The Call That Changed Everything

April 2020. My phone rang. I knew what it was before I picked up.

I was working at Imagine Web Solution in Thamel, building websites for travel and hospitality businesses. Trekking companies. Hotels. Tour operators. The kind of clients who depended entirely on tourists walking through their doors.

Then COVID shut the borders. And the work dried up overnight.

The agency let people go. I was one of them.

The Fork in the Road

For weeks I sat with the same question: what now?

The obvious answer was to update my resume and start applying. I knew Laravel. I knew WordPress. I had years of client experience. Someone would hire me.

But every time I imagined walking into another office, building another website for someone else’s business, helping someone else get richer while I got a salary — it sat wrong.

So I made a decision I couldn’t take back: I would never work for anyone else again.

What “Going Solo” Actually Looked Like

It wasn’t dramatic. No grand launch. No investor pitch. I had a laptop, a severance that wouldn’t last forever, and a lot of uncertainty.

I started by taking small freelance web projects. Then I built FlowDesk because I needed to track my own expenses. Then I stumbled into an opportunity to import hammocks — and Langtang Gear was born.

One thing led to another. Not because I had a master plan, but because I kept saying yes to things that scared me and figuring them out later.

Five years later, I run three things: a hammock brand, a web agency, and a productivity app. No employees. No office. No funding. Just a laptop and a home server.

What I’d Tell Someone in the Same Position

If you’re reading this and you’ve been laid off, or you’re thinking about going solo, here’s the truth nobody tells you:

  • You don’t need a plan. You need a first step. Freelance project. Small product. One customer. The plan emerges as you move.
  • The fear doesn’t go away. It shrinks. Every time you do something you’re not sure you can do, the next thing gets easier.
  • Nepal is not too small. If anything, it’s the opposite. The gaps are everywhere. You just have to see one and fill it.

Getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me. Not because losing a job is good, but because it forced me to bet on myself.

I haven’t looked back.