It was the start of 2020. I got a new job as a marketing coordinator at Chadstone which is a suburb in Melbourne Australia. I was excited because I just recently left my previous role which focused on web design which was something, I was good at and passionate about. But I was still young and I wanted to explore what else I could do as a career. Who knows? What if there was something else out there I enjoyed even more but I didn’t know because I wasn’t willing to explore different career choices? Besides web design, I had an interest in marketing because every business needs marketing and without it, people wouldn’t know what the business provides let alone it’s existence. Plus, I also believe marketing is a great skillset to use outside of work for other purposes.
How I lost my job and started my web design business
It was in the middle of February that people were more aware of the Coronavirus and it started affecting businesses including the one I worked for. Unfortunately, my company had to make adjustments which included me losing my role. I wasn’t too upset because it wasn’t my fault but I was a bit frustrated because I thought I was finally on the road to getting myself back on track again financially and career-wise. I decided to take a few days to relax and take my mind off things and also take care of my other matters. I was also looking for a new role but I also had a chat to my some of my mentors and met a new one at the time from America who convinced me to start a business and give myself to the entrepreneur life.
I thought to myself, what type of business can I start? I didn’t have a lot of savings at the time to start a business so I thought to myself, what could I do right now that is low cost and something that is in demand, especially now in this covid period? I’ve done web design in the past very casually for people and I wasn’t charging a lot. THAT’S WAS IT! I will make websites for people but on a more professional level! This was a great opportunity for me to commit myself to become my own man. While I was also distributing health products on the side to my fulltime role, I now have a golden opportunity to fully become an entrepreneur and make that goal become true! Who knows? What if the universe is telling me that the marketing role isn’t for me? What if I wasn’t meant to work for anyone and I was meant for something more?
Skills and tools I used for my web design business
I had some coding skills from University, I can use CMS’s like WordPress to create the websites and teach clients how to make basic changes. I also brought some themes and tools that I can use to create amazing websites, I use a hosting company to host my client’s websites or we can use their hosting. I’ve also reached out to my friends who specialise in different areas to further assist me with my business such as logo creation, copywriting, contracts and even some people in my past who I also considered to be mentors that have years of experience in the same field, have helped me improve my business and processes. On this journey I have met a lot of amazing people from different industries locally and internationally, some who I have developed friendships with. I found that having a mentor in my specific craft which is in web design and one for my personal development and mindset really came hand to hand and helped with my results.
While that is just the technical side of the business, there’s a lot of personal development that came along with this journey too. I developed more mental toughness when dealing with clients, especially cold market clients. I had an issue with charging my self-worth in the past when I was doing web design for people in addition to my full-time role, I was charging PEANUTS when I thought about it. If I want to do it full time, I wouldn’t be able to make a proper living with those prices. If I were to commit to this and intend to be my own man, I would need to start charging what I am worth. I might have not had as much experience when I started my web design business but I would still need to charge a worthy price at the time and build my experience and portfolio up which will then give me the confidence to further charge my worth as well as giving value at the time. I was also able to make new friends as well as reconnect with old friends and acquaintances.
To know more about my website service, please visit my web design section of my website
Here are my coaches and mentors who have helped me start my web design business.
Jacqui Ashley – Mindset and Alignment Coach
Jacqui Ashley is not only a great friend of mine but she is also a life/business coach based in Sydney Australia. I have known her for many years. We’ve met each other through a friend and the moment I met her, I instantly liked her without knowing she was a coach at the time. Eventually, she told me she was a coach and I decided to give her coaching a go. Over these years, she has helped me with not my business, but also my mindset and personal barriers that have held me back from achieving my potential such as childhood trauma, embarrassing moments, lack on confidence, being organised and consistent in my life as well as many other things. It was in 2020 when I decided to commit to the entrepreneur life and worked with her more on a consistent basis achieving me fantastic results and opportunities. She is such a warm and lovely person to work with and owe a lot of my success to her. She has my highest recommendation. If you are looking for a coach, she does a free consultation to see if you are both a fit for each other so you have nothing to lose! Click on this link to visit her website
Ai Nguyen – Life and Business Breakthrough Coach
I met Ai around the time I lost my job in Chadstone. Talking about timing hey?! She is a life and business coach in San Francisco California USA. We connected on Facebook and I got engaged with her content. Eventually, she reached out to me and we went on a call together. She told me about what she does and how she can help me. While I did have a coach who I worked with at the time, it would be nice to try both and see how Ai does things. I was also transparent about this as well with both of them. I’m so glad I decided to make that choice to do some work with her because she was the person who started me off on my web design business journey. She told me to instead of finding another job, start your own business and commit yourself to be an entrepreneur. She also opened the doors for me to meet other American entrepreneurs and clients who I am proud to call some of them my friends including Ai herself. She was also the woman who helped me charge what I am worth and helped me overcome some of the horrible things I did in the past. Discover Ai’s Linktree to see what she can offer you
