4 realizations from 3 years of being on my own!
Exactly a year ago, I wrote a blog titled, Five things I learnt in the last two years of being an actuarial consultant. As I complete another year of this joyful ride of being on my own, I wish to share 4 key things I realized. Most of these dawned to me fairly recently. Thanks to COVID-19 which shook most of us and forced me to introspect. And this is what I found when I looked inside me!
1. Personal Finance, while most important, is royally ignored!
While I have been dealing with financial instruments and have designed and priced some of them, my personal financial planning was ignored all these years. For example, I didn’t have an answer to the basic questions like
a) When do I intend to become financially independent?
b) How much do I need to accumulate to be “truly” financially independent?
c) Most importantly, how do I get there?
Luckily, my business wasn’t hit by COVID-19 but in the last three years, I did have bouts when revenue dried. This is when you realize that steady income is a myth. Unfortunately, this is also true for those with “steady” jobs! The unfortunate part is, while most of us work for more than 40 hours a week but the real question to ask is,
“How many hours per week do I spend on financial planning so that the money can work for me?”
PS: The fact that I never over-spent and earned at a reasonable rate has ensured I can stay afloat for several years (without earning) but achieving financial independence would require a lot more meticulous approach. I am glad, I have one now!
2. Personal Branding > Professional Qualifications
There have been several instances in my career wherein I was trusted with jobs, for which I didn’t have the core skills. The first and the most important being transition from IT function to actuarial function way back in 2011. As I write this blog, apart from many other things, I am helping a client from retail industry design their “product” (which is essentially an IT platform). Honestly, this feels like going back to my IT days (and I have good memories of those days)!
However, in both these examples, the stakeholders did work with me in an area that aligned with my core skills. But the reason I was entrusted with “wider” and very different roles was that they saw in me a person who could think independently, is keen on learning, who is agile, delivers high-quality stuff and on time, and can communicate well.
PS: I am proud of my professional qualifications and get a lot of attention, business and respect for it. By no means, I intend to undermine the importance of my professional qualifications
3. If you manage to solve a real-life business problem, money follows!
I recently co-founded ProtectMeWell— a comprehensive, scientific, and unbiased insurance need analyzer. When we started working on this, we were not very sure as to how would we monetize it (given several constraints we had put on ourselves because of regulatory and ethical reasons). But when the product was out, everyone who saw it, got excited about it. A potential customer offered to invest in and we now have 3 clear and distinct categories of the potential customers who are willing to pay for it.
In effect, we have 3 sources of revenue and we are already brainstorming on two more! In a few months, protectmewell.com is all set to become profitable! Btw, here is a snippet from the sample report!
PS: We are upgrading the website shortly! Watch out protectmewell.com for the clearer and cleaner version. Also, there is a promotion offer to be launched soon!
4. Mentors are like Google Maps — help you get from Point A to Point B in the most efficient way!
Since the time I can remember, I have had people whom I could go to and get answers to questions that bothered me. In the early days, it was always my dad (and he still continues to guide me). As I progressed in the professional journey, the challenges got more nuanced and specific and hence I took the help of several individuals who had faced (and in most cases had solved the problems) I was facing. And hence, have had and continue to have more than one mentor.
Hence, when Protagion approached me to sign-up as a mentor, I gladly agreed. I have signed-up to help individuals build their personal brands, start on their own and qualify as a professional.
If you need help, click here to chat with me!
PS: If you are wondering why I do not mentor for free, let me just say, someone gifted me the latest Apple Watch a few months ago, and I am yet to unbox it. The iPhone I bought over 3 years ago, continues to serve me even now! And yes, my time has an opportunity cost!
Does this blog sound like a promotional article? Well, it is. In every possible sense of the word. Like as said in my last years, introspection
You might be a genius but it is of little consequence if the world doesn’t know!
