It’s Comms Kick’s third birthday! When I launched Comms Kick, my mission was to show that smaller businesses and in-house teams without PR expertise can still access and benefit from the services of an agency and I think we’ve certainly done that: We've achieved 'blue tick' status on social media for clients and had businesses small and medium feature in titles such as The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, BBC Radio 4, Closer magazine...the list goes on. Most importantly, all of our work has had a positive impact on clients' bottom lines. Here are the top three things I’ve learnt since those early days:
1. Never belittle your business! Down with phrases such as “my little business” or “oh I am just going self-employed”…whether you do end up making great money or continue with a side-hustle for a few years - you’re doing something brave and exciting so be bold in how you describe it! No-one will invest in you if you don’t invest in yourself first and that includes investing in self-belief!
2. Make the work happen, don’t let the work happen to you! If, like me, you’ve spent a good few years as an employee it can take a while to realise YOU are in control of your time. If you’re not used to the autonomy and have the fear of not generating enough income then instead of sticking to your plans and trusting your instinct you simply say “yes” to everything. BUT this is a recipe for burnout! Let’s be honest, a huge number of us start a business to have more control over our time but often we end up working crazy-hours anyway. Learning to take more control is a skill - it might mean tweaking your pricing or re-evaluating your target market but you CAN run a business in harmony with the rest of your life.
3. Don’t panic! If point two is going to happen then they key is not to panic…you’re going to face challenges, a global pandemic might even hit! Focus on what you’ve set out to do and delivering a high-quality product or service and the rest will always fall into place.
THANK YOU for all the support over the last three years, every business birthday I feel extremely grateful to be doing something I love and getting the enquiries I do. I’m all about community not competition so if you have any questions about starting or developing a business please do ask away! Chloe, Founder.