According to the Australian Buru of statistics more than 75% of small business fail within the first year, so you could imagine my Husband’s concern when I claimed after 12 years of a good paying, reliable, PAYG job with one of Australia’s largest Banks, that I was ready to leave and give it a crack on my own.
It was 2016, I was on Maternity leave with the second addition to our loud and active family and with the long term goal of getting my Husband out of the workforce, I was ready to open my own Mortgage Brokerage company and start building my own little empire, it’ll be easy… or so I thought.
The first few weeks were easy. We spent days looking at business names, playing with logos, choosing business cards, it was so exciting. As I hit each little milestone I was filled with excitement and anticipation of what’s to come.
The most memorable day in the lead up to opening 360 Mortgage Solutions was without a doubt the day I sent my letter of resignation. In fact the second I hit the send button I considered recalling the message and forgetting everything. I wasn’t concerned about ‘making it’ I’d much rather give something a crack than die wondering what would have been. What I was worried about was leaving the familiar, to go out into the complete unknown.
All it took to regain my confidence was overhearing a phone call between my Husband and his mate. I assumed he was telling them about the new venture, and then I heard “yeah it is a risk, but I have no doubt she’ll kill it”. When I heard that I knew, if we both believed 360 Mortgage Solutions was going to be successful, and nothing was going to stop us.
“yeah it is a risk, but I have no doubt she’ll kill it”
Over the past 12 months I have learnt so much, and not just in the niches of other banks and lenders. I’ve learnt running your own small business isn’t easy, its a challenge and unless you’re constantly learning and evolving for the better it’ll send you crazy!
Some of the small changes I’ve made so far are;
- Using programs like Adobe sign and Canva
- Sending pre-appointment checklist to save my clients time
- Structuring my day to deliver what I promise
- How to use YouTube (that took awhile)
The best part is, I am still learning, my Business is still evolving and will never stop. The next milestone for 360 Mortgage Solutions is to hit year 3 and I know unless I am always evolving that wont happen.
I want to say a massive thank you to all my amazing clients and referral partners, without you all 360 Mortgage Solutions wouldn’t exist, and without you I wouldn’t look forward to working everyday.
I’ve decided running your own small business is similar to having a new baby, it’s all consuming, it’s so exciting, it can be stressful, but most of all it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.