We are well and truly gearing up for our first big engagement with our client! Still sounds a little unbelievable - but yet here we are. I will properly announce what our engagement is when we have crossed the last few formal hurdles. For now it suffices to say we are on our way!!! We have problems I never thought we will have at this stage ....
... we sent out 3 offer letters this week ...
... we created our very own consulting templates - years of experience and a healthy dose of common sense to cut through the noise and make it quickly palatable - and I'm proud of what we have created ...
... we have had to scramble to create even more legal paperwork and stick pound notes to them sadly ..
.... we even designed a really nice letterhead (whod' have thunk this is a thing when they spend all their lives working for large corporates 😄 ) We had to take fun and mundane decisions like -
...what laptops do we want to standardise on ...what cadence tools we want to spend on ...what will be our HR policies and code of conduct etc ...what is our security policy ...where will the office space be
..and on ...and on ..
The IMPOSTER SYNDROME has well and truly hit due to the sheer speed of the progress we have seen & I'd be lying if I didnt admit that there are days I don't feel completely overwhelmed and question my sanity at starting this venture.
Wanted to take a minute to talk about this as the philosopher in me tends to rely heavily on what the great men of our times past have had to say in regard to this - the likes of John Steinbeck on the 'art of just showing up every day and taking a step forward' & acknowledging self doubt and having a moment of mindfulness to deal with it. In the end we are all human beings with our complexities and experiences - some positive & some not so much. These words from John Steinbeck's diary published posthomously struck a particular chord during some moments this week- so am sharing them here -
'' My many weaknesses are beginning to show their heads. I simply must get this thing out of my system. I’m not a writer. I’ve been fooling myself and other people. I wish I were. This success will ruin me as sure as hell. It probably won’t last, and that will be all right. I’ll try to go on with work now. Just a stint - every day does it. I keep forgetting this - every day does it''
I'm still 4 weeks away from my fellow co-founder coming out of stealth mode but have now acquired a few extra arms (psychologically anyway) in our first hires & am truly intent on creating a warm and homey and fun and inspiring environment for them at our little startup.
Also ever so grateful for well wishers & friends who have emerged to offer us help in HR/Finance etc etc. It is so hard for a startup like ours to get help quickly from trusted & experienced sources when they need it. You know who you are and thank you!