Hard to believe that Lux Unfiltered is 5 and that I’ve been a business owner for 5 years! On one hand I’ve mostly worked freelance in my adult life so shifting to a brand owner should have been viewed as the next natural step for me, but if someone asked me if I’d want to run my business 10 years ago I’d probably say no! The idea of being THE ONE in charge, everything is riding on you, every decision is your responsibility, the unknown of how much money you’ll have that month, the fear of failure…the list goes ON.
Fast forward to today, and I can say with certainty that very few things have come close to the thrill, excitement, & fulfillment of having my own company. It is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and that’s saying a lot considering I’ve had a pretty charmed life. It’s also not lost on me that the reason my experience of having my own business is so positive is due to the people surrounding it, the community we’ve build, the success we’ve seen, and the recognition our brand has received. It’s truly incredible and I’ll never take that for granted.
Each passing day since launching in 2019 has been a learning experience. Having zero experience on this side of things, I have had to push myself to learn, grow, evolve and get uncomfortable for the sake of business. I will say, if you’re not passionate and hungry about your business it will not make it. I don’t usually make such generalizations, but I know first hand what happens when founders are not “on the ground” running their own business. The integrity and identity of the brand gets lost.
Not a day goes by that I don’t work on the brand. It’s a constant grind that at the end of the day, is fully on your shoulders. You can have the most built out team, but no one can replace YOU. I mean, they can, in form of a CEO, COO, CMO, President etc. but in my opinion, a founder-led brand is different than ones you have no connection to. It requires the personal touches only a founder can provide, and that is why Paul and I have our hands in every single piece of our company.
We are still a very small team, and that is partly because it takes a certain work ethic and mindset to work at a startup. It’s not just a 9-5 job, it’s a hustle, and if you’re not willing to get your hands dirty with an ‘all hands on deck’ mindset in the starting years, chances are you won’t last too long. Finding people to work beside you in this environment can be extremely challenging. Obviously you can’t expect people to work outside of their designated hours, but it’s nice to have a motivated and excited team to support the vision and help you achieve goals as a collective.
Having a proactive approach to things (versus reactive) is also crucial. You need to be able to foresee possible issues and be ready to pivot with a solution in the event it happens. Being pliable is a skill I’ve developed after countless mistakes, delays, and issues. Of course sometimes things are outside of your control, which is the most frustrating part, but knowing how to move forward from setbacks is something you should get very comfortable with as a business owner. This applies to your team as well – a proactive mindset that strategically maps things out versus figuring out Plan B after the fact is key.
Let’s talk about your team. Starting with who to partner with (if you choose to do that), which in my case is Paul. The reason we work is because his strengths complement mine. He’s all business – operations, legal, financial and I’m mostly creative – branding, marketing, product development. There is very little crossover between our skills and what we each bring to the table. I would encourage any creative out there to find a partner you trust to run the business side of things. While I could figure out how to do the books, payroll, fulfillment etc., it would just take time away from what I’m good at. I’m not above outsourcing tasks that are not within my wheelhouse so I can focus on the value I bring to the business. That should essentially be the mindset behind building your team. Find people who are more skilled at something than you so you can free up the time to do what you’re good at.
Lastly, I want to reinforce how important passion is when starting a business. If YOU are not excited about it every single day, then you cannot expect your employees or customers to be excited about it. Not only that, passion is what will propel you forward, what enables you to grow, what keeps you motivated. I want the brand to always feel like ME. My vision, my choices, my passion in every single aspect of this brand.
I could honestly go on for days about this topic. Being a business owner is such a privilege and it brings me immense fulfillment. Thank you to everyone reading who has supported my visions – the blog, my social accounts, Lux Unfiltered, Tan Lines, my collaborations, & so much more! I wouldn’t be here without all of you guys.
XO
Sivan