I turned down a well-paying job! 🥵
Hey guys, what’s up everyone and welcome to my blog!🌟
My name is Sarafina Nyawira for those of you who may be new around here and once again, welcome! Those who’ve been with me from day one, or continuing from whichever day you discovered my blog, thank you for always sparing a few minutes of your time to read through my work, like, comment and even share! I have an amazing community and I couldn’t be happier, thank you so much for always coming through and for the immense love and support you all show me!♥️
So today, I want to talk about a life-changing decision I made, which is by far, THE BEST decision I have made in my life! I graduated from university about four months ago. For me, it wasn’t a stressful period at all. To start with, during the last semester of uni, I was out on attachment with a software development company, and the management graciously offered me an opportunity to go back to work with them once done with my final exams. Hence, thankfully, I didn’t have stress about where to start looking for work or what to do with myself after campus.
Around March, I also happened to launch a small social media business, which I could say, was a form of A/B Testing. It was meant to be a side hustle, which at the time I decided to put out there to see what chance it had at working out. To my surprise, with the first launch I did (by advertising through my social media platforms), I got 5 enquiries, with 3 of those ending up being paying clients! That was a huge, huuuuge deal for me!🎊🎊🎊
It’s key to point out that at this time, I had had no form of formal training. I was relying 100% on skills and experience I had learnt over three years of experimenting with different social media platforms and attending Youtube Academy. (Read about how I started here) I had only just enrolled for some courses in social media. So closing in with three clients was definitely, definitely a big deal!
In that one month, I enjoyed my social media work so much, that I felt I just wanted more and more of it. And in that one month, I went back to work, but decided that software development was not what I wanted to do. I felt the need to strongly take up space in the digital marketing world, and I decided to go for it!
TRANSITION FROM THE CORPORATE WORLD TO GOING 100% SOLO.
Like any transition, this was hard, and if anything, twice as hard! Some of the obstacles I faced:
- How to explain to my parents and mentors that I was leaving behind a well-paying job to venture into a career path they didn’t exactly understand very well yet.
- Social Media and Digital Marketing as a career having not been fully understood as an actual job by society.
- Little resources to my aid. It was like leaving a whole world of security with a corporate job where I was assured of a good salary, and going into the darkness trying to find my way grappling on little light from a dying torch.
Letting my parents and mentors know of my decision – Was definitely not easy. I had to think through my decision multiple times after leaving my job before approaching my parents and mentors to let them know of the same, during which time I was carefully drafting out a plan on how to explain. In my plan, I was very careful to capture my reason for quitting my job, why I had decided to venture into the solopreneur world, and the business plan for my social media agency. This was also backed up with financial data from how much I earned from the one month I had worked with clients, with a promise to gain even more clients by explaining to them my marketing strategies and what platforms I’d use to generate leads for my business. From hence, they were able to understand and support my vision.
Social Media and Digital Marketing not being fully understood as a job – Was also another area of struggle for me. To date, I still meet people who frown their faces at me when I tell them I do social media and digital marketing as a full time job. What really helped me with this, is that I had to sit down and rehearse what to say whenever people asked me what I did for a living. I realized the need to use words that resonated with people’s minds. So I’d simply say, I work in the marketing department for company XYZ. For those who’d be further interested, I’d then break down that information by saying I use Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to market a company’s services online.
When I started out, I was broke broke broke! – A core reason I started my Social Media Agency was also because, I was broke. I needed money to finance some initiatives I had, so I had to get creative. What helped me out was starting with what I had. For example, I don’t have a website where I can openly advertise my services, but I knew I had an active following on my social media platforms. So I used that to advertise when I first went public. Another example was, when starting out, I taught what little I knew, but ensured I provided VALUE OF INFORMATION to my first paying clients. This way, they’d recommend my services or coaching lessons to other friends who’d be interested. So it definitely helped to start where I was, with what I had.
LESSONS I’VE LEARNT SO FAR, 7 MONTHS DOWN THE LINE.
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted – When you consciously make the decision to go solo with your brand or business, it’s you to determine how much you want to earn. You determine when to work and when to rest. If anything, I’m working twice as hard as I would if I were still in my corporate job. I have had to go hard on myself, sending cold pitches to potential leads, investing in further learning and working long nights for some projects. I’m not in a position to currently outsource for a big team, so it’s upto me and my two interns to beat deadlines and meet client expectations. Nevertheless, if it’s your passion, you never really get tired.
You never lack those “friends” who take advantage – I’ve had so called friends ask me about my rates, then see them go ahead to post that they are also social media managers who offer services at the same rates I told them!!!! Regardless, silence is the best tool. I’ve also learnt that, in as much as people may copy your services and business strategy, they can never fully duplicate you. I like to watch in silence but I’ve also learnt to do better.
MILESTONES 7 MONTHS DOWN THE LINE…
✔I’m a CERTIFIED SOCIAL MEDIA and DIGITAL MARKETING Expert.
✔I’m earning twice as much what my corporate job would have offered me!!!
✔I have worked with over 100 clients.
✔I recently got featured on #OnTheBlogWithChebaibai
✔I’ve released a set of ebooks which are currently being used as teaching aids by students in my digital marketing class. The first of these releases was a 4-feature guide to Insta which I am offering to anyone interested for FREE!! (If you missed on that and you’d like one, scroll down to the bottom of this page and enter your email address, and it will be delivered to your inbox immediately).
WHY SOLOPRENEURSHIP…
I never really saw myself as someone who’d want to make a living from a 9 to 5. I wanted a job that would give me freedom to choose how I spend my time (I’m a firm believer in doing life whichever way makes you happy) and also allow me flexibility to handle multiple initiatives.
Social Media is the perfect career for me because first, it is my passion. Secondly, social media solopreneurship sits perfectly between Business and Information Technology, which is what I pursued in Uni. I’m heavily relying on the basics of business to run my business, and tech to conduct social media statistics such as data analysis.
IN CLOSING….
“The wealthiest place on earth is the cemetery.”
Myles Munroe
☆Choose to believe and follow that which is in your heart, no matter how far-fetched or wild it may seem. Everything eventually aligns.
☆Don’t die with that dream, passion or interest unexplored in your heart. Go for it, afraid. You’ll figure things out along the way, I promise. That dream, that goal, just might be the change the world so deperately needs.
♡Hope my story inspires someone, not to leave your job😊, but to FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS, CHASE AFTER YOUR GOALS and NEVER SETTLE FOR LESS. That which lies in your heart deserves a chance. Don’t be afraid to give a shot at it. 🙏🏾
Signing out,
SeraInspire.⭐
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