My 2022 Reflections as an Entrepreneur

You must take time out and read this if you are planning to launch your freelancing or entrepreneurial dream in the future!

Inspired by reading the 2022 reflection notes by @Rahul M(https://www.linkedin.com/posts/therahulm_lessonslearned-2022review-2022wrapped-activity-7017485414374510592-9DgO?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop), I am sharing my reflections for the year 2022 as an entrepreneur.

A quick background about my entrepreneurial journey before I go on 2022 reflections

I decided to be an entrepreneur in the year 2020 (October specifically).

Two things were in my head as I started.

- Health and Wellness Coaching

- Writing (books primarily, but would write articles and blogs also to fuel my writing)

1. I started writing my book first as part of my aspiration to become an author. A major part of 2021 went into writing and publishing that book (BE A RUNNER FOREVER(https://www.runner-forever.com/books)). It is constantly coming up in the bestselling category on Amazon.

2. As I did that, started my health and wellness coaching profession also. I started running coaching in 2017 as a side hustle while I was working full-time. So, I was confident about doing it. But then, as I wrote the book, I arrived at the wisdom that I should go beyond providing running to people in the health and wellness space. I believe my true calling is to give health and wellness to people, running is just one of the ways.

So, I decided to do two courses - Nutrition and Weight Management. So, these two courses were done in 2021 while I was writing the book and doing my running coaching.

3. The number of customers was in the single digit in 2021.

The year 2022 reflections:

1. Serve well, your customer base will grow naturally and they would become your ambassadors as well

- Number of customers has grown from single-digit to double-digit. All customers have arrived through referrals. I believe in the philosophy that if I start with a customer, I will do my 100% best to get the outcome or the results for them. This is definitely helping to get referral customers for me.

2. Continuous learning mindset

- This has been helping me for decades, I must say. I am always a learner. I added several books to myself from health and wellness areas - Bought many books on running, nutrition, diet, & weight management. This is helping me in both serving my customers well and creating content that I share with my audience on social media

3. Content creation

- I have not had a great strategy until last Sep 2022, but discovered it as I started posting on LinkedIn and came in touch with several experts who are inspiring millions of people every day on LinkedIn. My takeaway is that you should start and make a commitment to post daily and then, you will start mustering your courage to create content.

4. Read, read and read (I would also say watch, watch and watch or hear, hear and hear)

- I consume content very rigorously every day by doing deep work - I read books, listen to podcasts or watch YouTube channels. This comes a long way for me in being a consistent content creator.

5. Rejections are part of the process

- Many people reach out to me to inquire about my services. Do all of them convert into customers? Hell no. But I do my best to explain to them what I offer and how they would benefit. If they don't convert, I do not worry. I just continue doing what I need to do. Create content, read books, watch videos, serve my existing customers really well and do whatever marketing I can do to get additional leads. When you know that you are sincere in what you are doing, the universe sends you customers. I am discovering that truth for myself. I am constantly getting customers.

Sometimes, I have seen that prospects who spoke to me 6 months ago, came to me later and became a customer. So, when you have done your best, nature takes care of the rest.

6. Write down your vision and mission statements

- My mission statement as you would see on my LinkedIn profile - "On a mission to help million people with their health and wellness needs". For now, that's the mission. Until I reach there, I will just continue to work. As far as vision, it is to provide best of the health and wellness products and services to individuals across the globe.

7. Anything you do for the Long term brings more meaning to your life

- Doing something for the long term, helps you not do anything stupid or things that are not aligned with your aspirations and values as I understood. How? Many asked me to start a YouTube channel when I started my entrepreneurial dreams. I am still convinced that I am fine starting it a bit late. The core message is that one needs to understand what it takes to create content consistently which I understood only lately. So, unless I am convinced about how I am doing to do something, I do not start. But when I start, I would not stop.

- There are two ways to look at YouTube channels. One is to make earning out of it but for that, you need to create a lot more content and it would be a demanding affair (especially given my focus areas). My vision is that my YouTube channel will act more as a marketing wing for my services and will act as a funnel per se!

8. When you live your vision, you will never get bored with what you do

- In these last two years, I may have needed more hours or more energy on several days, but I never felt bored with what I am doing now. I look forward to each and every day without a tiny bit of boredom.

9. We should choose our battles and be wise and firm as we do that

- I chose to be an entrepreneur. Even I never thought I would work like this (not talking about too many hours, but how I think about my work and how I am changing as an individual vs. how I used to be in my full-time job). There is more thriving, there is more skin in the game, and much more as I am discovering.

10. Your finance knowledge plays a vital role in becoming a freelancer or an entrepreneur

- There is no regular cash flow like a salary. While having a good corpus is a good option, that's not the only way to do it. You should be out of all your loans. You should have a clear understanding of your needs and wants as you spend. Initial two years, you cannot expect to earn a lot but that will lay a great foundation for what you would do in a long time to come. So, those who have the appetite to lead their lives with limited income, are going to win the game eventually.

As far as 2023, here is my rough plan.

1. Write and publish two more books which I started writing in 2022.

2. Launch my YouTube channel. Create more reels for all SM platforms. The purpose is not only to gain customers or earn, the focus is to educate people through these platforms which I am already doing.

3. Build online courses for my products and services

4. Launch my email marketing with a weekly newsletter

5. Continue being a content creator and posting on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

I did not start being an entrepreneur to earn more and create wealth. Even when I was in a full-time job, I never worked for money. I always seek meaning in what I did. Money was always a byproduct. It will stay that way.

My vision is to provide health and wellness for people all my life. And I am hoping nature (or God) shows me the way.

If you found the article insightful, here are my social media handles if you like to follow me.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ganesh-kuduva-health-coach-2903457/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/healthcoach_writer/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ganesh.kuduva

Twitter - https://twitter.com/ganesh_kuduva

vocal.media - https://vocal.media/authors/ganesh-kuduva

Medium.com - https://medium.com/@ganeshkuduva

Stay healthy. Live Long. Live Strong.