starting a business: part 2

I have failed.

It is part of life to failure, I can see this so clearly in my son, who at 14 months is failing rapidly, not that we normally name it as such, we call it learning, be it in the sounds he makes, the food he eats or the 'toys' he plays with. All of these endeavours sit on a scale of failure to success, whatever success looks like to him (and to us as parents!).

The above is to say that failure is natural to anything we put our minds and hands to, so getting comfortable with failure is necessary in order to succeed. Failure is what led me to this current season of starting a business, failure is saying that I would write a blog post every week (it has been 2 weeks since the last one); failure is trying to do something new, something beyond the current status quo, failure is essential for success.

So without further ado, here is why I have failed to deliver a blog post for the last 2 weeks.

Two weeks ago.

I wrote my first bid to a tender for a project for Film London. They are looking to redesign their website and were accepting bids. I thought I had more time but with a holiday mid-August, I had to rush to submit it before the deadline. I also applied to various jobs that had come up through my existing channels.

I also met with one of my existing clients for a progress report, this went well, it has enabled me to make progress on the project.

Finally I succeeded in deciding on a name and a logo, as you might have guessed we are now called 'Software Crafts'. I updated the website, designed a logo, business cards and started posting to my new Instagram account. Safe to say it was a productive week.

One week ago.

I finished my first project, a website refresh for alumah and I published a nice instagram post about it here, but again this fraught with failure as this took me half a day to get out the door. Hopefully next time will be quicker! But I got paid for the project already, it feels amazing to have that first paycheck come in from your own work!

I have also had success on getting a contract to fill the gap while I build up my client base, firstly I have been progressing through the screening process for toptal.com, then also I have had a couple of direct approaches from potential projects. I am keeping my fingers crossed for something to start next Monday.

On the admin side of things I have still procratinated in sorting out an accountant, although I am now able to pay myself a salary if I want, yay! I have also switched to Notion to manage my projects, it is looking more promising and pleasant than Asana to date.

Finally, I have managed my second scheduled Instagram post today and I have written this post. Happy days and only 11am! I am thinking next week will be a different style post, maybe something technical certainly less of my ramblings.