11 business lessons I have learned by being a solopreneur

“We learn from failure, not from success!” - Bram Stoker, Dracula

Entrepreneurship, like anything in life, involves a lot of trial and error. It starts with passion, curiosity, motivation and a vision. It requires a leap of faith, jumping into the void, experimenting, listening, adjusting. It takes a lot of patience and perhaps a little bit of luck. It is rewarding, empowering, liberating, frustrating, discouraging, maddening, inspiring, head-consuming, doubt-provoking and exciting. Entrepreneurship is sometimes a crazy journey - a path that curves through unexpected but beautiful territory, a collection of several rights and many wrongs. 

When I launched my travel art shop two years ago, I initially didn't realize that I was launching a business. I was a full-time scientist and had never ventured into entrepreneurship in any form. I learned by doing and by being.

What advice would I give now to my inexperienced self who was just starting out two years ago?

Here are 11 of the most valuable lessons I learned in business:

1. Be yourself

Just be you. That is when you can be most consistent, most unique and most magnetic. No one else is you, so no one else can quite offer what you offer. In the sometimes overwhelming face of competition, learn to shift your focus back onto you and who YOU are in how you live and what you create. There is a place for everyone. It seems silly but it sometimes take quite some mental training to hold onto this principle in the business world. 

2. Stories are special

We are story-tellers. We gather, we tell, we live by sharing and consuming stories. It's only natural, then, that stories help people connect with you and what you offer through your business. Stories allow your voice and your personality to shine through and touch people in a way that makes them want to keep you in their life - whether you are half a block or half a world away from them. 

3. Listen

When we first create our businesses, we base ourselves on our vision, our talents, our training and our values. It's really key to welcome - and to use - feedback in order to fine-tune our offerings for our target audience. Be attentive to how others' react to your work and how they describe your business. If you sell physical products like I do, this is what is so great about being present at pop-up shops or shows. Who are you connecting with? What words are they consistently using? What products spark conversation in them, with you or the person shopping with them? If you mostly sell online, consider sending a short survey to your customers or offer them an incentive to leave you a review. Listen to the traits they focus on when describing you, and amplify those traits in your how you create and present your work. 

4. Social media marketing is vital

This is now fact. Whether we like it or not, this is how we roll now. Social media with a strategy is vital to getting our message out there, interacting with our target market and telling our story. Without a strategy, social media is ineffective at best and actually hurtful to the brand at worst. It can suck up a huge amount of time, energy and motivation, so it takes thinking, planning and consistent execution. I would tell my past-self not to put off joining the social media stage. But, I would also tell my past-self to have a strategy and to do it thoughtfully, without spreading myself thin over all the channels without compelling content. 

5. Repeat

Some of us might really hate putting ourselves out there online. It's one thing to put together a website or Etsy shop with descriptions about ourselves, our story, our business and our work, but the worst part is that once it is all out there, we still have to repeat it! It took me a while to realize that not everyone would know the text on my website by heart (ha ha!) and shoppers landing on my Etsy shop would probably not always read the product descriptions, let alone any of the introduction texts! Business coaches also encourage you to repeat yourself now and then. It's important that people who just stumble upon you have a clear sense of what you are all about. You'll notice that even your Facebook friends (who follow your personal page and regularly see your shares from your business page) may take time to become familiar with you and buy from you!

6. Trust your gut

Trust yourself, what you offer, what your brand is all about and what your price-point is. It's easy to feel imposture syndrome now and then, not only when you are just starting out. But, at the end of the day, trusting in your value will attract others to trust in your value. You are doing this because you believe in its mission. When something happens to shake that belief up, don't let it derail you. 

7. Expertise develops continuously

You may not be an expert in ALL the facets related to your work, your craft and your business. That is okay. You don't have to wait until you are an expert in everything in order to be successful. You can (and should) invest in yourself to develop those areas that are further outside of your comfort zone, but it does not have to be all or nothing.

8. Say no

It's good to say no. Did I just say that? It took me so long to learn this, in all areas of my life! If something is not sitting well in your gut, it probably means it is not aligned with your core self, your current priorities, your values or your vision for your brand. Ask yourself: Is this something that will be brand affirming? Does it take me in a direction I'd be happy with? Does it fit with my goals? Do I have time for it without burning out or compromising my other priorities? It's totally fine when the answer to any one of these questions is NO. You have your reasons and, although you could express them as a justification, you don't really need to justify your choices.

9. Take everything as a constructive learning experience

We are constantly learning. That is the beauty (and curse) of life! Train yourself to look at every circumstance, success and failure as constructive, as fluid and as a blessing. Adjusting as you go along is part of the process. Feeling proud of little milestones - even negative ones - is also important. 

10. Invest in yourself

Invest in your professional development. Create opportunities for learning. It is daunting but necessary to take up opportunities that are outside of our comfort zone and that involve a certain degree of risk. There cannot be growth without risk. When you don't risk anything, you get too comfortable. If you take a risk to invest in yourself financially or with respect to your time-commitment, you naturally strive to succeed and not fail. It helps to add a little extra fire up your butt! 

11. Take time to revise and revisit

It's important not to pack your plate so much that you don't create empty spaces for assessment, reflection and re-alignment. It's important to carve out the time to revisit some approaches and practices - even the content on your website. It's one of my business resolutions for the new year, as my personality has always been the go-go-go type. I want to create space for myself to go on a mini hiatus and reflect in a systematic way on what worked, what worked less and where to go from here. 

So there you have it - all the things I wish I knew when I launched Veni Etiam two years ago! Don't get me wrong, I'm still learning. Every single day. And that, I really think, is the beauty of it.

​Fellow entrepreneurs, TELL ME which one of these tips resonates most with you? Leave a comment on this post! 

If you're curious, this post belongs to the theme #WiseWordsWednesday, part of the Etsy Montreal Social Media Challenge. The artists who are participating as vendors in the annual Etsy Fait au Quebec (Made in Canada) market are encouraged to share behind the scenes posts as they prepare for the show. Follow along with all of us on Instagram with the main hashtags #etsyfaitauquebecmtl and #etsymtl.