QUESTION: When Did You First Feel Like You Were Running a **Real** Business?

@jmisunas, @Jennie11_2, @lynda11_2 - do you have an "aha" moment when things got real for you?

Great question @EmilyCowan. I think it "got real" for me when I received my first referral to someone outside my personal network. Suddenly, I was working with someone I didn't already know, so the onus was on me to meet her professional expectations without the "safety net" of being friends or acquaintances first. Luckily, we worked very well together, and now I count her as both my first official client and my good friend!

I agree, great question.  For me it was when the CPA told me how well I did in my first 6 mos. and told me I should incorporate and take a paycheck.   :)

Wow, @lynda11_2, that's amazing! Did you have any idea you were doing so well in those early months, or did your CPA's recommendation come as a complete surprise?

You've  expressed your appreciation for your accountant before. Is this the same one? (Sounds like a keeper!)

@EmilyCowan:  I knew I was thriving but so scared to quit my full time job.  CPA showed me how I could change my company, create a payroll and a retirement plan and saved me on tax dollars.  He was such a wonderful CPA and sadly passed many years ago.  I still think of him.  

@lynda11_2, it sounds like you were very lucky to have him when you did! Turning a side-hustle into a full-time gig can be terrifying even if you have the numbers to back you up. I'm really glad you got such great advice and guidance early on.

This is a bit of free association, but your story reminds me of the profile @WillowOlder did on Salif Keita, who opened up his own pizza and crepes shop in Harlem: 

"When I first moved to the States, I delivered for Domino’s Pizza. I was thinking about opening my own franchise. My manager at the time, who was a super cool guy, said, 'Salif, if you like following the rules, open a franchise. If you want to be able to do things your way, don’t.' It was great advice, and I decided to open my own restaurant. I wanted to have freedom."

I think I might have to post a new question for Community about "the time you got exactly the right advice at exactly the right moment!"

I love that, @SteveChase! There's nothing better than a vote of confidence from a client who is judging your services on merit alone. Many of us start out doing business with friends and family - which makes total sense - but there's always that niggling suspicion that any positive reviews you receive are coming courtesy of a giant pair of rose-colored glasses.

Did that first referral from a referred client change your perception of your own professional skills or just how you saw your business? When you work for yourself is there ever a difference between those two things?