9 Months Later — My Story Leaving the Cubicle
Yes, it has 9 months since I left the cubicle!
I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized it has been 9 months since I have worked in a cubicle. I don’t miss it. Sometimes, on days I work from home, I miss having people around. Of course, I can pick up a phone and call someone. Or, I can look for a networking event to attend.
What Has Changed in 9 Months
Several days a week I have appointments with clients. I’ve grown from about 6 clients to 23 since going full time. Some I manage their social media. That could be Facebook pages, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn or helping with websites and blogging. Others I design some print ads and offer training on social media.
The scope of what I do has grown. I have a few accounts I help with Google My Business since that changed in the past year. Many times new things come up from clients that I realize I know I can do.
On days that I work from home I think I need to learn so much more. I see others excelling at this or that on social media and I want to improve myself. Then I meet with clients and realize I have so much knowledge to offer!
Learning About Pricing Your Services / Products
If you decide to leave your cubicle, the biggest thing I’ve learned over the months is to price services properly. Everything takes longer than you would imagine.
So before giving any estimates out, add a little extra time that it will probably take you to provide the services. Check what others in your industry are charging too. Don’t sell yourself too short!
Take Time Away From Your Business
You will need some time away from starting your business. It will take a lot of you both mentally and physically. Therefore, keeping yourself healthy is really important. Especially if you are in the services business.
Without you, your business will not generate income. I’ve taken more trips since I’ve been away from the corporate world. The breaks really help you to focus when you return. You get fresh ideas being away as well. Next, you can read more here why vacations are great for you!
What Else Do You Need To Do to Leave Your Cubicle?
Be sure to invest in your business before you quit that day job. Have some extra money in place for the first few months. It will come in handy.
Learn as much as you can about your industry and your niche. Never stop learning! Everything today changes so quickly. It’s at a much quicker pace than ever before in history.
The one struggle I have is doing videos. If I’m going to preach to clients to do video for social media I have to do it too :) I’ve done some but I want to improve. So, I have been trying different services here and there to accomplish what I’m looking for.
For instance, I made one for this post but didn’t realize Medium does not allow video. Hence, I will use it on Twitter to promote this article :) I had a special intro video made from someone that I wanted to include on my videos.
It could not be done on YouTube, thanks to Ms. Ileane for helping me answer that one! So I played on Google until I found Kapwing. Now, for me to use it without the watermark is a charge of $6.00. This is great to know for the future. But to share on Twitter I will keep that watermark. Some things are not worth the extra investment. You will learn this as you go along your going into business journey!
The Best Thing I’ve Learned Along My Journey
The best thing I’ve learned to grow is to outsource some of my tasks. I have people that I can turn for help that I pay. That is a great investment for my time is so important if I want to continue to scale and grow the business.
You have to decide where you need help and whom you can hand off tasks to and not worry about getting them down. I hope to do more of this in the coming months and years ahead.
More people today are leaving their jobs to run their own company or to freelance. According to Inc. “ We’ve already seen a huge uptick in the number of self-employed freelancers since the economic recession of 2008.” It is still growing today!
I’d love to know if you are thinking of leaving your cubicle this year or in the future. What is holding your back?
