Every workday in 2021 was worth it!
Hanifa, “You don’t have to do it alone” — this was the vibe I got when I signed up for the Ventures connect lab session at the beginning of 2021. In fact, if there’s anything you want to go into, I mean anything at all, take this message from me, — you don’t have to do it alone, go out and seek information, Network, Collaborate!.
Enough of the pep talk, let me narrate my experience
You know how Solopreneurship can feel like being working in isolation and figuring out things on your own, right? My own journey took a different turn, why? Because I benefited from a mentorship program and free access to one of the most powerful communities and co-working spaces in Nigeria!
Early this year, I made a decision to operate as a solopreneur but struggled with having clarity of purpose and how best to position myself in the freelance market. To begin with, I didn’t really regard the freelance thing as a “business. Somewhere in my head, I said to myself I won’t do this for so long. I had this thought due to my mindset about freelancing. The day-day to conversations I had with community members at ventures park helped me expand my perspective of the business world. I almost never missed working a day at the park. I wake up every morning knowing that I’m surrounded by amazing people who are always ready to share resources and pieces of advice.
I don’t know about you, but I believe society has conditioned us to think that if you are not working with a “big” company or running a business with a household name, you are not doing something relevant. There were times when I struggled with answering the question what do you do? Where do you work? To be honest, I still do sometimes, but I now have a better hang of it. I answer that question as “these are the things I’m capable of regardless of my attachment to any company”.
The group sessions with Titi Akinsami ( the Sole Sponsor and Mentor of the Ventures Connect Lab) helped me do a lot of introspection and self-evaluation. I was able to build a certain level of confidence that helped me navigate my solopreneurship journey better and I had to ask myself certain questions regarding clarity of purpose and how I wanted to go about achieving it. Thanks to this program, I now have a well-structured freelance business and have learned how to manage clients better.
It was sure a very interesting period for me. I will admit, it was not all fun, but I’ve learned so much, made lots of new connections, and really feel I’ve made significant progress in my career, that it was all worth it.
