The word entrepreneur has always seemed like such a distant possibility for me—something other people were, but not me. When I came to New York ten years ago to pursue a career in fashion marketing, I took a more traditional route. I slowly (and sometimes painfully) climbed the ladder from an Executive Assistant to a Content Director at companies like Intermix and Harper’s Bazaar. Flash forward to last fall, and I found myself leaving my role at a startup I loved that was sadly shuttering its doors. With some much-needed encouragement from my husband, I knew it was finally time for me to step into being an entrepreneur myself. I wanted to offer the content, marketing, branding, and art direction skills I’ve learned along the way to clients in the fashion and lifestyle spaces. And just like that, a-listed studio, was born.
While I feel like I’m just getting started in my consulting business and have so many big ideas for the future, I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way so far. I talked about this recently when influencer and marketing guru, Christina Galbato, invited me to be on her podcast for women in business (listen to my episode here). Without further ado, here are my entrepreneurial tips for starting your own business, alongside some of my favorite work I’ve created for my clients to date.
1. Just do it
So many of us drag our heels on starting new business ventures for fear of not getting it just right. I was certainly guilty of this, and it took being pushed out of a job to make me really go for it. I wish I would have had the guts to do it sooner, so I want to pass this advice on to you. If you have a really great idea and the experience to back it up, just start executing and don’t worry about perfectionism. As an entrepreneur, doing is your new best friend.
2. Fine-tune your elevator pitch & practice public speaking
I’ve learned over the years that, in business, the most confident voice in the room is often the most heard—even if the ideas they’re sharing aren’t perfect. I really hated public speaking until I had to do it in pitch meetings at a pr and marketing agency. This forced me to become more comfortable speaking in meetings and at events, and it became such an invaluable skill that I still work on honing. Public speaking goes hand-in-hand with being able to succinctly and confidently describe your business—what you offer your clients and why people should want to work with you. If you’re just getting started, write out your elevator pitch and practice it over and over. Always be overly prepared for meetings, and anticipate questions people will ask ahead of time. Practice makes perfect!
3. Get a graphic designer, and develop a look & feel
Hot tip: your business is only as legit as it looks to an outsider. Even if you’re the most qualified person on Earth, a potential client may hesitate to hire you (at least in the marketing space), if you don’t have a website and an Instagram. There are still lots of improvements I need to make to these platforms for a-listed studio, but I worked with a graphic designer right away to develop my logo, color palette and typefaces. I wanted to be consistent with these elements from launch, but didn’t want to dedicate a ton of time and money to developing a website until I had proof of concept that my business could work. I used the logo my graphic designer created and made my own no-frills website using ShowIt for now. This approach is great if you’re trying to launch quickly, and then you can always adjust over time.
4. Build confidence in yourself by achieving the goals you set
I actually had this epiphany recently and wanted to share it here with you all. In your career, confidence is built when you prove to yourself that you can pull off huge projects or achieve large goals that seemed really daunting at the outset. For example, if you take ownership of a campaign at work or kick off a new client project, it often feels really overwhelming as you get going. When the day comes that the big event goes smoothly or the client project delivers the required ROI, you feel amazing about yourself and your work. There’s really no better feeling. Once you do this over and over, in your corporate role or in your entrepreneurial venture, you’ll build more and more trust in yourself—leading you to tackle the next big project. The tip here is to push yourself with what you take on and always believe that you can do it.
5. Lean on your connections, and then return the favor
My most frequently asked question is how I got my first clients. I’m a strong believer in making genuine friendships along the way in your career, because it makes doing your job so much more fun. When I first decided I wanted to set up my own business, I sat down and put together a list of every connection I have made over the last ten years in the fashion and lifestyle spaces. The list ranged from leaders of companies to peers, and then I put together a deck about my new services. I emailed my deck around to let people know that I was offering consulting, and secured my first couple of clients this way. It’s super important to return the favor though, and be a connector in your community. I’m the first person to pass work along to friends when it’s not the right fit for me, or to connect people in my network to each other so that everyone can benefit. Karma is real in business and in life.
6. Consider taxes and expenses when setting your rates
This is really straightforward but worth saying out loud. Make sure you set your rates with taxes and expenses in mind, so you don’t feel underpaid and undervalued at the end of each month. If you don’t get a client because your rates are too high, then that wasn’t the right partnership for your level of experience. Don’t sweat it.
7. Show off your work and what you offer
Once you get your business up and running, don’t be afraid to self-promote. If you don’t do it, who will? Find the platform that makes sense for reaching your target audience, and treat it like a portfolio. Consider it the modern-day version of show & tell, and don’t be shy.
Photos by Michael Isenburg & Bri Elledge