Everyone talks about the big leap. About the courage it takes to leave. About the feeling of freedom.
Nobody talks about the Monday three weeks in, when the calendar is empty and you wonder if you made the right call.
It is not the fear that is hardest
Before I started By M Consulting, I had accounted for the fear. I had prepared myself for the doubt, the uncertainty, the feeling of instability. That was not the hardest part.
The hardest part was the uncertainty about whether I was doing the right things — in the right order. Should I prioritize building visibility or meeting potential clients? Should I invest time in the website or in the network? Should I set prices now or wait until I understand the market better?
None of those questions has an obvious answer. And that is what is difficult — not that it is hard, but that it is uncertain.
The silence is unexpected
In employment, something is always happening. Meetings, messages, colleagues dropping in. The day is filled with other people's needs and other people's pace.
When you start on your own, that structure disappears. And it creates a silence I was not prepared for. It is not a bad silence. But it is a different one. And you need to learn to work in it — without misreading it as nothing happening.
What actually helps
Three things have made the biggest difference during the first months:
1. Structure. Not for anyone else's sake — for my own. Fixed days for different types of work. Time for strategic thinking and time for operational work. Without it, everything merges.
2. Talking to people who have done it. Not to get advice — but to normalize the experience. Most of what you feel when you start on your own, everyone else has felt too.
3. Accepting that it takes time. Not months — years. Building a business with substance and trust is not a sprint. It is a craft that requires patience.
Why I do not regret it
I do not regret it. Not for a second. Not because everything has gone smoothly.
But because for the first time in a long time, I am doing something that is entirely mine. Every assignment I take, every client I meet, every article I write — it is a choice I have made.
That is a freedom nobody can take away. And it weighs more than all the uncertainty.
If you have thoughts, questions, or simply want to talk something through — feel free to get in touch. I am happy to have an initial conversation with no agenda.
Magdalena Hagström Ståhl
By M Consulting AB
Right person. Right place. Everything changes.