I had nothing going for me, so I started a business

Pictured above: Harris Williams, Managing Director at Wisp.

Jobless at 23, Harris Williams turned a redundancy payout into a thriving marketing agency. From cold calls to doubling revenue, his journey proves that starting with nothing can lead to extraordinary success. Here’s how he did it – and how you can too.

Picture this.

At 23, I was jobless. My degree in communications and a year as an assistant producer at Sky TV – a role lost to COVID – weren’t enough to land me a dream job.

After countless rejections, I decided that if no one would hire me, I’d create my own opportunity.

I had some copywriting and content production experience and noticed a growing demand for video content marketing. With my redundancy payout, I bought a camera and a drone and immersed myself in free YouTube tutorials on videography, photography, and design. That’s how my first business, Ashe Creative, was born.

But I had no clients, no network, no work. I made countless cold calls daily, pitching my services to businesses.

To be honest, I was terrible at it. I had no idea what I was really selling, how much to charge, or how to communicate my value to potential clients. Three months went by, and I hadn’t earned a cent. I was on the verge of giving up.

Then, just before Christmas, I got a call.

It was from an old mentor who had once given me some work experience while I was at university. He had a major client and needed someone to manage their social media accounts part-time – 20 hours a week. I didn’t hesitate. I said yes.

Two months later, I landed a second client, also 20 hours a week. Suddenly, I was making more money contracting than I had at Sky TV.

For that first year, I worked those two jobs while picking up occasional videography gigs. I got these one-off projects because I never stopped cold calling, and, surprisingly, I started getting quite good at it.

By the end of that first year, I had built a stable income – a solid accomplishment for a now 24-year-old working independently. But I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted to push myself further.

I wanted to keep growing. I expanded my services into marketing. In November 2021, I launched Wisp. I had zero marketing experience, but I was determined to create an excellent service.

I learned on the job, devouring a marketing book every month and outsourcing jobs I won to talented freelancers. I took a financial hit initially, but in my head, I was still in control of the client relationship.

I also saw how those talented freelancers did things in real time – this was better learning than any course could ever offer. Before I knew it, I had the proficiency to offer those same services in-house.

By the end of Wisp’s first year, I turned over enough money to hire my first staff member and purchase much-needed software to improve our service.

In year two, our systems and services became streamlined and distinct, and a second staff member was added to the team. We also doubled our revenue!

And here we are – three years since I officially launched Wisp and four years since going out on my own.

Despite massive challenges this year and big personal changes, Wisp continues to survive and thrive. This wonderful journey of business has developed me both professionally and personally in ways that would never have been possible had I not decided to take a risk.

I had nothing going for me, so I started a business.

And you can too.