Starting Up our Start-Up

1) Captivate an audience

2) Gather data

3) Launch products

They're not mutually exclusive but they are the 3 steps we find ourselves following to grow our side project into a business. #nomoredayjob

You may be wondering at this point, what exactly our business is...? So do we to an extent. Some days the vision seems clear and some days we wonder if 'business' is even the word at this stage. At this time we're busy distilling our interests into what you see on this website and making things for ourselves that we love and hope other people will too. Our blog is not a sidebar, it is not a marketing vehicle, it is a manifestation of our brand that was birthed and is rooted in conversation.

It is important for us to share the journey. We're not sure where this is going but by keeping a nakedly honest account, we hope we can share knowledge inspire future independent businesses.

We had the idea to team up on a business revolving around surface design prints around a year before we started really planning the business. It then took us around 3 months from planning the business and building a website to really get stuck in with any momentum. Life, work, a global pandemic and more work were the main obstacles.

I will mark our 'start' 2 weeks ago - with the energy we've invested it feels much longer! - and with pride I say we are now up to 21 unique website visitors (I say unique, because if I counted the number of times we hit the site we'd be in the 100s). We have 11 Pinterest followers and CH is doing an amazing job discovering social on instagram on her 1st generation 4-inch iPhone SE tracking at 32 followers.

These are humble numbers, and we know we'll laugh at our excitement 2 years from now. But I think it's worth briefly discussing what we're doing:

• We completed all the SEO steps on our Wix.com website

• We follow accounts we like on social media

• We use hashtags on our posts on social media

• We comment on social posts and website articles

Here's what we're not doing:

• We're not on twitter or facebook - CH and I have never been on these sites and it seemed disingenuous, but when the time is right we're definitely open to meeting a whole new virtual world

• We're not selling anything - in case you're reading this in a year's time and that isn't clear!

• We're not spending any money - we have a small subscription to Wix.com for our website and GoDaddy for the domain. But we're not spending money on advertising or consultants. Yet.

CH and I are not designers, makers or marketers by trade. We have 10+ years of finance and merchandising experience between us but until that comes in handy, we're learning the rest.