Your Competition is Weaker Than You Think

Freelancing and startups are uncertain, but you have good chances.

When starting out on a journey of building your freelancing career or a business, it is very difficult to see what can happen in the future. If you knew for sure that if you put xyz efforts then you will get certain results, then there is a very high chance that everyone will be motivated enough to do it including you.

If I tell you that I will give you a million dollars if you complete a certain difficult project then you will do it even if it is extremely challenging, because the result is guaranteed. That’s why a lot of people go for government service exams because though the process of clearing the exam is extremely difficult and competitive, there is a guarantee of a stable income and career once that challenge is solved.

The problem with entrepreneurship, freelancing, creator business, or anything that you do as a hustle is that the results are not guaranteed. You might think that the chances of you winning is less in entrepreneurship but it’s actually more because not enough people can handle the uncertainty of freelancing and startups. Your competition is weak. And the chances of winning are low with something “guaranteed” (like Govt. service exams and jobs) because too many people are competing there.

You don't get excited when you buy the lottery ticket. You get excited if you win the lottery. Similarly, when you are putting in some effort, there is no excitement. Only when the efforts yield results, it excites you. But the problem is that many of your efforts will go in vain and that's how entrepreneurship is.

Small Wins & Hope

You have to play the lottery of efforts. Some things will work, some things won't, and some will surprise you. I started my blog DigitalDeepak.com in 2013. I blogged for 4 years about digital marketing with approximately 2-3 posts a month.

By 2016, I had published 120 articles (approx) and I had some highly engaged email subscribers. The first time I got some money from the blog was when someone paid me Rs.500 (less than $10) for a 30-minute consultation. Now 500 is not much, it will hardly feed me for a day but the fact that my project generated some income was something to get excited about.

It was a hope for a future. A future where I can depend on this project and on myself, my skills, and hard work to quit my full-time job and generate money myself. That's why when you are starting out, even if you get a very small win (such as a freelance client paying you 1000 bucks), it is extremely important to change your belief system about what you do.

You need hope and you see a light at the end of the tunnel. If you have to put 4 years of effort into something and the results come at the end, it might be difficult. That's why many people struggle to finish their college degree (especially if they are doing something very tough like medical studies or engineering).

But with freelancing and business, you can start seeing some early results. When a shopkeeper opens his shop, his first transaction for the day is auspicious. He calls it a "Bhoni" transaction. So get your first client, first project, first trickle of income.

Celebrate whatever the amount might be. It's the same as a villager in a draught finally celebrating the first drop of water after a long time. The drop is not going to change his life but it's a sign of the rainfall that is about to come.

Similarly, your first income is a sign of more to come. Focus on putting effort for as long as possible so that you can get your first project. And believe me, everything will change from there.