Becoming an Entrepreneur
Thinking of becoming an entrepreneur but not sure where to even start? Well, you're in luck because our guest today is someone who can shed a lot light on the topic! EnglishTVLive co-founder Lloyd's sister Lauren from LKM Creative is our special guest today.
Lauren Gouws, who resides in South Africa but is originally from the UK, was recently featured on the front cover of Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa. She was featured in an article focussing on fellow young entrepreneurs who had successfully started their own businesses from scratch (to start something from scratch means from nothing) to booming businesses in the span of a few years. In Lauren's case she has managed to quit her job and now works from home as a copywriter. 'Copy' by the way is the word used to describe the text in adverts, on websites and in articles etc. Lauren writes the copy for hundreds of companies all around the world since her talents are in high demand!
Here's Lauren on the cover of December's copy of Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa:
Lauren spends most of her time processing orders on Fivver - a website where you can find freelancers who can help you with a whole manner of things (known as "gigs"). From writing copy as Lauren does, to creating logos or designing websites. In fact, the growth of websites offering such services has led to a huge boom in online freelance work in what has been dubbed (called) the Gig Economy.
Lloyd and Lauren have a casual conversation about her business, her recent wedding, advice for others who would like to start their own business and more.
By the way, if you would Lauren to help with writing copy for your business, you can find her on Fiverr by clicking here!
During this podcast you will encounter many useful idioms and vocabulary, such as those listed below...
Some useful expressions from this episode:
To work "flat out"
If you work flat out that means that you work very hard and almost non-stop all day. Lauren works flat out every day but she prefers that much more than working for a boss in an office!
The base price
The original price for the most basic option. On the website Fiverr, the base price is $5 for the most basic service but as you order more fancy services the price increases more and more.
To get hitched
This is a slang expression meaning "to get married". Lauren got hitched around 3 months ago!
To go without a hitch
Unrelated to the first expression but related in the context, Lauren's wedding fortunately went without a hitch... which means there weren't any problems!
Our challenge for you:
Do you have a dream to run your own business? If so, what kind of business do you dream of creating? Let us know below!
First of all, thank you so much Lloyd Meikle and Lauren for recording such an incredible Podcast episode. Congratulations to Lauren by the way for her marriage. So, I would like to start talking about that this is one of the best episodes I´ve ever listened to it. Definitely, I learned a lot of words, and expressions such as (To work flat out, bring home the bacon, let your hair down, to play singing the bowl, and many others).
Moreover, I should say that I learned a lot about “gig economy” because this is something new for me, and of course “entrepreneurship”, because this is factor that is changing, as Lauren explained –the traditional industry of employment nowadays— Probably we would think that starting our own business seems very easy, but it isn´t as you said, it is very complex at the beginning, so we should think twice before taking that risk, before quitting our job and building our personal brand, so we need to make that transition gradually I believe. By the way, I was thinking about the quantity of 59% of coverage through “fiverr”, so basically what is means is that the fact that it represents more than 114 countries around the world, that´s huge (The World Domination Map). That´s simply Amazing! Congratulations for that Lauren. I think she also has a crazy schedule as she mentioned, but jogging it´s a really good way to exercise, especially, if you work more than 12 hours a day and seven days a week.
Personally, I would like to have my own business in the future, I would like to be a “solopreneur”, but definitely, I will need to learn more about this important topic and from the experts in the field, also more about “startups”. Again, thank you so much for this Podcast episode, and for sharing this phrase by Mandela “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but in rising every time we fall”. It´s pretty motivating. I hope you all have an amazing weekend.
First thank you so much, I start to follow you and I learn how to pronounce words.