The realities of starting a business

Girlssss, where do I begin!

Starting a social media page (Instagram for example) from scratch is HARD. I was almost cringing at myself sending an empty profile to my friends asking them for a supportive follow- but everyone has to start somewhere! Then, it's figuring out the content- what days and times work best, what kind of posts will people want to see and engage with... the list goes on. I would say I'm still finding my feet here. I decide on a weekly basis what I post and I just wing it. However having said that, the instagram took off faster than I could've hoped! So I was now feeling more confident in taking the next step... the website.

Now, as someone who has an English Language and Journalism background, I thought it would be fairly easy! With a little help from AI... I mean don't get me wrong I had the vision from the start and used very specific prompts to help bring it to life- I just used AI to save me precious time, as I am still juggling FIFO work!

Well, all I can say is don't always trust AI (classic). It turned out the AI builder hadn't been properly tried and tested, and so there were glitches and parts of code that no human technician could help me get into (to change)! Well of course this racked up the $$$ veryyyy quickly, and before I knew it- I may as well have paid for the whole thing to be done from scratch by a human in the first place (probably the smartest choice for a beginner).

That being said, I can't speak for everyone. Anyway, long story short- I got it 'optimised' by a professional (always make sure they are legit). I still update it week to week adding new businesses on my website and tweaking the set up to make it more user friendly- but I'm also a perfectionist!

Then of course there's everything else that comes with it- registering your business name, buying your domain and a (optional) business email. I was forever worrying about missing things, and the legalities etc. The boring stuff right?

But all of this aside, I am just over two weeks in after launching online officially, and I am LOVING the women I am meeting. I truly believe the law of attraction comes into play here- when you start pursuing something that aligns with you and sets your soul on fire, you start to attract others who share the same burning passions. Also for everyone following me- I appreciate you! I never understood the true weight of a single follower, comment, like & share until now, it all really counts and helps us small businesses massively- in both growth and morale!

My best advice for anybody who is thinking of or running a start up business of their own- reach out to other female businesses. Connect, share, inspire eachother, because it can feel quite lonely otherwise being in it completely on your own. Even having supportive people around you, there's something special about building relationships with other business owners. Hell, some have delivered incredible advice I never would've thought of! You all know who you are, and if I haven't met you yet- welcome, and I hope to meet you soon <3