This week I complete my last copyediting course from the University of California, San Diego, and receive my copyediting certificate. It's a major milestone I've been working toward for a year now, and I'm quite pleased to have reached my goal.
This means it's time to get serious about my business. I've delayed spending significant effort working on editing until I was finished with classes, so as not to overload myself. I no longer have that need. What I need now is work.
And I find myself facing a dilemma. On the one hand, I want to find clients who need me as much as I need them. I want to find good partnerships that benefit both me and the client, in all-encompassing ways. I want to find work that fulfills me on a creative and inspirational level, and that pays well. And I want to be a greatly positive influence on the organization that hires me, helping them achieve goals they couldn't have reached otherwise.
However, like many new entrepreneurs, I want to get started this very moment. The voice inside my head is screaming, "Find work now! Take any job! Get as many clients as you can! Prune your business later!"
It may not seem that difficult to tune this voice out, but it truly is. The fear of never having enough (enough business, enough money, enough work, enough experience) has a fierce grip on me.
I know I'm not the only one to have felt this. And I know the most successful entrepreneurs have ignored their inner panic voice and waited for the right clients. I know that selecting only clients who fit well with my goals and ideals and for whom I am a good fit is the only business decision that makes sense. I don't want to have to prune later. I want to grow continually.
But wow, is it hard to wait. Patience is clearly not one of my strengths.
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