Dare to jump?

First months as a freelance frontend developer.

In March this year a started a new journey. After several years as an employed consultant, I started my own business. I took that step into the unknown.

This feels a little like a ”Dear Diary” post, but a get a whole lot of questions after I changed my linkedIn profile to freelance. So I thought, that I could share a little bit of my journey so far.

Starting my own company wasn’t a new thought but before last summer I always thought that I couldn’t start one on my own. If I could do it, it would be with a couple of colleagues. But working from home during this time of pandemic, with some extra time to think it over, a new idea came to me. What if I could do it on my own and be able to combined my passion for frontend development and for yoga in the same company.

I was still worried about a few things. For one thing I’m a frontend developer not a sales person. Second I didn’t know much about accounting.

It also took some time to gather my self some courage to actually do it. I’m going to be honest, the hardest part was actually the talk with my leader att Squeed. We always have had a good relationship so it felt really strange to say goodbye.

6 months has passed since I left Squeed to stand on my own two feet. And now I’m a little bit wiser. Just kidding. But I hope I’ve learned some along the way. And my oldest son was wearing a t-shirt today that said:

Spread the good vibe

So this is me trying to share my story to spread some good vibes.Back to the things I have learned.

• First, just because you run your own business, you’re not alone or on your own. You have collages, friends, and in my case a fantastic sister to ask. So a started to ask them for advise. And just like I’m happy to answer questions about how I started, they were happy to help me.

• You don’t have to know everything before you even started. It’s perfectly fine to learn as you go along. When it comes to accounting you could just buy the service, but you remember that fantastic sister? She is an accountant. So our deal is that I should do most of the work on my own. But until I’ve learned, she answers all of my noob questions. And I owe her big time!

• Then the other thing about sales. I found out that there are people that actually has for a job just to find assignments for freelancers like me. Mind blown! And they are happy to help. Especially now when it’s is a developers market.

• And I’m going to tell you a secret as well. I don’t have a 10-year plan. Not even a 5-year plan. And I don’t have a clear vision of the future. But what I do know is what my next step will be and maybe the step after that. My goal for me in my company is to always be curious about new things, do stuff that makes me happy. And if something scares me, I say yes! I know that I will grow when I’m out of my comfort zone.

It was a breathtaking and att the same time scary feeling to start, but it is with a feeling of freedom I continue. If you think about it, go with the good vibe!