6 Things I wish I knew before I became a coach with Alexandra Badea

Being your own boss, creating your schedule, spending late nights working on making your dream happen - this is what being an entrepreneur looks like from the outside. However, after all that work, 90% of startups fail. So how can you start your entrepreneurship journey being as ready as possible for anything that’s about to come?

Alexandra Badea is a seasoned entrepreneur who quit a corporate job and started her entrepreneurship journey eight years ago. She’s a dreamer who stays grounded and shares pragmatic advice to make those big dreams happen and keep your motivation throughout the entrepreneurship journey.

Start with yourself!

Before actually quitting your job and rearranging your life to become an entrepreneur or freelancer, you need to ask yourself what skills you already have and what you need to acquire. A personality assessment can be the way to start. For example, if you choose entrepreneurship, you should be a good leader, an empathic person, have structure, and be able to make a fast decision. If you want to be a freelancer, you might need to be good at multitasking so you can do social media, create content, handle sales, and so on.

But what if I don’t have those skills? Does this mean I can’t be an entrepreneur or freelancer? Don’t worry, that’s not the case. You just need the self-awareness to know what skills you need to develop and then be ready to do the work.                                                          

Do I quit or keep my current job?

The answer is that it depends on your resources and risk tolerance. There are two recommended ways to start your journey.

The first and best option is for the ones that have savings and tolerate a higher level of risk. This means you have enough money to support your costs for the next six months and can afford to quit your job. Here you can put all your focus into building your new business.

The second one is for those with lower risk tolerance and who don’t have savings, so they need some cash flow to cover their costs. You can consider part-time jobs or negotiate with your current employer to reduce work hours. Then, in your spare time, you’ll be working on building your business.

Work on your mentality and be realistic

If you haven’t done this yet, go on a holiday. Alexandra recommends taking some time off before starting your new journey. You’ll have the chance to create a solid realistic plan and recharge. You'll need a lot of energy to execute it.

You need to understand that you’re building something new, and you need to be patient. Allow yourself to dream but keep your feet on the ground. Don't imagine that you will open a business and the next day you’ll already have 1000 clients and a lot of money. It ain’t that easy. Instead, set realistic expectations to avoid being disappointed and keep your motivation. Be prepared to wake up early every morning and work on your business.

You might even feel alone, lost, confused, or overwhelmed. It’s normal. You’re rearranging your life, and you'll be a one-man show for now. So be prepared to take care of everything from financials to sales and marketing. And if you don’t already know how to do something, be prepared to learn. You can start by learning how to get clients with organic marketing.

It’s all about energy and networking

Before going into entrepreneurship, you need to understand that you’ll interact with many people, so your energy plays an essential role in your success. Take coaching, for example: if you’re confused and low on energy and you turn to a coach for help, you want to find them smiling, enthusiastic, and with a good vibe in general. You go to a coaching session to find a solution to your problem and take the energy from the coach.

Having the right energy also plays a crucial role in networking as you’ll attract people like you. So after creating the right energy, you need to go out there and use it to connect with freelancers and entrepreneurs as early in your journey as possible. It's very helpful to hear about how they started, their challenges, or their clients. You should be doing this online and offline, looking for clients and connections through workshops, webinars, or networking events. And even if you don’t make a direct sale at an event, one of your connections might contact you later on. ‍

Personal branding

Think of your brand as your business card. It needs to be clean and in as many places as possible. That’s why you create it online, and you should start by cleaning all your social media accounts and giving them a professional look. If you were ever tempted by a professional photo session, now it’s time to do it! It’s OK to have a private profile if you want to keep your private life separate from your professional one.

Moreover, you need to find your style. We don’t just mean fashion (however, this is also important) but about your general style: the way you address and connect with your audience, your authenticity. Find it and then present yourself everywhere with this style. When asked what makes you stand out, this will be your differentiator, your unique selling proposition.

Furthermore, it’s essential to know who your target audience is. This way, you can create a better selling strategy and use different channels to address your audience more efficiently. You can think of age and interests and choose two channels to start with. For example, if you have a younger audience, you can start on Instagram and TikTok, and you need to be there every day of the week. The key here is to have a plan and be consistent. You can find out more on how to succeed on TikTok from Rachel Pedersen, "The Queen of Social Media" here.

Hiring help

Hiring help is a shortcut to success. If you have the budget, hiring people with complementary skills to help your business or personal growth is the best option. You can think of hiring someone to help with your social media, sales, or even a coach for yourself. This will give you more time and energy to invest in building your business. Take hiring a coach, for example. You are going through a transitional period: changing your job and building a new career. You can use all the help you can get. The support of a coach can increase your self-awareness and can help you learn how to make better decisions faster.

That’s it! You’re ready to start building your business, so go out there, put in the work, and don’t forget to enjoy the ride. It’s magical!

‍