Hustling Lesson Three

Hustling 103

Making it last !

As the next few years went by, Tshepo was really starting to become the next big designer in South Africa. He was able to fully create his own design agency and was now actually the CEO for a small team of freelance designers!

But it didn’t all come easy for Tshepo, there were a few hiccups along the way. After he hired his first three freelance graphic designers to do the work for him, a big long-term client dropped him for another designer. This cut into the income Tshepo had built up and meant he couldn’t afford to keep all three on, and Tshepo had to make the tough decision of letting two of them go.

Unfortunately, this is one of the hard parts every business owner has to go through and make the right decisions for the growing business in the long term.

Tshepo soon got back on his feet and managed to grow the client base to a point where he could bring the two designers back in to the agency. Every business has ups and downs, and it is down to the owner to make the hard calls and manage as best as possible.

Looking forward ...

As Tshepo grew the business, he has learnt some valuable lessons and now focuses all of his attention on the future and stability of the company.

He and Salma caught up for a coffee date to share their experiences, and Salma was so proud of the effort and growth Tshepo has had.

Tshepo asked for some advice on how to keep a business stable. Salma laughed and said, “That is never a straight forward answer! But, as a boss myself, I always try to focus on the following key areas:

Structure a business budget to both manage and forecast your cash flow at least 6 months in advance.
Create a package for yourself to ensure you manage your personal lifestyle and retirement goals.
Get the right people in place to do what they are good at. Make sure your sales staff are incentivized to grow the business.
Solve for any financial concerns and opportunities you may have with additional investment from other stakeholders and partners to accelerate growth.

Do these and you will have a much easier time of managing your business!”, Said Salma.

So how did it end ?

It has now been 5 years since Tshepo quit his admin job to commit full time to his side hustle, and he has never been happier!

Along with his design agency, Tshepo has also taken on advisory roles for some of the biggest brands in South Africa, he has created an online design academy to help the youth across SA, and even got international companies asking for work from his agency!

Tshepo was doing so well, he wanted to get Salma involved in more community work and local investment opportunities!

So what did we learn?

Let’s recap all of the amazing lessons we learnt with Tshepo …