Rewired, One Month In: Turns Out, Running a Business Is Hard

So, Rewired has been officially live for a little while now. The website exists (kinda). The LinkedIn posts happen. I’ve even had conversations with actual humans about what I do. Progress!

But let’s be honest—starting a business is a rollercoaster. One minute, you’re buzzing with ideas, feeling like an unstoppable force of nature. The next, you’re staring blankly at your laptop, wondering if you should just pivot to selling artisan sourdough instead.

Things I’ve Learned So Far:

1. Nobody tells you how much time you’ll spend on admin.
   I knew running a business meant dealing with logistics, but I naively assumed most of my time would be spent, you know, actually doing the work. Instead, I seem to be in an ongoing battle with invoices, contracts, and why-does-this-email-signature-look-weird-on-mobile problems.

2. Networking is basically just professional speed dating.
   Apparently, when you start a business, you’re supposed to “put yourself out there” and “build your network.” Which means I now spend a lot of time in awkward Zoom calls, explaining what Rewired does while hoping I don’t accidentally word-vomit my entire life story.

3. Pricing your own work is a special kind of nightmare.
   Quoting for projects feels like standing in front of a firing squad while whispering, “I hope this number isn’t wildly wrong.” Too high? Too low? Will they laugh me out of the room? (Spoiler: Nobody actually does, but imposter syndrome remains undefeated.)

4. The to-do list never, ever ends.
   Every time I tick something off, three more things appear. Blog to write? Website tweaks? Oh, look, now I need to figure out accounting software because apparently, “just using a spreadsheet” is frowned upon by tax professionals.

The Good Stuff (Because It’s Not All Chaos)

Despite the admin, the awkward networking, and the occasional why did I do this to myself? moments, there have been some brilliant highs. Like seeing the first clients come in. Like having conversations with organisations that genuinely want to make hiring better. Like realising that—flawed as the process may be—this is exactly the work I want to be doing.

So what’s next?

More deep dives into hiring myths, more fighting the good fight against bad recruitment practices, and probably more late-night Googling of things I should already know.

Oh, and if you’re also out there trying to build something from scratch—solidarity. It’s messy, exhausting, and occasionally ridiculous. But at the end of the day, it’s pretty damn worth it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go consult my business partner, ChatGPT—who, at this point, is basically my only coworker.