I find it surprising to be in a position of celebrating my 1st Anniversary of WORK BY WILMS. What started back in 2019 on a whim and more of a situation of will-I-won’t-I, has developed into a roller-coaster of emotions, and I gotta say… it’s not been that great.
When I first made the decision to start my business, it was only ever going to be as a side-hustle. There wasn’t really much intention of pursuing things in a full-time capacity.
However, life happens and situations change and I found myself quitting my job and having a slight breakdown afterwards. Months of feeling lost and confused about what I wanted to do, but always aware this business was sitting there in the background.
The Learning Curve
Learning curves came thick and fast once I had decided I was going all in on WXW. I’m talking STEEP learning curves too! Let’s be honest – opening your own business is scary shit. I like to do as much of my own homework as possible, but despite how prepared I thought I was, there was always somebody else to say ‘have you considered….‘ which, I hadn’t, and naturally, ended up obsessing over.
As with any business, the first twelve months are the hardest. It’s the period of time where most businesses fail, and if they make it through the first twelve months, it’s even harder to see out the next twelve. Looking back, I can honestly say that I have encountered a rather rough start to this venture, but despite all the setbacks, it’s taught me so much more about resilience in the face of adversity.
Could I foresee events such as bushfires and COVID-19 that were going to significantly affect my business? No.
Was I ready for the incredibly harsh reality of dealing with people that simply were not suited for the services I offer? Absolutely not.
Did I lose a lot of clients? Certainly did (and it suuucks!)
Did I get to work with some truly fantastic people? Absolutely!
This past 12 months has given me quite the kick in the bum in terms of looking at myself and continually educating myself to stop taking things so personally.
Trying to Impress
As a relatively new business, all you want to do is the best you can. You want to impress people as much as possible. You want to go above and beyond to keep them happy, because you want the client to like you. It’s hard to separate that emotional connection between them liking you as a person, and liking you as a provider. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s just business, and remove any personal emotional attachment to what I do.
That’s probably been one of the biggest challenges I’ve had this year.
I’ve always been a highly analytical thinker, and it’s just been how I have approached everything that I do. I’m the one who’s looking at a situation from every possible way that I can imagine, and I have to keep reminding myself that people don’t actually appreciate this. If I can see an opportunity for a business that they haven’t considered, I’ll be the one pointing it out to them. What I didn’t expect was how it’s seen as a negative, rather than a positive.
To actively stop myself from doing this is more of a challenge than I would have cared to admit to, because I want to see their business succeed as much as possible. Their success is also my success and it’s something that should be celebrated together.
Evidently, boundaries between myself and a client is still something that I’m learning to navigate with extreme caution, because every client is different, and not everybody is open to analytical thinking.
The Next Step
What’s the next step for WXW? To be completely honest, I’m really not sure.
I’m a small fish in a very large, and very over-populated pond.
I did manage to get an opportunity to launch an entirely new business, which is a partnership. My friend and I finally launched our own fitness brand, Move Nation, which we’re excited about. We finally got to put our dance programs, #DANCE and #BARRE in the spotlight which we’re both excited about.
As for WXW… it’s an interesting period in time. We’re gradually seeing our COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease more and more here in Melbourne. More and more businesses are getting excited about re-opening their doors (yet again!).
I’m taking a slight step back to spend more time looking at what I need to change about my business, and how best to present that to potential clients.
2020 has taught me to not get too comfortable in anything you have planned, because it can all be ripped out from under you. Moving forward, I’m going to be much more cautious.
As for celebrating, I would have made a cake, but simply didn’t get time. Tonight there will be dancing though, teaching my #DANCE class online… so maybe the celebrations will be paused until tomorrow.
So I shall end this saying Happy Anniversary to me, and congratulations for surviving the first 12 months. It’s been incredibly tough, but I’m proud of myself for making it this far. Here’s to the next 12mths and another anniversary in October 2021!
-j