Five Lessons from Starting a Business
Two years of building and a few days into launching, and we have some reflections.
Hello and happy Sunday,
Our parents are in Vegas for the Super Bowl (jealous), so Savannah and I are holding down the fort at home (aka making Campbell coffee and watching the pups). It’s a cozy Sunday, with Willie Nelson and fresh bacon and German pancakes. We take our Sunday mornings very seriously in this household.
In other news, we launched a business on Wednesday. It doesn’t really even feel like a “launch,” mainly because we have launched Rompy multiple times over the last 8 months. First was going live on Instagram and sending merch out to friends and friends of friends. Next was launching our Rompers community in November. And as of Wednesday, we officially launched our website, complete with our first two products and a Journal with educational content and stories. We were at our grandparents’ farm for the week, including on launch day. No office and no in-person team (excluding supportive grandparents, of course) made for a perfectly anticlimactic “launch.” We made it a goal to celebrate, in some or another, in the next few days. Because while it felt “normal,” in a way, to launch just like that, it’s still a big feat and there is still much to celebrate. So stay tuned for that (hint: it will probably take the form of a baked good).
We have had the idea for Rompy for 3 years, and been working on it “for real” for 2 years. During that time, we have learned, stretched, grown, stressed, and overcome more than we ever thought possible. We kept Rompy a secret from pretty much everyone for the first 1.5 years, so it was a lot of back and forth between Savannah and me. Rompy was created through lots of dinner table dreaming, coffee shop planning, and road trip brainstorming. We worked on branding during class in college, wrote blog posts from our back porch on bright summer days, and took design calls at 8pm on Mondays with our team in Australia. We tried and failed and pivoted and succeeded, time and time again. And while we are still just beginning our business journey, we have learned a few things along the way.
Not making the business personal. When you are pouring your heart and soul into something, it’s easy for that thing to become an integral part of you—like a physical piece of your puzzle. But, we have always been very intentional about viewing the business as its own entity—something with its own world and energy. It is not us—we are simply the ones orchestrating it and bringing it to life. This way, any failure or any win is not reflective of us as individuals.
Use your lack of experience as a strength. One of our business idols Sara Blakely said on a podcast, “If you didn’t know how to do this, how would you do it?” She gave the example of trying to get her brand, Spanx, into Nordstrom and other department stores. While everyone else was going to the tradeshows (because that’s what you’re supposed to do!), hoping to be spotted by buyers, she simply… called the stores. With some tenacity, she was connected to the right people and the rest is history. For us, as 20-somethings with little to no official experience (like Sara was), it’s easy to doubt ourselves and feel like we truly belong in this world. But not knowing how to do something is a strength, because this ensures that you’ll do things differently.
It’s not cool to sell your soul to the business. Entrepreneurship is extremely challenging, don’t get us wrong. But, we have noticed that there is a romanticization of the “hustle culture” surrounding starting your own business. Yes, we work weekends and after class and at night and on vacation, but we’re not sacrificing our quality of life in the name of go, go, go. Pulling all-nighters, having no work/life balance, and not seeing family and friends for months at a time may be romanticized, but it’s not a recipe for longevity and long-term success. If it means that we move at a slower pace, then that’s ok, but at least it’s a sustainable pace.
You have to self-source your motivation and determination. If you’re relying on external validation or support to put the wind in your sails, then your motivation and inspiration will always ebb and flow. People like to show up and support during the wins—whether it’s a good press article, a knock-out event, or any other marker of “success.” And that is ok! But it can feel preeeetty quiet on the down days. That is why it is crucial to self-source the energy, the motivation, the determination, and the joy for your business. This way, you will never be at the whims of others and how they perceive you and your business on that particular day—good or bad.
Don’t let “founder” be your whole identity. We love entrepreneurship—the creation process, the branding, the design, the ideation. It is truly fun for us. But it’s also not the only thing that we love, the only “hobby” (turned career) that we have. We love baking sourdough, doing puzzles, going on mountain hikes, reading, making dinner for our friends, and writing this newsletter for you. Our business is one facet of who we are, but it’s not our everything. You can be more than one thing.
Alright, that’s all we have for you guys today. These are still lessons that we are working on every day, but they have helped light the way for us. Rompy’s future remains to be seen, but no matter what happens, we will have learned and experienced multitudes.
Excited to see where Rompy takes you two! We'll be here cheering you on from the sidelines. Enjoy the journey!
Congratulations on the launch!! 💗💗 Screenshotted #2 so I remind myself of it— such a great point/message :)