Recap 2025: Highs and Lows of Running a Solo Business

2025 marks my third year of freelancing full-time. And what a doozy of a year it was. Not because of anything related to clients or getting work. But because I found out that the end of May that I had a brain tumor. I had surgery to remove it in July. (Doing pretty well now and mostly recovered, though I still have some lingering eye issues.)

That really put a damper on my year. I took two months off from my business to recover from surgery, and about another month of only working at half-capacity. Once I was "back" I was focusing on client work, and my personal writing took a nosedive. I just didn't have the energy.

But in November, I challenged myself to write one blog post per day (something I did a few years ago for the now-defunct NaNoWriMo). I didn't write one blog post per day, but I wrote one every other day. And by the end of November, I felt like I had my writing muscle back!

For the first time since I started freelancing, I felt like I had a lot of regular work. Most of my client work is ad hoc, meaning I bill for the work that clients send me (instead of retainers). I have several clients that have now been with me for more than a year, so I can reasonably depend on them for the same amount of work every month. When I told them that I needed to take time off for surgery, they all told me that work would be waiting for me when I returned.

Here are the highs and lows from a rather tumultuous year.

Lows ⬇️

• Brain Tumor: That was a very unexpected monkey wrench in my year. Most of the plans I had for my business had to be put on hold.
• Canceled Projects: I was about to launch a cohort for the first time — had literally just opened registration — and then had to shut it down due to my diagnosis.
• Lower Income: I had two full months of $0 income. My average monthly income for the months I worked was about the same, but the overall income for the year was lower than in 2024 as a result.
• Reduced Stamina: When I started working again, I was very fatigued. I had to nap frequently and step away from screens. Even when I started feeling "mostly normal" again, I felt like my stamina wasn't what it used to be. I used to be such a "get shit done" person. My energy still feels lower than it used to be.
• Eye Issues: I have double vision, a leftover from the surgery. If I cover one eye (either with semi-opaque over one side of my glasses, or with an eye patch), I can see ok, but it's still not like seeing normally. I'm self-conscious about being on camera.

Highs ⬆️

• Recovery: The outcome of brain surgery is largely unknown in advance. The surgeon gives you a list of potential outcomes, and you hope for the best. Mine was definitely on the "low end" of the bad things that could have happened. I'm grateful for the skill of the neurosurgery team.
• Support: So many people stepped forward to help, from writing guest posts for my blog to offering financial support. I'm truly humbled and thankful for the people in my life.
• Audience: I focused more on Threads, in part because I was posting brain surgery recovery updates. But I seem to have found a groove there. LinkedIn's algorithm has been very unpredictable, so growing a second audience makes me less dependent on a single platform.
• Content: After I'd recovered, I talked a lot about long-term leave as a freelancer. I recorded two podcast episodes, spoke on a panel, and wrote a guest post for the Buffer blog. It's a topic that no one talks about, and I want to help as many people as I can.
• Products: Even without launching my planned cohort, I still managed to launch two new eBooks: The Ultimate Guide to Automation (before surgery) and Preparing for Long-Term Leave (after surgery).

Goals for 2026 🌟

It's really hard to think about goals for next year after such a tumultuous 2025, but here we go...

• Income: I had a goal to increase my income from other sources (Substack, Medium, paid products) in 2025. That didn't happen, but it'll continue to be my goal in 2026.
• Cohort: I still want to launch the cohort I had planned. A lot will depend on my eye. If I'm not comfortable being on camera, I may need to rethink what this looks like.
• Product Marketing: In 2025, I came up with a process to re-promote my existing products. Now I just need to put that plan into action.
• Personal Writing: For years, I've wanted to write a book. I'm more motivated now than ever before to make that happen.

Here's my reflection from last year.

Want to build a life-first business this year?
These reflections will help you determine your priorities.

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