One evening I sat in one of the oldest buildings at Asbury University. It didn’t have heating, and the lighting was inadequate, but nonetheless, it was my office. And I loved it. At that moment, I was scribbling notes into the margins of my friend’s debut book about the recession. He’d offered me my very first paid editing project, and I was stoked.
That was 2012. Even though I didn’t start running LandonEdit full-time until four years later, I still feel like that was the evening it all began.
In October 2018, I quietly celebrated two years of living entirely on what I make as the sole proprietor at LandonEdit, LLC. I write, I edit, and I love it. Entrepreneurship is not easy. It will force you to learn how to do things you never thought you’d do (like how to handle billing and how to purchase rights to use a photo). It will take all of your time, your energy, your creativity. It will suck you dry. And if you’re the right type of person, you’ll enjoy every minute of it.
Like anything else, running a business has pros and cons.
Pros:
- Working at home in my pajamas whenever I feel like it.
- Working with whomever I want.
- Setting my own hours.
- Traveling when I want.
- I’m a one-woman band.
Cons:
- No paid sick days.
- Setting my own hours.
- If I don’t get clients/projects, I don’t get paid.
- I’m a one-woman band.
Four years after that initial editing night on Asbury’s campus, I now have a home office, a co-worker (my cat), a new website, and an LLC. Do not despise small beginnings. You never know where they might lead.