table of funtents

1. 👋🏼 it’s me, hi

2. ❄️ the cold, dark business season

3. 💩 no bs good to knows

4. 🎁 from my ops toolbox

5. 👑 misfit wisdom nuggets

👋🏼 it’s me, hi

HAPPY WEDNESDAY, MISFITS!

Ringing in another week of “quad-emic” here in the UK (s/o to our heroes, the NHS).

Good news: a full week ill meant I smashed through a 500 page book, bought a new one and started Hogwarts Legacy for a second time (iykyk)

Bad news: had plans for future “work Neda” that I can’t delegate, so we’re forced to reschedule them (with myself) #SoloFounderLife

❄️ the cold, dark business season

I’m currently reading Wintering, a book about the fallow times in our lives recommended by one of my fav humans.

While only a few chapters in, the concept of a cold, dark and wintery period is no stranger to founders. Herein lies the inspo for today’s episode.

This time last year, I wanted to bury my head underground and see juuust how far it could go. Despite having what I thought was a valuable and compelling offer, I couldn’t sell diddly-squat to a single soul.

Shit periods will find you when you start out, if not at other points in your operation. It’s inevitable. And, you might hate me for saying this, but:

You WANT them to happen.

You: HOLD UP, Neds - you want me to WANT to not make money from the second I start out? Or all the time? Have you lost your marbles?!

Me: You heard right. Now on the other side, I can say with certainty that winter taught me more than any other season combined.

Today, I’m going to cover 3 reasons why the sales ain’t sales-ing and “everything” sucks, plus no BS top tips for what I’d do differently given what I know now.

Because we can’t stop winter from coming, but we CAN equip ourselves with fuzzy socks, a peppermint hot cocoa and thermal blankets galore 🥰

1. it’s early

When I left Multiverse, I thought I’d have no problem getting clients, let alone small gigs to hold me over. Relationship building is one of my top skills, but I took for granted how much that DOES NOT MATTER without active investment.

Trouble is I’d spent 5+ years working with the same people - 90% of whom were still there - and failed to nurture a network outside of Multiverse. Tbh, I simply couldn’t muster up the mental bandwidth while leading a team of 100+.

This meant I went out to market with VERY little social proof or credibility. Despite building a whole career over the last decade, going solo felt like starting from zero.

Sometimes, it’s just too early. You’re building trust and getting a WHOLE new group of people to buy into you. Like all worthwhile things in life, this simply takes time.

2. micro-incompetencies

There are SO many skills I was forced to develop by not getting clients straight away.

Ask me to take business operations from 6 to 8 figures or a high-performing team from single to triple digits in size, and I’ll be all over it.

But SEO? The MEDDIC framework? Even setting up shop as a sole trader or limited company? These are just some basic examples I knew nothing about.

As I vented about being “bad at everything” to a (very patient, very kind) mentor, she introduced me to the concept of:

Micro-incompetencies: kinda sucking at multiple things simultaneously. Put ‘em all together and you feel like you’re bad at everything, even when you’re not.

It’s unnatural to be good at everything. People pay big bucks to remove pain, but when we’re starting out and cash is tight, we’re forced to get better at many of those things ourselves.

I now see quiet sales seasons as opportunities to get creative, test and even pivot. They enable us to improve upon our micro-incompetencies, of which we will always experience, regardless of the season.

3. your offer is too broad

I’ve banged on about this in previous episodes, but it’s so dang crucial: you simply CANNOT be everything to everyone.

I know it’s tempting to say “I can do that!" to a whole lotta things, but they’re keeping you from doing the actual thing you love and are really good at.

I’ll cover niching your offer in a future episode, but here’s an overview of what to think about if the sales ain’t sales-ing:

• Who’s your ideal client? There’s a difference between “tech startup founder” and “UK-based, female-founded, pre-seed B2B climate tech startup on a mission to reduce carbon emissions.”

• What’s the one thing you can help them with? There’s a difference between “scaling teams” and “building a sustainable org design for 18-month runway once founder comes into seed round.”

Buzzy words, I know the feeling. But remember, they’re ultimately there to get you laser-focused, cut through noise and lead you to your ideal projects. Don’t fear niching.

💩 no bs good to knows

⏰ Get ahead of time

Knowing what I know now, I’d create better boundaries while still employed, nurture existing relationships outside the business and start cultivating new ones via LinkedIn (see ops toolbox below). Keep showing up, staying grounded and building with intention during this period and I promise the fruits of your labour will follow.

💎 Pressure makes diamonds

The gift of time and pressure WILL benefit your processes and ways of working. Even in your darkest hour, try framing business pressure as opportunity, not failure. In my first winter where sales didn’t sales, I went hard on those micro-incompetencies to frontload content, network, learn go-to-market basics and set up operations that future Neda would be thankful for (ps: she is).

😵‍💫 Niching is incredibly uncomfortable

I won’t BS y’all: I’m still too broad (it’s one of my key foci for ‘25). If I could go back, I’d push through the sheer discomfort, silence my FOMO on “a world of opportunities,” do one thing well with a repeatable framework and make that my core offer.

🎁 from my ops toolbox

🧰 In my toolbox: LinkedIn

If you’ve ever wondered whether to start posting what you know on LinkedIn, my answer is always yes.

Pro:

• free marketing and content bank

• practice your voice and writing style

• connect with people you otherwise wouldn’t meet IRL

Con:

• you don’t own the real estate (e.g. an email list)

• long game requiring discipline, consistency and structure

• gotta sift through lots of cringe self-promotion and bad advice

It’s not a quick growth hack (those who advertise as such are lying to you) and there are plenty of people milking the platform for vanity metrics. But the pros outweigh the cons IMO.

Want to know what to expect before diving in? Here’s a No BS account of my LinkedIn data across one year of consistent posting.

👑 misfit wisdom nuggets

✍🏼 Louise Russ, one of the wisest, unapologetic career-building misfits I know and current Senior Engagement Manager at Emeritus writes:

“Two things: fulfilment and connection.

Fulfilment:

Work out what’s important to you and then fiercely guard those things in your life.

It’s unlikely that society’s view of success or happiness will make you happy - it’s not about how much money you earn, fancy titles or huge work responsibilities. Assess whether wanting those is for yourself or for other peoples’ view of you.

With a large salary in a full time role, think about how much of your personal life the company is buying to pay you that much. Find fulfilment outside of work and ensure you’re appreciating those connections e.g. quality time with family should always come above work. Enjoy the journey as nothing is permanent and life can change very quickly.

Making connections: 

Make different levels of connections! It’s likely your biggest opportunities, both personal and in a work context, will come from someone outside your inner circle.

Value networking and making acquaintances, and remember not everyone needs to be a ‘ride or die’ connection in your life.”

📣 HEY MISFIT! If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming issue, email me with your answer to this question and LinkedIn profile. Let’s learn together 🫶🏼

With one week to go before most of us do an annual switch off, I’m sending y’all nothing but good vibes to stay safe, healthy and rested during this festive period 🧿

As always, I’m only ever an email away for questions, comments or thoughts.

Before you go, let me know what you thought of this issue with the pulse check below! Good intent feedback is always welcome ⬇️

xo, Neds