Is it scary starting your own business?

Is it scary going it alone?

A good friend of mine who I recently caught up with asked me the dreaded question “Is it scary starting your own business?”.

My response was pretty simple “YES”, after 20 years working for someone else it’s the only natural response I think. But for me, it’s part of what helps keep me going and pushing Nope Design.

I really don’t belong in an office (sadly it has taken 20 years of trying to realise this) I love creating, it makes me happy and I now get paid to create, nothing cooler in my book.  So the scary thing for me, well it’s going back to my old industry (buying & merchandising).

I can think of nothing worse than a Monday morning trade meeting, that’s my fear right there. Sat around in a meeting room picking peanuts out of poo.. and then promptly flinging said poo around the room until it sticks.

That’s not a fun experience I can tell you, so for all the terror of going alone in the world of illustration & design it’s not even close to the fear of returning to the world of my old Job, plus when they read this I don’t think anyone would have me back J.

Starting a business, no matter what you are doing is never easy, you’re always learning and the majority of the time your switching between all kinds of areas you have little or no skill in (accounting, marketing etc.) I’m the CEO, Marketing Manager, Website Admin, Social Manager of Nope Design, but first & foremost I’m the designer and it’s a lot to take on.

While it can get a lot to have on your plate, running your own business is without a doubt worth every bit of hard work, the late nights & early mornings, the failures & success just feel that much better on your own terms.

If you’re thinking of starting something, just give it a go, you might fail but if you don’t try you’ll never know... imagine the feeling of it working? even if you fail you’ll have a story to tell and it’s not going to be the end of the world if it does go wrong, just try and push yourself, who knows what you can achieve.

Mr Nope.