One thing I’ve become more confident about since becoming a solo entrepreneur, a one-woman business, is learning to not take things personally.
This is especially the case around things like contract negotiations and having those once awkward money conversations. Now those conversations on my side at least are now no longer so awkward.
I try to provide bespoke offerings to clients and think carefully about what I can offer when it comes to the commercial service they want - so from a keynote motivational speech to training to copywriting to coaching to presenting to sorting out their initial digital presence. A wide variety. But then comes the budget dance.
I always make sure I understand the financial situation of the company I’m potentially going to be working with and I always make sure I am clear about what value I’m offering. Sometimes we’re on the same page; sometimes we’re not. But the more experience I’ve gained and especially looking at the bio that I offer, I’ve become more confident about not devaluing myself.
This is my (looong) bio right now:
Dhruti Shah is a multi-award-winning journalist and author. As a freelance creative practitioner, her work encompasses relational dynamics coaching, storytelling consultancy, open-source investigations, training, and public speaking. She has more than 20 years’ experience in storytelling. Starting as a writer in newspapers, she honed her craft during 14 years at the BBC, where she broke digital records with her work. In her freelance chapter she has written nuanced viral conversation-generating pieces for The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Lead, The New Humanitarian, The New Humanist and Fortune Magazine. She's the author of the illustrated award-winning financial literacy guide Bear Markets and Beyond: A Bestiary of Business Terms. She is an advisor for the Museum of Colour, a Clore cultural leader and a Board trustee for the John Schofield Trust charity. In 2024 she was chosen to be one of just 99 members of the UK Young Academy, an interdisciplinary organisation supported by the Royal Society and the British Academy. She is also part of a global collective campaigning for tech giants to make autocorrect more inclusive.
She is a John Schofield Trust Senior Fellow, a Rotary International Peace Fellow and an Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma. She was also the first recipient of the University of Kent's Centre for Journalism honorary journalism practitioner fellowship. She has received scholarships from the International News Media Association, Hoopla Impro, The Radio Academy, and the Association of British Science Writers. She is a two-time judge for the ARIAs (billed as the Oscars of the Audio world). A published poet and short story writer, she is also the creator and host of the Have You Thought About podcast which was shortlisted for the International Women’s Podcast Awards in 2023. She hosts the We TRANSFORM Lives podcast for TRANSFORM (an initiative of Unilever, the UK Foreign Office and EY) and a podcast on pain for the Centre for Human Sciences (Haleon). She was highlighted as a leading voice in the 40 over Forty list in advertising, marketing and media in 2022. Her portfolio is: www.dhrutishah.com
But there are times when potential business clients don’t factor in that level of premium experience or effort or the story behind that story and so think the client service can be offered cheaply or for free (I do have pro-bono sessions but these are generally predesignated and for organisations that certainly can’t afford it). There’s also sometimes a lack of understanding around prep time and effort it takes to ensure the offering is always of value.
Top tip - a speaking gig never means purely turning up for an hour of fun. It means understanding your audience, understanding the brief, being able to stand on your toes, creating a live experience, ensuring you are ready for the event and also the aftermath. Your amount also has to factor in the money you need to set aside for taxes and more remembering that you are a freelancer. It also means the fee needs to include time you’ve already spent on discovery calls and conversations and contributes to the insurances and other elements you have to consider. A writing gig isn’t just words on a page either.
Unfortunately it has meant there are occasions that people will realise the budget they’ve set aside is for an offering I know I can’t meet with everything I bring as it does lead to that devaluing. And with women, and women of colour, historically being underpaid and undervalued, I try super hard with my messaging to keep to that mission of seeking equity. Although it does mean when it’s super quiet and I’m having to hold my nerve extensively, I do look with furrowed brows at my bank balance and the bills that never seem to disappear. In those times I’ll try to remain positive though that things will work out and will try to upskill or be productive and use that energy but I’ll remain content that I tried my hardest and know that if the budget dance didn’t work out, well it’s just business and nothing personal and to stay on good terms with those clients that didn’t work out.
I’ll also in those quiet times keep trying to contribute to society in ways I can and also look for opportunities to get better and develop and work on weaker spots. Sometimes I’m pretty lucky because people genuinely see I’m trying and so will shout me a coffee through my Ko-Fi patron account to help keep the nerves going. Maybe I’d helped them in the past and they wanted to help me in those sorts of times. I am always buoyed by these gestures as it gives me confidence people want to invest in my creativity still even though it’s gone through a rough ride the last few years. I’ve been looking for funding and grants over the past few months especially as I try and move into alternative fields. Did you know as Masters for tuition alone can cost £15,000 nowadays? I found one involving data, environment and science and an interdisciplinary approach which is super practical but it might be that I just can’t take that leap because of the prohibitive cost so I’m trying to figure all my options currently. Maybe I still stay solo - although working alone is a lonely business - as it is just me. Maybe I’ll find an inhouse role that’s supportive and who wants my passion and strategy and is full of nice people. But saying that the other day I got a rection for a role because I was too passionate (?!).
But despite this goal setting, I’ve had quite a few other moments of life lessons recently. I discovered…