Solopreneurs are workers; they know they need to get things done. They usually work alone, with the occasional help from a virtual team or assistant. However, some days can be tough. They can encounter problems and need to find solutions on their own. One of the biggest difficulties in finding ways to stay motivated, without a team behind you. Here are six key points to consider.

1) Be prepared to change your circle.

When you transition into becoming a solopreneur, one of the biggest challenges can be the change of your community. Most of your current circle won’t come with you or join you on your new career path. While this can be confronting for some people, you will need to prepare yourself and others for the change. Start to nurture your current relationships if you want them to move with you into your new arena. It’s a great time to start evaluating who has been your biggest support and who you have been supporting.

It’s also important to understand that some of your oldest and dearest friends may forget about you…even if you don’t forget about them. Nurture the relationships that matter to you the most. Your new journey as a solopreneur will give you the opportunity to make new friends that align with your career change.

2) Understand the changes that come with a new career.

It’s incredibly important to get clear on the similarities and the differences of being a solopreneur compared to your previous career. Even if you feel as though you are superficially aware of what the changes are, make sure you take the time to explore it on a deeper level. It could even be as simple as understanding the different types of people who will be in your new circle. Chances are, they will be a different personality or have different skill sets to the people that you are used to. Perhaps they have similar specialities but different skill sets compared to your first community.

If you get to choose who you will work with, ensure that you are looking for the traits that you DO want..not what you don’t want. A good example is when people get divorced, they often go out to meet people with the expectations of what they don’t want. “I don’t want them to have this trait or to do this…” (based on their ex-partner) but this stops you from attracting what you genuinely want. You need to have your intentions clear and understand the type of people you want to work with.

Another example is networking. If you are networking, understand the agenda of the networking group. Some people are there to build rapport, whereas other people just want to push their products. As a solopreneur, there is only one of you, and so you need to be prepared that not everyone will have the same agenda or intentions as yourself.

3) Get Savvy with Social Media

As a solopreneur, you will need to have social media. You have got to feed your tribe and keep them connected. If you only have a limited amount of hours, then you need to work out how much time you are prepared to spend on social media. It can be a little bit like eating Tim Tams, before you know it you have eaten the whole packet. Same goes with social media… we can all admit that sometimes we get into a bit of a trance when we hit the screens. You may not even be aware of how much time you are pouring into social media. To combat time wasting, find out where your clients are more likely to hang out (e.g. Facebook, Linked In) and work that one media. Once you build up, stretch out to other social media platforms. Alternatively, you can hire someone from the get-go, so you only need to check in occasionally, rather than managing the whole lot on your own.

4) Moving from a fixed location to work-from-home

Where you always at a fixed location in your previous career? Perhaps for the past 20 years, you have been getting up and going to work at the same place. As a solopreneur, you may be working from home, or you may need to find somewhere to work from. At a fixed location, everything has a place, and you know where everything is (files here, scissors there). While you may be saving on rent if you are working from home, you also can come across issues of work and home life intermingling into one without any clear boundaries. It can feel like a really really long day if you aren’t getting a chance to switch off from work.

It can also affect your family life.

When the kids come home, it can also be harder to switch off from work and be completely present with them. Family isn’t working though; it’s life. If you are used to the separation of work and life, then it is something that you will need to learn. You don’t actually need to have a fixed location; it is okay to have a freelancing arrangement. Workspaces, business centres, hot desks…try them out before signing up to another lease.

5) Time management

You will need to learn how to manage time differently. Try blocking rather than scheduling. A chunk of your day might be clients, a chunk of your day might be phone calls or emails. There can also be days that are just admin days. Learning how to manage your time can be the difference between burnout and feeling like the clock is running smoothly.

6) Learning to prepare

If there is one thing I have learned as a solopreneur, is that you need to be prepared! After three businesses across 25 years, I found out that there is definitely more organisation involved when you are on your own. When we stay in one career for a long time, we can get complacent with what is actually expected and needed to run a business. Being a solopreneur means that you have to take the reins of everything involved and prepare, prepare, prepare!

Try using a planner and physically write down what needs to be down. Doing this stimulates our kinesthetic senses and helps you to remember the list. Once it has been completed, always reward yourself.  It could even be as simple as running a highlighter through your to-do list once it is finished. You would be surprised at how satisfying it is when you finally tick off everything that needs to be done! Pick three main things that you NEED to, HAVE to, WANT to do for the day. Then at least at the end of the day, you can mark them off as an achievement. When there is nobody around to give you a hi-five, this is a hi-five for yourself.

Becoming a solopreneur is a new and exciting time of your life. Be prepared to experience many lows and highs during this exciting chapter of your life.

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