My First Month at Davis Digital

The Honeymoon Phase Meets Reality Check

Thirty-one days ago, I officially launched my business. Thirty-one days of red bull-fueled days and nights, unexpected victories, humbling mistakes, and the kind of learning curve that makes you want to jump off a cliff.

If you’re thinking about starting your own venture or you’re in those early days yourself, this one’s for you. Because while every journey is diffrent, there are some humbling truths about that first month that no business plan can prepare you for.

Here’s the unfiltered reality of month one – the good, the challenging, and everything in between.

The Challenges That Tested My Resolve

The Time Management Illusion

I thought I knew how to manage my time. Turns out, when you’re wearing every hat in the business – from founder to janitor – time becomes this slippery thing that disappears faster than you can blink.

The breakthrough: I found an open source invoice/time management system called invoice ninja, which I then extended the tasks section to be able to handle time counting down and counting up. I found time counting down to a deadline gives me such unbound focus that it was 100% the right call to extend it. Just feels better time counting down than up.

Imposter Syndrome’s Daily Visits

“Who am I to charge for this?” “What if they discover I’m just figuring it out as I go?” These thoughts were daily visitors in week one, unwelcome guests who overstayed their welcome.

The reality check: Every successful business owner I spoke with admitted they felt the same way. The difference? They did it anyway. So I started treating imposter syndrome like a noisy neighbor – acknowledge it, but don’t let it dictate your actions.

The Wins That Kept Me Going

I’ve been working on a lot of personal projects right now, which have really helped keep my skills up and help me develop a few new products.
Tailwind Fluid

I created a new Tailwind v4 plugin that dynamically creates css clamp() values from writing classes such as fluid-text-[14px/16px] what this does is create a clamp scale with a nice ramp that on desktop makes the text size 16px and mobile 14px. I managed to add this to a whole host of other properties which makes a website almost feel like magic as the ramp is calculated for you and without a key it only needs to know pixel size of your heighest and lowest screen size that you support

Branch

Branch is a plugin for Sage 11 and Acorn. When I create a new project using Acorn it doesn’t really have that many commands that help frontend/backend developers so I created a little plugin that helps you create WordPress templates, partials, js, css and a whole lot more to help make the WordPress developer experience more like Laravels and speed up the development process.

Archie Client Relationship Manager

Archie is a CRM for animal groomers that want to start a business with everything under one roof. Payment processing, marketing, SMS features, appointments, calendar scheduling, managing sites and staff. The list goes on.

This project is my “big” project of 2025 that I’m setting a hard date to get a MVP ready by the 31st of October.

Five Lessons That Changed Everything

1. Move fast and ship – Whatever I’m working on I try to get an MVP as fast aspossible.
2. Simplfy you processes – I have a few “logistic” processes that require a lot of leg work (setting up a local site etc) but I’ve spent time to fully automate this which has made accepting and starting new work as smooth as possible.
3. Get out the house – I cannot stress this enough you might like working from home and that’s ok but nothing beats being able to bounce ideas or just talk. Getting out the house does you a world of good!
4. Chip away at the big stuff – This has been my biggest battle my biggest project feels like I’m starting to climb mount everest with the sheer volume of code and stuff I have to test but… breaking jobs into smaller sub tasks is key. Don’t let something simple get in the way of something that could be amazing.
5. There ain’t much time left – The clock that ticks for me is the same clock that ticks for you no matter what, time is passing so get it done.

What Surprised Me Most

With utterly no surprise the hardest thing I’ve expierenced is networking and talking a good game about myself. I know I am a talented developer but it’s being able to speak more than type, that’s what I find the challenge right now and the biggest thing I need to work on.

Looking Ahead: Month Two and Beyond

Right now I’m looking to work on a few new projects my diary is free to take one or two projects just now so I’m looking ideally for some quick projects or someone that has a problem or a website that needs that extra oomph to get it over the line.

If this is you then please get in touch!

To Fellow Entrepreneurs and Future Business Owners

If you’re in your first month, know this: the confusion is normal, the imposter syndrome is real, and the small wins matter more than you think.

If you’re considering making the leap, understand that no amount of planning fully prepares you and that’s okay. The best business education happens when you’re actually in business.

Your first month won’t look like anyone else’s or even mines. Embrace the chaos, celebrate the small victories and remember that every successful business started with someone who was once exactly where you are now.