You just need to take the first step
Martin Luther King Jr was right when he said you don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. This is so true when deciding to start a business, at times it can feel very daunting, but we know that it’s the first step and the small steps we take thereafter climbing that staircase that will lead us ultimately to our success, however, we define that for ourselves.
I remember being 7 years old and my mum asking me what I wanted to be when I grow up and I said quite confidently my own boss, she asked ” a boss of what” and I said ” a boss of me” and flounced off to play with my dolls. I also wanted to be a dancer, a show jumper, a journalist, a writer, and a hairdresser but the one that stayed with me was to be my own boss.
It took me 40 years to realise my childhood dream.
The one thing that kept me going was the promise I made to myself that I would never give up on it, no matter what life threw at me, I always held onto the dream of being my own boss.
The first step I took was over 10 years ago when I bought the domain name admin made easy for 99p, every year I dutifully paid for it, saying to myself one-day Lizie, one day. That one day came when I finally had the courage to put my money where my mouth was and get on with starting my own business. I applied for a small start-up loan and getting through that process was all I focused on, saying to myself if I get this loan it’s meant to be. I got the loan and set myself up. I kept my day job and worked for myself on an evening and a few months in found my very first client, whom I still work with today. It took me another two years before I could finally leave my day job and focus on Admin Made Easy full time. Now I’m 48 years old and Admin Made Easy is almost 3 years old, we are still growing, taking small steps towards our ultimate goal together.
Those first two years were tough, I was holding down a full-time job, raising two teenage boys on my own, and trying to get a business off the ground every evening and weekend. At times I could have cried I was so tired, stressed, and wondering what on earth I was playing at. It would have been so easy to have given in. The hard work is now starting to pay off and now I look back and think well done Lizie you did it. It was the little achievable goals and targets I set myself, the small steps that kept me going.
If you have a dream of starting your own business but the thought of it seems too much, don’t give up on that dream and remember it’s not the whole staircase you need to focus on, it’s just the first step. Once you have taken the first step just keep taking small steps until you reach the top of your staircase, you may need to sit down on a step and take a breather from time to time but whatever you do, don’t give up.
