5 Life Lessons I've Learned From Starting a Start-up

For the past year or so, I've been playing the game of start-up land, an interesting and bumpy terrain. Writer.ly has taken over my life, but in a good way. Writer.ly is a marketplace that connects writers with editors, book designers, marketers – all the people that a writer might need to get their story into the world.Kelsye, my co-founder and I met in a writing group where we talked about helping other writers find help. Kelsye came up with the idea for the Writer.ly and asked me if I wanted to join. With pure widow impulsiveness I said "yes." That was over a year ago, and lo and behold we have actually built and are running a successful working website.There have been some wonderful highs and some nice bigs dips, as you would expect with any start-up and so I thought it would be interesting to take note of some lessons I've learned along the way. I was struck by how these lesson could really be applied to more than just start-up land, but to life in general.

1. Nothing is insurmountable.

Before Writer.ly, if I'd wanted to do something big, I was usually pretty good at saying to myself "I couldn't possibly do THAT!" And so I didn't. Now, that just seems silly. There's always a way. You just might have to be a little creative to find it.

2. Use the free tools that you have on hand

When we want to add a new service to Writer.ly but don't quite have the resources to do it exactly the way we want, we put it together with tools already at our disposal. It may not be pretty behind the scenes, but it works and gets the job done. Most of the time, you don't need the latest gadgets and software to do what needs to get done. Sometimes, the simplest tool will do.

3. Never underestimate the power of your network

Those random people that you meet and chat with and then forget are, in more cases than not, the people that can introduce you to folks who can help and advise you along the way. Keep them close. Connect on social media or keep a file of names and emails. You never know when those people might come in handy.

4. Ask for help

Never have I been so bold in asking the straight up questions like "Can you introduce us to that person?" Or "What would you do in our situation?" In almost every case, people want to help. Just don't forget to pay it forward when someone comes asking your for help.

5. Be passionate about what you're doing

The fact that Kelsye and I are clearly passionate about Writer.ly and helping our fellow writers shows in everything we do with the company. People feel that passion and it has been the success of our fundraising and marketing efforts.