimes good and sometimes they're not, and other days they look different, people are going to get confused about your offering, so you really need to have a little bit of consistency in how you deliver your end result. And I think being consistent in terms of showing up is important too.

00:28:58:12 - 00:29:17:49

Unknown

So for us as content creators, we need to be consistent in how regularly we post. And I guess some creatives aren't like this, but that's what works well for us and it has from the start. I remember the first few years of when we started doing TikTok, we would go live at the same time every single night and people just knew where to find us.

00:29:18:05 - 00:29:28:02

Unknown

So that really helped us build a community and it just made it easy for people that didn't have to think, When are we going to be on next? It was just like, Oh yeah, 7:00 every night we're there.

00:29:28:02 - 00:29:34:28

Unknown

So some of the things that we are consistent in currently is this weekly reminder, which you can get on the TeamTANDA App to up every Wednesday

00:29:34:28 - 00:29:37:30

Unknown

and we go live every Monday night cooking.

00:29:37:41 - 00:29:56:10

Unknown

So that's called Tea with TANDA, that segment. And we also have a new segment called Wired Wednesday, which we game every Wednesday night. So it’s kind of like having those regular touchpoints makes it easy for the people who want to support you to be there. Same with a shop with their opening and closing times. If they're switching it up every day,

00:29:56:10 - 00:29:58:49

Unknown

you're going to get to a point where you rock up to the shop and it's closed.

00:29:58:49 - 00:30:01:43

Unknown

so sometimes having those consistent rules, I guess you could say,

00:30:01:43 - 00:30:04:39

Unknown

is really important for people who want to engage in supporting you.

00:30:04:39 - 00:30:16:40

Unknown

Okay. So consistency check, you've got that. And that's something you can do when you're working for someone else too, and you're doing this on the side. So you can get good at consistency before you quit your job. So work on consistency.

00:30:16:40 - 00:30:27:08

Unknown

The next thing is you have to constantly want to improve. Like this is never ending, guys. It's just you will get good and then the algorithm will change or you'll get good.

00:30:27:08 - 00:30:42:24

Unknown

And then there's a new competitor or you'll get good. And then the tax rules change like there will always be challenges thrown at you. And that's okay. That's just part of business, isn't it? So this is actually the part that gets me most excited. I love the fact that it's never done and I always have to learn.

00:30:42:24 - 00:30:43:14

Unknown

It gets me excited.

00:30:43:15 - 00:31:00:15

Unknown

I don't know what it is. I just love learning and I feel like wanting to improve is just a key part of the process. So just know that when you're signing up for this isn't something that I guess you can get to a point where you just stop working, where it's like, Oh yeah, this is so successful. We're at the top of our game, alright?

00:31:00:15 - 00:31:10:23

Unknown

Now everything can go on autopilot and I can just sit back and make loads of money. That might only work for like a year or so. And then at some point you're going to have to come back and get better.

00:31:10:23 - 00:31:17:49

Unknown

So I just don't want anyone to have like a false impression that, you know, having your own business is just something that you can get to a point and then walk away from.

00:31:18:11 - 00:31:24:37

Unknown

I mean, if you have a great team, perhaps, but it takes some time to get there when you're starting with little resources.

00:31:24:37 - 00:31:40:22

Unknown

I think a really key part to getting better is getting feedback. So this is something, again, you can do without having to quit your job and jump into full time work on your own. You can ask for feedback at your current workplace or if you're newly self-employed and you work solo.

00:31:40:29 - 00:31:59:16

Unknown

I think it's important to get feedback from people who are in your industry and who know what they're talking about. You're not just showing your mum and dad and hoping that they give you good feedback. You're going to people that you know, like trust, respect, and you're asking for their advice on what they think about your product or service or content

00:31:59:16 - 00:32:09:09

Unknown

naturally just people giving you feedback will help you improve, but you kind of need to push people to give you constructive feedback and not just be kind and nice to you because they're friends with you.

00:32:09:20 - 00:32:17:22

Unknown

You need to let them know that the feedback is actually going to help you so they can be a little bit harsh. They can be critical because that's actually what you're looking for.

00:32:17:22 - 00:32:23:10

Unknown

i actually did a weekly reminder on feedback. So go back and check that weekly reminder out because it will help you with this.

00:32:23:10 - 00:32:46:18

Unknown

So you got your consistency. You're getting your feedback. I think the next thing is more of a mental shift and it's to realize that no one is going to do this for you. You have to get it yourself. You can have an amazing team that you work with. You can have all the money in the world, you can have a great manager even, but at the end of the day, you are the person who needs to go out there and make the money for your business so it can continue.

00:32:46:22 - 00:33:07:03

Unknown

So I feel like at the start this is going to be quite challenging and we go from working in a traditional setting where we get paid just to show up and do our hours, to then switching completely and being thrown into the deep end where we literally have to like go out there and make our own opportunities in the world, which is super scary, but also really rewarding

00:33:07:03 - 00:33:18:02

Unknown

look, it might not be like that for long. At some point you'll be able to hire people to help you keep your business going. But at the start, for us anyway, it was very much like, okay, how are we going to make this work?

00:33:18:06 - 00:33:37:10

Unknown

Let's just get through to next month. And then once we got through the next month and we got in that comfortable position, then we were like, okay, are we able to get ahead now so we can do this for the next six months? So, you know, you're constantly thinking about just the next day, the next month or next year, which is something you don't really do so much when you work for someone else.

00:33:37:19 - 00:33:48:28

Unknown

So just shifting your mindset to start thinking about the future is really important and just, I don't know, putting a little bit of motivation behind you because if you're not going to do it, no one else is going to do it.

00:33:48:28 - 00:34:01:04

Unknown

Interestingly, this is so different to how the school system and university system is set up. I feel like when you go to uni, it's like you go really deep on one topic and you've got to learn how to be the best at that thing.

00:34:01:08 - 00:34:05:46

Unknown

Whereas when you run your own business, you kind of need to be good at a lot of things at the start.

00:34:05:46 - 00:34:22:21

Unknown

and it doesn't mean you need to be an influencer and it doesn't mean you need to be an accountant either. It just means you need to have a basic understanding of everything so you can kind of speak the language. When you end up hiring people for those positions, you know what's going on, you know, if someone's good or not as well.

00:34:22:28 - 00:34:33:07

Unknown

So it's important to get your hands dirty in the business, even in the areas that you don't like so much. Because when you do have the opportunity to hire people in the future, you want to know what's going on in your business.

00:34:33:07 - 00:34:39:17

Unknown

Okay. And the last thing is financial literacy. Like, this is so important and it doesn't get taught to us in school yet again.

00:34:39:26 - 00:35:06:13

Unknown

So this is something you have to learn kind of on your own terms. And it will take some time depending on how quickly your business moves and how much you understand like finances in the first place. But I think it's super important for a business to realize that profitability can sometimes take time. So coming into running your own business, you might think, okay, so if the business makes $100,000 a year, that means I make $100,000 a year.

00:35:06:22 - 00:35:08:39

Unknown

But that is very, very far from the truth.

00:35:08:39 - 00:35:16:08

Unknown

Your business could make $100,000 a year, but your expenses could be $200,000 a year. So you might not be profitable for that first year.

00:35:16:08 - 00:35:33:27

Unknown

whatever your goals are for your business, it's going to differ from person to person for me. Analyst Yeah, this is something we want to do for a long time. We don't want to sell the @tazandalessia brand, not that we even could. So this is something that we want to enjoy every single day of our lives, or for the most part anyway.

00:35:33:41 - 00:35:59:23

Unknown

this is something we think about and how can we ensure that we do this for a long period of time really starts with today. So managing our finances today is super important and I had to learn about things like cashflow, BAS, GST, tax, all these terms that I had no idea what they meant before, but for me to have a good conversation with our accountant, I needed to understand just the base level of us so I could know what's going on.

00:35:59:23 - 00:36:05:13

Unknown

I remember when I first quit my job and started doing this full time probably a year ago now,

00:36:05:13 - 00:36:07:12

Unknown

we got a really big payout,

00:36:07:12 - 00:36:17:16

Unknown

I think we made like over $10,000 in a month and I was just like mind blown at that amount of money, you know, That would take me months and months and months and months and months to earn working for someone else.

00:36:17:16 - 00:36:32:14

Unknown

So I was really excited by this. And since I'm the company's chief financial officer, I decided to give us a bigger bonus that month. So we were excited. We went and spend that money because we hadn't been getting paid much in the previous months,

00:36:32:14 - 00:36:38:10

Unknown

and then it kind of hit us in the following months when we didn't get paid for about three months after that.

00:36:38:10 - 00:36:51:40

Unknown

I think we learned a really big lesson from that, and that's to make sure that we have some money there for a rainy day and also for the days it's just a little bit quiet. So instead of giving us that bonus that just lasted us a month,

00:36:51:40 - 00:36:56:06

Unknown

I would have preferred to budget properly and have that last us for three months.

00:36:56:12 - 00:36:59:14

Unknown

So we didn't have to stress about getting work during those months.

00:36:59:14 - 00:37:18:16

Unknown

Look, whatever you want to do, working for yourself is amazing. I highly recommend it. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. But I personally love it and I'm so, so happy that I get to do this every day. I couldn't think of a better job and I love being self-employed because freedom is super important to me. And that's the thing.

00:37:18:28 - 00:37:40:20

Unknown

Freedom is the reason a lot of people want to quit their jobs and work for themself. But it's actually it's a little bit counterintuitive because you quit your job like working for someone else to have more freedom. But then a lot of entrepreneurs or self-employed people find that they actually have less freedom because they're tied down by what their business needs.

00:37:40:20 - 00:37:52:43

Unknown

So just being aware that freedom is something that might come a little bit later down the track, like the financial earnings. It's important to have patience because things can sometimes take longer than you initially think.

00:37:52:43 - 00:38:03:14

Unknown

And I think having freedom is great and we personally try and juggle freedom with discipline because I feel like there are opposite ends of the spectrum

00:38:03:14 - 00:38:12:39

Unknown

I think we've gotten better at doing that. But I also feel like this year for us was very much about our personal life and freedom was like top of the list.

00:38:12:39 - 00:38:28:08

Unknown

Whereas for the last two years we've been very disciplined and very much like committed to growing the business. We felt like it was time for us to like, take some steps in our personal life and actually get rewarded after two years of like grinding every single day.

00:38:28:08 - 00:38:40:06

Unknown

And I'm super proud of where we're at, where we've moved house, which is one of our major goals this year. And, you know, being able to like, enjoy some of the fruits of our labor, as I say, has been really nice and actually motivating.

00:38:40:06 - 00:38:56:36

Unknown

this year will look different next year, and I think that's an important thing to consider when running your own business. Like every month looks different, let alone every year. So just be prepared for a lot of variety in your life at the start because it is tricky in the beginning, but you'll slowly start to find your feet.

00:38:56:36 - 00:38:59:08

Unknown

The more time that you spend working for yourself.

00:38:59:08 - 00:39:03:46

Unknown

know this is a long episode, but I'm super passionate about this topic so I could talk about it all day.

00:39:03:46 - 00:39:05:20

Unknown

I hope you feel inspired after this.

00:39:05:32 - 00:39:19:00

Unknown

And I hope you know that this is possible for you. Honestly, if I can do it, you can do it, too. And please, just keep trying. I know you're going to feel like some days you just get kicked when you're down and you don't want to do this anymore. But it's worth it.

00:39:19:00 - 00:39:26:08

Unknown

I am wishing you guys all the best for your business endeavors. I'd love to hear about them in the comments too, so please share with me.

00:39:26:20 - 00:39:32:20

Unknown

And I'm sure next year I would have learned so many more lessons. So I'll come back and do another episode on this.

00:39:32:20 - 00:39:38:29

Unknown

But for now, work hard, be consistent and have a great day, guys. Speak to you soon. Bye.

It’s been 1 year since I quit my job to work for myself full time!! Woohoo!

This is such a huge life achievement for me.

Since I turned 18, all I hoped to do at some stage in my life was to run a company, and the fact that I get to do that every single day now makes me sooooo happy!!

After being self-employed for a year now, I wanted to share some lessons I have learnt in hopes that it will help someone else watching this who wants to work for themselves but has no idea what to expect.

Here we go….

Lesson #1:Consistency is the MOST important thing to have ongoing success

Show up regularly and your community will start to form. Deliver quality work consistently, and they will stay!

Lesson #2: Balancing freedom & discipline can be tricky

Don't start a business to have more free time… you’ll be sorely disappointed. Instead learn when to prioritise freedom and when to put your head down and focus on being disciplined.

Lesson #3: It’s up to you and you only to make it work!

No one wants it as bad as you, so go out and get it! Don’t rely on anyone but yourself to make it work in the early days. You got this!

Lesson #4: You have to want to constantly improve

Use feedback as a way to get better. Look at your competition for inspiration and regularly review how you can be better.

Lesson #5: Figure out how to be financially literate because school never taught us!

Learn as much as you can about money, taxes and how law crosses over in this space. It’s important you know the basics! Get to know your spending patterns really well so you can best run your business and be patient when building a profitable business… It takes time!

Let me know in the comments if you hope to work for yourself one day - what do you aspire to do?

Or if you are currently self employed, what lessons have you learned so far?