I started my business in July 2018 but 2019 was my first full calendar year. As we enter a new year and decade – 2020 – I thought it would be nice to look back and share some of my – 2019 year in review – experiences.

Met my revenue goal

That’s definitely the biggest thing I’m proud of. I’m not comfortable sharing specifics but my goal was very conservative and I knew I wasn’t going to be pulling in 6 figures right off the bat. I knew what my bare minimum was that I needed to make, and I did!

For 2020 I have an ambitious, yet plausible, number. I have the capacity and systems in place to take on more clients and I know I can do it. As the little engine that could said: I know I can, I know I can, I know I can.

Invested in education

I’m SUCH a nerd and love to learn to expand my knowledge and understanding. And I will absolutely pay someone for their expertise so they can tell me what to do! Investing in education saved me so much time and energy and allowed me to fast track some of my goals.

I invested in a finance course, to learn how to price my services and run a profitable business. Absolute gamechanger.

I enrolled in a speaking course, to learn how to craft my message and create speaking opportunities for myself.

I created my pricing & services guide with a designed template, saving me time and anxiety in photoshop.

Email templates helped me create custom canned responses. This might seem frivolous but I overthink emails and wanted a copywriter’s experience to get it right.

And I attended my first business conference, where I dove deeper into the finance course and wrote out my 2020 revenue plan.

As you can see, I spent a considerable amount on my own business education. That’s exactly why I’m passionate about sharing my Youtube knowledge in strategy sessions. I KNOW how long it took me to get to this point and how I wished someone could have helped me with my channel…

Received Speaking Opportunities

Early on I recognized speaking as a great way to grow my business and share my expertise. I recorded two podcast episodes, spoke in online course masterclasses and at a Tuesdays Together meeting. What I love about speaking is that you really get to connect with people because they’re already interested in learning about your topic. They’re ready to ask you questions and you get to share whatever it is you’re passionate about.

Grassroots marketing

Word of mouth is still alive and well, friends! All of my clients in 2019 were referrals, either coming from friends who know what I do, or clients who passed along my information. I’m SO THANKFUL for each and every client I got to work with. It goes to show that creating a professional and streamlined client experience is crucial.

That’s my 2019 year in review and a glimpse into how I navigated my first full year in business! What things did you learn from your business in 2019?