What 10 years of solopreneurship has taught me

My top 10 learnings.

I quit my full-time, well-paying job as a brand manager in the fashion industry in February 2015, without a real plan or business know-how, and 10 years later, I’m still self-employed. I had a short stint (6 months from late 2017 to early 2018) in a full-time job, but after that, I vowed to never work full-time for someone else again. I’m always afraid to say that because (knock on wood) everything I’ve built could, in theory, go to shit from one day to the next. But let’s stay positive, shall we? Also, you can never completely work for yourself because there’s always a customer or a client or a reader, but you know what I mean.

I have learned hundreds (if not thousands) of things since jumping headfirst into solopreneurship in 2015. These are my top 10:

1. Being naive is a superpower

When I launched my first business in February 2015 (a clothing brand called Alexis Mera, where I sold products online through Shopify and wholesale accounts), I had no clue what I was doing. I was 28 and I had been working in the fashion industry as a product developer/manager for around eight years, so of course I thought I knew everything as someone with “nearly a decade of industry experience.” But I knew nothing about starting or growing a business, and online marketing was like a foreign language. At the time, I didn’t even have a personal Instagram account, and I had no experience with e-commerce. All I knew was how to develop a clothing line, including sourcing fabrics, working with factories, calculating costs, and setting wholesale and retail prices. I was convinced that I could launch my website and sales would come flowing in. It was quite the opposite. Crickets. But I found my way, built relationships with boutiques, produced a few private label programs for SoulCycle, sold through pop-up shops, was featured in SELF magazine (search the article for “Alexis Mera”), and learned so much about marketing.

The experience I gained from my first business is what brought me to where I am today. However, if I knew then what I know now about starting a clothing brand, I wouldn’t have done it. Being naive was my superpower, and I’m so grateful for it.

Here I am, 8 years ago. I was featured on a site called The Style Theory. Just like my clothing brand, TST has since shut down. Feels like another lifetime! (Also, watching this video makes me cringe.)

2. Don’t compare yourself

I struggle with this regularly. I look at what other online entrepreneurs are doing and ask myself things like:

• Should I be building a personal brand?

• Should I post on social media every day even though I don’t like to?

• Should I be doing more?

Should coulda woulda.

I read a post by Kevan Lee about the things we think we should do. I can’t locate it anymore, but in a nutshell, he says to ask yourself these questions throughout the day:

• Am I doing this because I want to or because I should?

• If it's because I “should”, then why do I believe I should?

• What do I fear will happen if I don't do it?

I have a handwritten note on my desk with these questions to remind me not to compare my journey to everyone else’s. I’ll admit, it’s not easy.

3. Make time for non-work-related things (i.e., make time for yourself!)

When I was building my first business, I woke up at 5 am and ran straight to my computer. I worked all day, and while I still made time for things like exercise, I wasn’t socializing enough or making plans for things outside of building my brand. Call it Ikigai or insanity, whatever you prefer, but it’s not sustainable. Nowadays, I have my moments. But overall, I’m better at balancing work and life, which is something I also adopted after moving from NYC to Amsterdam. The lifestyle here is more balanced. People work to live rather than living to work. I make more time for hobbies like padel, oil painting, reading, making jewelry, and hanging out with friends.

Here’s a sketch I’m working on, which is CLEARLY a WIP.

4. Stay focused

To me, staying focused as a creative entrepreneur is the hardest part. The constant stream of ideas running through my brain is exhausting at times. These are my top three tips for maintaining focus in your business:

1. Map out exactly who you’re targeting with your products, services, content, etc.

2. Define what makes your business unique.

3. Become an expert or specialist at one thing instead of trying to do everything (you can always expand later).

5. Give more than you take

We all know that feeling when you can see through someone’s bull shit. When you know the only reason why they’re approaching you is because of what might be in it for them. 🚩Red flag. Don’t be that person.

6. Meet new people

Networking is hard. Making time to meet new people while you’re struggling to make time for the ones (personal and professional) that you already know is exhausting. Especially if being alone is your preferred way to recharge (guilty 🙋‍♀️).

I prefer one-on-one meetings to avoid the inevitable small talk that happens in large groups, but it’s not the most effective networking strategy. For my freelance content marketing and writing business, niche online communities related to SEO and content marketing have helped me meet new people. Entrepreneurial women’s groups are also nice. I’ve taken a break from it for now to focus on family, but The Old Girls Club has a nice online community, primarily run on Slack.

7. Take a break, go for a walk

I need to do this more. Period. Who wants to start an entrepreneurs’ accountability group for taking daily walks?

8. Roll with the punches

Get comfortable with rejection. You’re going to hear “no” a lot, you’re going to be ignored or ghosted, you’re going to lose clients or customers or readers, and so on, and if you can’t figure out a way to handle this and avoid taking it personally, you’re going to struggle. I’m not trying to be harsh, just honest.

9. Think less, do more

Developing a strategy and plan, and thinking about how to succeed, are all good things. But regardless of what you’re trying to build or create, if you don’t start and keep going, you’ll never learn what actually works. Which brings me to my last lesson…

10. Start small

If you try to do everything, you’ll likely do nothing. What baby steps can you take today to move the needle and get closer to your business goals? Something that works for me is to write down three things I want to accomplish in a given day (lately, instead of creating a list, I’ve been adding them to my Google calendar in a different color). It can help you focus and feel accomplished rather than trying to plow through a 20-point to-do list that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and frozen. Just get sh*t done.

See you soon,

Alexis

P.S. Feel free to ask me anything about this topic in the comments!