From Employee to Entrepreneur: A Journey

The Early Days

I didn’t always dream of having my own company. That dream began around 2017, during the final year of my apprenticeship, shortly after I had shut down my first project: a Discord bot that played music.

In 2018, a year after shutting down my project, another bot owner approached me with an offer to do some software development. I agreed and set everything up properly, registering as a freelancer alongside my main job. Working at my own pace, on projects that interested me, and even getting paid for it felt unreal.

First Taste of Freedom

With this first taste of freedom, 2018 and 2019 flew by. I did more software development for a few bots, but my main job kept me too busy to fully commit to freelance work. Around 2018, I also started an online service for Discord bots, helping developers with settings, image generation, and similar tasks.

The Real Start

At the beginning of 2020, I managed to sell this platform to an American company and even secured a contractor position with them. This marked the real start of my self-employed journey. Alongside my main job, I now worked for them as well.

Through personal connections, I acquired my first local customer for IT support. Slowly but surely, my involvement in self-employment increased, and I decided to reduce my hours at my main job.

Taking the Leap

As the Corona hit, I continued working this way until the end of 2021, when I received an offer for a project in Switzerland. On a whim, I decided to try my luck and actually landed the contract. As this project was going to take around 40 hours a week, I made the decision to leave the company I had been with since the start of my professional career in 2015.

This move resulted in a significant income boost, nearly quadrupling my earnings. However, I made a mistake that still haunts me today:

I adapted my lifestyle too quickly.

Looking back, I should have saved more and spent less, rather than assuming the project would last for years.

Building a Team

In June 2022, I took the next step and hired my first employee to help with marketing and growing the company. From the start, my goal was for her to be as self-sufficient and self-organizing as possible while following the broad goals I set at the company level.

Throughout 2022 and 2023, I acquired more local customers and went on a small hiring spree for marketing, IT, and sales roles. I also hired a developer who applied through a job post on my GitHub. That hire remains the best developer on my team.

Challenges of Growth

With a team of almost 10 people working for me, at least on a part-time basis, new challenges emerged. Ensuring everyone was well-informed and aligned with the company’s direction became a struggle. I aimed for transparency and gave my employees as much freedom as possible, implementing a fully remote work environment without set hours and, where possible, creating self-organizing teams.

My hiring approach was primarily based on the vibe and impression during interviews. While this worked well most of the time, I had to lay off three employees whose results didn’t meet expectations.

Current State and Lessons Learned

Today, we are a team of three marketing employees, one project manager, three developers, and myself as the CEO. Our customer base has grown to five companies, as well as two joint ventures where we co-founded companies with customers.

Key lessons I’ve learned along the way include:

1. Trust is important, but results matter. You need to trust your employees while also maintaining high standards for performance.
2. Focus on asynchronous communication rather than regular syncs and scheduled work hours. Allow employees to work as they see fit.
3. Respond promptly to employee needs. (This is an area where I still struggle due to my high workload.)

In conclusion, my journey from employee to entrepreneur has been challenging but rewarding. By trusting employees, focusing on results, and adapting to remote work, we’ve built a successful and growing company.

The Wild Ride Continues

Starting my own company has been one hell of a rollercoaster. It’s been a crazy mix of stress and fun - sometimes both at the same time! But you know what? I’d hop on this ride again anytime.

We’ve had some close calls, though. Early 2024 almost turned out to be the end of it all. The economy took a nosedive, and we lost the big Swiss project when our customer hit financial troubles and had to cancel. I thought we were done for. Bankruptcy was breathing down our necks, and I was freaking out.

But somehow - and honestly, I’m still not sure how - we pulled through. We didn’t just survive; we actually grew from that mess. Talk about falling up, right?

Thank you for sticking with me through this story. It means a lot.

If you have any feedback or questions, feel free to reach out to me. I am looking forward to your comments.

Wolke