8 Ways Not To Screw It Up as A New Entrepeneur

I started my company a year ago, not really knowing what to do. This year, I have worked with 21 organizations. I've learned that people are kind and generous.

The first day of February last year was freezing in Baltimore. I packed my two suitcases in an Uber and headed to BWI airport. My two-year fellowship at Johns Hopkins University had concluded as planned. The push to finish everything before the end of January had pushed by boundaries to the extent that that my going-away “party” was on Zoom when I was in bed at home.

I was moving to California where my husband had landed a new job six months before. For the first months we were living in a temporary apartment. I was excited but nervous. Thursday, February 1, was my first day in 19 years without a monthly salary. Being sick while moving did not boost my confidence.

Looking back, during the first two months I was awkward stumbled when introducing myself to people. I did not quite know what I was selling and to whom. My insecurity made me realize how much my professional identity - and let’s face it, my professional self-esteem - had been associated for over a decade with a prestigious title and a large institution. I was not fully prepared to face how much of a shake-up it would be to develop a different answer to the most common conversation started in America:"what do you do." I struggled at cocktail parties, meetings and with friends, making jokes about being a consultant, listing projects, going into lengthy monologues or talking about my past employment. When writing an introduction to a keynote talk, I got stuck on the first sentence:

Tommi Laitio is…?

Image: Edmonton Public Library

During the first year of operation, I did billable work with 21 organizations in 4 countries. Through trial and error, I learned a few things about being an entrepreneur.

1. Remember those who helped you get started.
   Starting something new can be ROUGH. I am eternally grateful to those people and organizations that took a chance on me at a point when it was not even clear what I was selling. They are organizations like Edmonton Public Library, the new National Museum of Architecture and Design in Finland, the City of Helsinki, the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation, The Gambrell Foundation and the Urban Libraries Council. Looking back, my first offers were unclear but these organizations helped me figure things out. The kindness and support I received is pushing me to look for ways I can pass it forward when it comes to choosing subcontractors and partners.
   

2. Craft a good answer to:"What do you do?"
   Being outside traditional institutions, I have experienced how brutal it can feel to be deemed unimportant or, on the other hand, how amazing it feels to be seen. After much practice, my go-to response today is:
   
   "I work on great public spaces, like public libraries and museums and cities."
   
   I am not sure if it is quite there but it seems to spark questions and keep the conversation going. Usually at least one person says:”I LOVE libraries”.

3. Sell a solution.
   In the early days, a friend with a long history in consulting advised me to focus on translating my pitches from “this is who I am” to “how can I can help”. As he said:”It’s one thing that they might like you. But they need to be able to buy something that looks credible on an invoice.” I am learning how the first meetings with a new client follow the rules of great small talk: focus on getting them to talk about themselves and their organizations as much as possible rather than me pitching a ready-made solution to them. Ask follow-up questions and make them feel like the most fascinating people on the planet. Use the socratic method, i.e. repeat back to the potential client what you heard and validate your understanding.
   

4. Ask for help.
   No one has it all figured out. I have learned that many entrepreneurs - as most people.- are generous and willing to help. I've been amazed by how open other entrepreneurs are to give advice, review documents, share templates, invite me to places, save you on a deadline and facilitate connections. Most people do not work with a cut-throat scarcity mindset and are willing to help you, if a) you have done your homework, b) you are open to feedback and c) you recognize their expertise.

5. Outsource what you don't excel at.
   All learning has a cost, if not otherwise, in time. Finding an accountant, lawyer, and bookkeeper has been a game-changer, allowing me to focus on my strengths. like writing, speaking and engagement. The fact that I can scan and upload my receipts in Google Drive folder immediately after a purchase is a lifesaver and actually ensures I do it. I can sleep at night when I have lawyer who check all my contracts.
   

6. Share.
   As a human being but also as a consultant on civic spaces, I have felt that it is important to demonstrate a commitment to public life and discussion. I started this Substack to highlight meaningful work in this area and make those findings accessible to everyone free-of- charge. Writing has also been a great way to start and continue conversations with people and institutions that do great work.
   
   All work does not need to be paid nor does it need to be paid the same rate. Mentoring youth or helping nonprofits figure out their organizational policies is something that gives meaning and motivation. The most important thing is being clear on expectations. I learned from a more experienced colleague a simple question: would this be fee-based work or pro bono? Asking it openly and without judgement has released a lot of tension in quite a few conversations.
   
   Keeping in touch with people and sharing opportunities has been more effective for new business than developing sales materials. For a good ten years, I have followed Adam Grant’s 5-minute rule: if helping someone out by alerting them of an opportunity or sharing a resource takes less than five minutes, you should always do it, immediately, without thinking. As Grant writes, it’s not that every contact leads or should lead to business. By helping others you become a person who others want to succeed. The same principle that worked in government seems to work when running your own company.
   

7. Don’t let systems run you.
   On the subject of generosity, I received a book around Christmas from a client. While its self help cover made me skeptical, I decided to give it a chance (partly because it was from a client). I have since been praising the book to everyone willing to listen.

   

   Oliver Burkeman’s Meditations for Mortals is a brilliant take on accepting limits of time, capacity and mortality. The book offers an empathetic but no bullsh*t four-week journey into dealing with your people pleasing tendencies, the absurdity of trying to manage everything in your life, the hurdles you face when trying to change your life at once and learning to settle into the fact that this is it. My favorite ideas from the book is that we nearly always have options, we just have to be ready to face the consequences. In its simplicity, this idea is very liberating.
   
   Burkeman, a former Guardian journalist, writes extensively about rules. As people we have a tendency to think that by adopting a new diet, sleeping routine, a time tracking software or a new “every day” rule, we somehow get our lives fully in order and become different people. I relate to Burkeman’s point that these efforts often just accelerate the sense of failing it. Going for “dailyish” versus daily is a far better way to approach transformation.

   
   When thinking about my company and rules, I started by adopting all kinds of performance tracking software - EverNote, Toggl, Airtable, Google Sheets etc. I understand now that tracking time, storing your notes, tracking leads and all that is important. I do it well for those clients that require it and, honestly, do it so much more than in my past for the rest of my work. By doing it more than before, I know more than before about how much time something takes. As Burkeman writes, the rules should help us, they should not run us.
   

8. Get out of the house.
   As a mostly remote worker, making sure I have at least one new experience outside our home per week has kept me energized and inspired. It can be a simple as a bike ride, a coffee with a new person or a museum visit. As someone who works on public spaces, these nearly always lead to a new idea or a photo worth sharing. Framing them as development of new ideas and business has been a way to reduce the guilt from it.

I am still taking baby steps as an entrepreneur. This first year has taught me that it is possible to combine a commitment to civic matters and making a living. It has also helped in understanding that you cannot do it all. But most importantly, it has forced me to redefine who I am in a way that is not dependent from status.