What an incredible one and a half years it’s been. Starting a business, falling out with the one I was doing business with, regrouping and then deciding to bring the business to a close.
We think when something ends, or when something wasn’t big-ass successful, it counts as failure. What I am realizing is who you become at the end of it, is far more important.
So, who did I become and what lessons did I learn as I started, sustained and ended my business. This was a digital agency which handled a total of five clients in its short lifespan and two short-duration projects.
-When we started, my partner and I, we didn’t have a portfolio to show, we didn’t even have a presentation or a website. What we had was a desire to help brands be true to themselves. And to bring that to life in creative, interesting ways. The purity of intention matters.
-The approach that helped us win clients was to create and present a sample deck of creatives and the way-ahead thought for the brand as we saw it. We won almost all our clients in this manner.
-The most and I mean most important thing I realise in hindsight is the one you partner with, makes all the difference. If there isn’t an alignment in vision and in priorities, it only spells trouble. The responsibility for choosing the right partner is however yours.
-However far-fetched it may sound; your own healing is the most important asset you bring to the business.
-Learning to keep your emotions in check, maturity of thought, the ability to channel your creative best, not having an agenda (which almost always translates to seeking personal glory) and most importantly having a growth mindset against a fixed mindset (Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset, did me a huge favor by showing me a mirror) are such important must-haves.
-A back-up source of income, or monetary support that keeps you afloat: this is the foundation of starting a business. I had to move back in with my parents: the compromises are worth it, if you enjoy what you do and clients love the value you bring to the table.
-Anxiety will show up. Pain will show up. Hurt will show up. Because you are ultimately dealing with humans. Part of the success of doing business comes from realizing that true success is the lens with which you start approaching life and business.
-The lens of enough-ness, faith, gratitude, appreciation, tolerance, expansion and the slow movement away from blaming, complaining and criticizing is really the success if that’s what one becomes or sustains for longer periods of time.
-To end with: a business is not separate from love. If all the attributes of love (as stated above) are present in the dealings, and inform everything you do: it is a success: not matter the outcome.
P.S: One of our clients simply could not believe that we are
bringing the business to a close and tried to mediate between
my partner and I, so as to not lose us and what we bring. It is these instances that make you realise that it is never about an outcome, or income
but what you build, grow and become
In Musing Mode is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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