I’ve recently launched my own digital marketing startup aimed at small businesses & startups in the London area.

And it’s equally terrifying and exhilarating mixed in with a rollercoaster ride of emotions!

Here are my top 5 numbing realities just a few weeks into launching!

No one knows who you are

Ok, so I’ve got plenty or experience under my belt when it comes to marketing OTHER startups with impressive results. But when it comes to my own startup? PANIC!

I’ve found because you are so emotionally invested as it’s YOUR company, then you tend to fret more over simple, logical decisions that you made with ease before when it was someone ELSE’S startup.

Add to the mix the realisation that your tweets are lost among a sea of competitors in your niche on Twitter, and you start to realise the enormity of the task ahead.

But I keep going back to what I have learnt, it takes at LEAST 3 months before my past startups saw results, a dramatic increase in traffic, and partnerships opening up to us.

Your Job Is 24/7

Ok, so this it to be expected. But waking up at 3 in the morning to scribble down ideas for the next day? er, is it?

I seem to have an abundance of ideas running around my head 24/7!

Even standing in the Starbucks queue, I managed to create 2 campaigns in my head AND graphics!

I eat, sleep, breath my business!

I also find it impossible to switch off – it’s almost like I am having a secret affair with my laptop as I announce to my partner, I just need ONE more hour….. at 11 PM after he catches me working late again hidden in the bedroom.

Your business is your LIFE! And you wouldn’t have it any other way.

You Finally Understand The Highs & Lows Of Other Founders

Erratic behaviour? Check!

Emotional whirlwind? Check!

Cool, calm confident exterior but on the inside trying to blag it? Check!

I started out very well, 2 clients in just under 9 days mostly thanks to word of mouth – I’m on a high.

But then, you will have another 2-3 leads and they don’t close. Maybe you will be ghosted like some first date that you thought went well ……

You also carry off this air of superiority as a founder whilst at the same time, a quivering wreck inside when you feel the ’90 % of startups fail’ HAS to be written about you.

BUT, incredibly, you have this inner strength, determination and trust in your skills to wake up in the morning and do it all again.

People Will use You

In your attempt to market your brand and network, you can’t help to give off a whiff of ‘new startup desperation’.

You find yourself involved in conversations with people that are highly unlikely going to be a future customer, and it takes all you have not to excuse yourself and run to the next potential client standing just a few meters away.

The fact is, the moment you start to market yourself and offer advice, there are ALWAYS clients clamouring to message you for some advice – for free.

Now of course, most of us do not mind helping out others, after all, it’s our job to provide solutions.

But when you start getting invites to market whole companies for free, or messages from a potential client passing on his girlfriend’s details so you can train her how to be a digital marketer without getting paid, you realise maybe you need to reel it in a bit.

And The Good?

I am COMPLETELY obsessed with my chosen niche – accelerating the growth of startups & small businesses in London.

I could quite happily sit for hours reading my kindle, just stopping to eat and drink whilst I absorb copious amounts of digital marketing trends for 2017.

I’m a bit of a google analytics geek too.

I could NEVER imagine working for anyone else again, and this thought alone seems to push me harder, each and every day, when you feel that every ounce of juice you have has been squeezed, I find more.

I am in COMPLETE control of ALL my business & marketing decisions. I can think outside the box, put those ideas into practice and growth hack as many channels as I wish!

And at the end of the day…… I always seem to wake up more determined than ever to keep my title as a founder.

Are you looking for startup support?

My startup & small business mini marketing consultancy package starts from just £30.

• Do you know where your customers are from?
• Which is the most popular piece of content on your website?
• How about your organic traffic growth? 
• Google analytics giving you a headache?