Starting a new business is a bit like jumping off a cliff and building your wings on the way down, equal parts terrifying and exhilarating, with a not-so-small chance of hitting some rocks on the way(or many many rocks...).
Welcome to entrepreneurship in the ICT space: where the coffee is strong, the days are long, and your best ideas often come to you in the shower, on a walk, or precisely five minutes before a client meeting you are still grinding away to prepare for.
For many founders - especially those coming from corporate or technical backgrounds, the first few weeks of running your own business feel like freedom. No more red tape. No more micromanagement. Just you, your vision, and a stack of invoices you haven’t figured out how to automate yet. (Although since automation is kind of our thing, we are happy to say we nailed that one right off the bat.)
But then reality sets in.
The CRM you can afford doesn’t integrate and the one that can may require the sacrifice of your first born. Your perfect website crashes on launch day. You spend six hours comparing SaaS billing tools before realising you’ve blown your daily productivity budget on decision fatigue.
You accidentally state Tax Invoice instead of Invoice (while your VAT number is pending), the banking app doesn't show your linked account and now that they have fixed that - you cant see any of your personal accounts, you almost double-pay a supplier and realise that you undercharged your first client.
You are now an expert in all things privacy policy and wonder if anyone else is winging it as much as you are.They are. Trust us.
Then the Tech Trap
In the ICT world, we’re often so comfortable configuring client systems that we forget to build our own internal architecture.
That’s the irony: technical founders often suffer most from digital disorganisation. They think - “I’ll sort out proper systems once I’ve got some cash flow.” But digital debt accrues faster than VAT, and before you know it, you’ve got 17 tools doing 3 jobs badly and none of them are documented.
Spoiler: Even the best consultants don’t make good internal clients.
Shortly followed up by - The Emotional Whiplash
There are days when you’ll feel unstoppable, when your first client pays on time, when your proposal lands, when you solve a massive problem in ten minutes flat and think, “Why didn’t I do this years ago?”
Then there are days when you’ll want to shut it all down and apply for the most boring, stable job you can find. (You won’t. You’ll rage-Walk, eat something, and get back to it.)
This is normal. The highs are higher, the lows are lower, and somewhere in the middle is a growing sense that you’re building something that actually matters , not just to your clients, but to you.
But you keep on keeping on and then hit - The Turning Point
At some point, usually after your first real system audit, or when you stop reinventing the wheel for every new client, things start to click.
- Your offerings become sharper.
- Your proposals become shorter (and land faster).
- Your internal tools are finally tailored to how you actually work.
- You stop chasing “scale” and start defining “fit.”
This is where many first-time founders realise that the real win isn’t growth at any cost - it’s clarity, capability, and control.
Our Takeaway (and a Bit of Tough Love)
- Don’t romanticise the grind. Success isn’t built on burnout, it’s built on resilience, smart systems and even smarter boundaries.
- Your business deserves the same professionalism you deliver to your clients. Build the backend like you’d build it for a paying customer.
- Revenue is great. Profit is better. Sanity is priceless.
If you’re a startup founder or a solo consultant trying to scale sustainably, take a step back this week and ask: Is my business operating like a business - or like a permanent proof-of-concept?
Need help turning chaos into clarity?
At ICT Broker, we know the tools, frameworks, and vendors that actually work, not the ones that look flashy on a landing page. Whether you’re starting out or scaling up, we can help you define your ecosystem, avoid digital debt, and finally run your business like you run your best client accounts: structured, supported, and future-proof.
Ready to stop bootstrapping in circles? Let’s talk.
Contact ICT Broker info@ictbroker.co.za
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