Hey friends, Hannah here 👋

I’ve been working for myself for well over a decade now, and I understand so many things now that would have saved younger me a ridiculous amount of overthinking.

Not tactics, necessarily. More like truths I wish someone had yelled at me before I started.

📣 So, here I am, yelling these 10 things at you! You're welcome.

1. It gets lonely.

You can love the freedom of working for yourself and still miss having people around who understand the weird highs and lows of running a business. Anything new or different requires surrounding yourself with other people who get it to get you there in one way or another - we are social beings at the end of the day, no matter how much society pushes individualism. It's important that you connect with others. This is a huge part of why I built the V​irtual​ Excellence Academy community so intentionally, selfishly haha, because I wanted the kind of space I wish I’d had. It makes all the difference.

2. There is almost always another way to get the same result.

You do not have to market, sell, package your services, or run your business the way somebody else does just because it worked for them. If the idea of one strategy makes your skin crawl, there are usually 10 or more other routes to the same destination. Thinking outside the box should become a habit.

3. There are more paths available to you than you can even fathom right now.

When you’re new, everything can feel very binary: this works, or it doesn’t, I succeed, or I fail, I chose the right thing or the wrong thing. In reality, you’re going to discover opportunities, skills, people, and entire business models you don’t even know about yet. Doors you don't even know exist will open when you are brave enough to start exploring and acting beyond ideation.

4. Your niche is going to change. Start anyway.

Please don’t spend 6 months trying to find the perfect niche before you allow yourself to begin. First, nothing is perfect. Second, you will not be where you are now a year or 5 from now. Pick a direction, work with actual clients, notice what you’re good at and what people actually want to pay you for, and let it evolve from there.

5. Fear is totally normal.

Feeling nervy before starting a business is pretty standard. You'll feel it again when raising your rates, pitching yourself, launching something, or changing direction - none of it means something is wrong. Confidence very often comes as a result of having done the thing. Every iteration of my business has been preceded by fear, and doing it anyway. I see it kind of like levels, and there's always another one to face - that's why this work helps us realize our potential in more ways than one, creating a confidence and resourcefulness ripple into all areas of our lives.

6. Work is still work. Sometimes work sucks.

Working for yourself doesn't mean every day feels inspiring, exciting, or like you've hit the career jackpot. Some days you're going to want to throw your laptop out the window. But for me, they’re much easier to tolerate when the work sits inside a life and a bigger purpose I actually chose, and these days are far less frequent than when I was squeezing myself into a role that stripped me of ...well..."me".

7. You are allowed to change your mind. Lots.

You can change your niche, prices, business model, offers, schedule, team structure, and even your entire definition of success. You are not required to keep building the business your younger self thought you were supposed to want. That's the beauty of going your own way.

8. Most of the things people say you “have to” do are optional.

You do not have to post every day. You don't need to build a huge personal brand, hire a team, run ads, scale to seven figures, or wake up at 5 am - I most certainly don't. You don't need to have a perfect buyer persona. Successful businesses are built in wildly different ways, so take advice as information, not law.

9. Nobody is coming to give you the "green light".

At some point, running your own business means realizing that you are the person who gets to decide - pretty much everything. You can launch, change, charge, close it, make it smaller, make it bigger, or try something completely unhinged for funsies. Building confidence to trust your decisions is key.

10. You are not your profession.

I spent so much time totally consumed by my business in the early days. To an unhealthy point, it was my whole personality. Nowadays I take things a little less seriously, and I have had to ask friends (many of whom are also business owners) if we can have dedicated time where we don't talk shop. Ironically, loosening my mental grip has resulted in more of the things we typically deem "successful", like time, money, and peace.

A few things to help untether YOU from your business if you feel a bit consumed: keep a separate business bank account, take up or keep a hobby you had before this, and remember that your business success does not determine your personal worth.

Which of these did you need to hear most today? Hit reply and let me know!

Probably the biggest thing I wish I’d understood earlier: there is no single correct way to build a business.

There are principles worth learning and people worth listening to, absolutely, but ultimately you’re trying to build something that works for your skills, your personality, your goals and the life you actually want. At the end of the day, this is about building something that works around your life, not the other way around.

Which brings me back to point number two…

📣 Another way to get clients - with webinars! 👀

Webinars are an incredibly powerful tool for building trust quickly, showcasing your expertise, and turning even a very small audience into worthwhile conversations and paying clients. I know because I host them myself, and they’ve been a huge part of how I’ve grown my own business over the years.

And I learned from one of the best: Simone Vincenzi, an award-winning webinar expert, who is joining me next week for Get Clients With Webinars for VAs & Freelancers.

We’re going to show you how webinars can work specifically for service providers, even if you don’t have a huge audience, don’t sell courses, and don’t want to rely on endless social media posting or cold pitching to find clients. Simone is really the only person I can 100% wholeheartedly stand behind because he is mega generous with his teachings - and they actually work. This event is totally free.

Remember, "doors you don't even know exist will open when you are brave enough to start exploring and acting beyond ideation."

Maybe webinars become one of your things, maybe they don’t. You'll learn a ton anyway, and this can benefit your clients too!

There's always another way, friends.

Until next time...

Hannah