We know what it’s like… you want to set up your own business but you aren’t sure if it is the right path to take, or even where to start! So as part of our Fashion Means Business blog series, we caught up with Start Out Steps Founder Anna Margolis at the Graduate School Festival to find out setting up an enterprise.
LCF News: So what we all want to know is, what does it take to launch your own business?
Anna Margolis: It takes a lot of inner confidence to build your own work and also a lot of business action planning. So it’s about the combination between the two of those and finding the right balance. But it’s also about getting very clear about the fact that starting a business is not just a 9 to 5, it’s a lifestyle, so it’s about finding a way to integrate all aspects of what that takes into your every day existence.
LCF News: What do you wish you had known when you were starting out?
AM: Where to find help, where to find support, and what resources were available to me.. And also how much harder it is to do it on your own through the pain and expense of personal experience.
LCF News: How can a graduate make it?
AM: Get to know yourself before you embark on any kind of entrepreneurial endeavour. If you are somebody who wants to work for themselves, get clear on what kind of lifestyle you want to have and then get really clear on who you are and what drives you and what you’re working towards before you even get started.
LCF News: What are three words to live by?
AM: Freedom, integrity and abundance.
LCF News: How did you get to where you are today?
AM: Through pushing boundaries, not following what other people told me, not taking no for an answer and persevering.
LCF News: What were your biggest challenges along the way?
AM: Having faith in myself and my own abilities, and being at odds with the world around me when people think that you’re crazy for doing what you’re doing. I suppose one of the biggest challenges is knowing that it always gets better, whatever you’re going through at that moment in time, the pain only lasts so long and on the other side what you really want is so exponentially better than the pain that you’ve been through.
LCF News: What is your top tip for people looking to start their own business?
AM: Know your ‘why’! If you don’t know why you’re doing something then you could be going down a blind alley. So know exactly why you’re doing what you’re doing, connect to that passion that drives you and that will carry you through everything that you need to do.