Read this to save years of trial and error

Today’s newsletter is a shorter one.

They’re quick takes I sometimes learnt the hard way.

I’m hoping these are useful. Especially if you’re starting out. 

1. People buy from people. Show your face or tell your story.

2. Focus your time, team and money on the things with the best ROI for you. Skip shiny new things or what others are doing.

3. Look after yourself mentally and physically. Your own self-care will affect your performance and your team’s.

4. Don’t take investment too early. You’ll dilute too early and may be distracted with the wrong metrics for success.

5. Fire bad eggs quickly. Don’t make excuses, this will ruin your culture.

6. Create an open environment. Share your weaknesses, ask for feedback and don’t be afraid to apologise.

7. As a founder, saying things like “social media isn’t for me” or “I’m not a finance person” isn’t a badge of honour. Get to understand whatever is going to propel your business forward.

8. Anxiety is ambition without execution.

9. Increase your ceiling as a leader by finding the right people and resources to learn from.

10. If you’re starting from 0, know that this is an advantage. You can’t manufacture that type of resilience. It’s do or die.

A Question from you

Every week, I’ll pick a question I receive via email or DMs and answer it here. This week’s question is from Sophia.

Q: I’ve started a small digital marketing agency but can’t seem to get consistent clients. What should I do to build a steady pipeline?

Here's a roadmap:

1. Niche down: Identify a specific industry or type of business you want to serve. The more focused you are, the easier it is to market yourself. Tapping into “not as sexy” niches that marketing agencies don’t usually go for will give you an edge.

2. Showcase results: If you don’t have clients yet, create case studies using mock projects or free work. Results speak louder than words.

3. Cold outreach with value: Reach out to 20 potential clients a day. Make sure they know exactly how you can help. No generalist “we’re a social media marketing agency offering X, Y and Z”. Make sure you personalise your pitch, generic messages won’t work.

4. Check Crunchbase: find businesses that just recently raised funding. Fresh cash to spend and usually more open to anybody who’d help them grow.

5. Upsell existing clients: Focus on delivering exceptional results to the clients you do have. It’s easier to grow revenue with existing customers than always chasing new ones.

The weekend is a great time to start building that thing you’ve been thinking about.

Don’t push it to tomorrow.

Chaymae