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At the end of every year, I do a review of the year and take note of the lessons I’ve learnt. Those lessons used to be private, but in 2020 I decided to share 7 of those lessons and now it is a tradition. You can check out my previous end-of-year reflections (2022, 2021, 2020). And keep on reading to find out the 7 lessons I learnt in 2023.
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7 LESSONS I LEARNT IN 2023
1. I really love live events and they are definitely worth the investment
2023 was the year I really got back out and about to live events. Making the f:Entrepreneur #ialso 100 list and Small Business Satursday #SmallBiz100 list meant I got invited to the House of Lords twice in 2023, as well as getting to attend Small Business Britain’s Blue Tie Ball. In addition to this, I also went to a number of marketing and business events across the UK. These were:
Quantum Shift 2023 – by Suzy Ashworth
Expert Empires – by Nick James
Atomicon 2023 – by Andrew and Pete
Millionaire Girl Next Door – by Rose Radford
UK Black Business Show
The Marketing Meetup (Nottingham edition).
I share my reviews of 5 of those events in this blog post.
However, the one thing that was super evident to me was – making the investment is worthwhile. There is no denying that attending events takes investment, both financially and time-wise. Very often attending an event will mean travelling the day before and after. So I’ll have to take multiple days off work and then buy a ticket, as well as spend money on travel, accommodation and food. But by and large I’ve found it worthwhile.
Whilst I love running an online business there is great power in in-person networking. What I’ve especially enjoyed this year is being able to take what had previously been an online relationship offline.
2. How valuable having a location independent business really is
Even though I have a location independent-business I spend the majority of my time working from my home office. In 2023 I was determined to change that. In the first half of 2023 I worked from abroad a few times. I would concentrate my work to the mornings and then spend my afternoons and evenings enjoying being in a different country. Having the ability to work from abroad meant more time in the sun this year, which I love.
However, the real value came in another way. Lots of people talk about the joy of having a location independent business and being able to work from lovely places, but what about the not-so-lovely places. This side isn’t spoken about as much. In 2023 I ended up working in train stations, hospitals and friend’s spare bedrooms. Having the flexibility to work from anywhere enabled me to be a supportive friend in a way I never would have been able to if I was still in a full-time office job.
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3. Diversification is the hardest growth strategy
From the moment I was introduced to Ansoff’s Matrix I knew, logically, that diversification was the hardest growth strategy, but in 2023 I learnt that lesson first hand.
I launched Shine Online in the summer of 2023. It was a group programme specifically for powerhouse financial professionals and business owner to improve their online marketing and online presence. A new product aimed at a “new” target market. Technically it wasn’t an entirely new target market, but a subset of my usual target market.
I was so excited to deliver this programme, but it ended up being a complete flop. Anyway it was a complete flop. I could blame it on being Summer, not a big enough launch, not enough of the target market in my audience or not enough market research.
But failure is part of business. The key thing is to learn and move on. I knew logically diversification was the hardest growth strategy and now I’ve learnt the lesson first-hand hopefully I will remember.
You can find out more about the 4 business growth strategies here.
4. It’s ok to be vulnerable and ask for help
In the latter half of 2023 I really struggled with loneliness. I’m an extrovert and as shared earlier in this post I’m so grateful to have an independent location business where I can work from anywhere, because my clients are all online. However, the major downside of that is how much time I spend alone.
In October, alongside the release of Britney Spears memoir, I decided to open up about my loneliness and see how others had dealt with that. The response was more than I could have ever imagined. I got lots of ideas of things to try and even got a new co-working business bestie out of it. That never would have happened if I kept everything bottled up inside.
5. Impact comes in all shapes and sizes
Naturally I’m someone who prefers working one-to-one or in intimate groups. I love to dig deep and give tailored advice. Until this year I really did value impact that was deep higher than impact that was surface level. Given a choice of working with 10 mentoring clients across a year or selling 1,000 courses I’d absolutely choose the 10 mentoring clients.
But something changed this year. I hosted webinars for f:Entreprenuer, Small Business Britain and Small Business Saturday and responses to those webinars made me realise just how impactful a training could be. And that this format meant I could help many more business owners than I ever could working one-to-one or with small groups.
Now I’m not about to change my whole business model, but I definitely plan on delivering more trainings and workshops, especially through other businesses, in the future.
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6. The online business world is a massive echo chamber
As an marketing strategist and online business mentor I ended up in an online echo chamber. It felt like everyone I spoke to was a marketer, mentor or coach. But this year I burst out of that echo chamber.
Through networking, attending events, winning awards and delivering trainings my sphere of business owners drastically changed this year. And more than anything I realised how many weird and wonderful businesses exist.
This experience has been good for 2 reasons. Firstly, it has been great to realise the industry really isn’t saturated. It is just that I’m fully emerged into it. And then secondly, it’s exciting to realise how many other business opportunities there are out there. I love business and in the future plan to invest in, and who knows maybe even start, more businesses.
So if you feel like everyone is doing the same thing as you – this is a reminder they aren’t. It is just that you are in an echo chamber.
7. Be open to opportunities if they are aligned with your values even if you aren’t making money from them
One of my 2023 highlights was being an author – even though for years I’d said I had no plans to write a book and would only do it if I got to go somewhere beautiful, do lots of research and just have to write.
However, when Amanda Taylor approached me to write a chapter for Inspirational Investing (2023 Edition) I knew I had to say yes. Inspirational Investing is a book about investing that is written by women for women. One of my core values is independence and I’m really passionate about women learning how to make more money and manage their money better. So being part of this book was so aligned with my values.
My chapter is on preparing for later life as a self-employed women and I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing my chapter. Now some people would say to spend time on something that doesn’t directly support my business is stupid. But by writing this book I gained a whole new circle of smart, financially-savvy, woman, as well as having so many great conversations with people who read the book.
The fact is we don’t have to monetise anything and whilst the book might not support my business it absolutely supports my personal brand.
That’s it. You now know the 7 lessons I learnt in 2023.
I hope reading this post inspires you to take a moment to think about what you learnt in 2023 and maybe think about what you’ll do differently in your business in 2024.
I would love to know in the comments below a lesson you learnt in 2023.
TAKE THE LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNT AND MAKE 2024 EVEN BETTER.
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You’ll get the planning support to ensure you have the best plan possible and then the training, support and accountability to implement your plan and achieve your Q1 goals.
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