Starting a business in 2021
(The rise of the entrepreneurial woman)Back in 2016, right when Han Meets World was in a clumsy ‘finding herself’ place, I wrote this piece about the rise of entrepreneurial men. It was a piece I was excited to put together as a collaboration with company Komodo at the time and the topic seemed a right fit.
It was right back when I was doing paid research around new movement (at the time) “digital nomadism” and beginning to discover the new faces of businesses. Young people who didn’t need years of experience to call themselves a founder, thanks to the internet. Plus, to be completely transparent, I actually only really liked some of the guys pieces from that shop anyway (soz).
It feels so strange though, looking back at it now, and not thinking to ever really do a follow up piece back then for women. Considering this was largely the time of the “Girl Boss”/”Boss Babe” movement (which now make me want to vom in my mouth at the idea of). Because now, we’re very much at a place where we’re just “bosses” or “entrepreneurs” or “business owners” or whatever it is that we want to call ourselves. For ourselves. Not for anyone else or to be taken more seriously (or asked to be put through to managers).
So for some context, I had already had in mind to begin doing a content series around building brands and projects. I toyed with a series of events, a podcast, blog posts, a book. A way for me to provide the answers that I know I would have liked when I was building projects for other companies, as well as my own personal brand. Which is also why I wrote “Content Creation: Both Sides of the Screen”.
After nearly eight years in and out of the digital space however, I’ve come to realise that sometimes it’s just easier to get the word out there and smooth over the details later. So we’ll see where this series goes.
Now, I don’t need to be the umpteenth person to tell you that 2020 has been a rollercoaster, shaken things up and turned everything on its head. You know that! Out of it, though, I have seen so many people take a chance on that bucket list thing, whether a skill, a trip or a business idea. And so yes, it got me to thinking what people might want to know about it and how, in Han Meets World spirit, I can inspire others to live their dreams.
I’ve been a fan of She Can. She Did. and the wonderful founder Fiona Grayson since her first event in 2018. It was the first event I began to feel comfortable for being me, a woman with some ideas and an interest in building a business without the pink paraphernalia and the nom-inducing slogans. A group of womxn sharing their own experiences of leaving the (what I personally think of as) traditional work life, for reasons similar to my own. And the realities of creating their own reality. They were real life questions with real life answers and relatable experiences and relatable people. So Fi was my absolute first choice for this series, which you can check out below - and find her page here and her Insta here.
What does starting a business in 2021 look like? Should we be looking out for anything in particular? Are there any learnings to be taken from 2020? Which social media platform is the best to get the message out there?
Let us know what you think - and why not take a chance on that idea this year?
Han x
Ps. you can buy my Content Creation: Both Sides of the Screen here and why not check out the Forerunner clothing here.