Hey, I am back – sorry it’s been a while!
With it soon to be 18months that Alice Molloy Interiors has been established, I thought it would be a nice blog post.
*A Christmas blog will be coming in December, I am one of (it seems a very few) people who don’t start Christmas until 1st of December has passed*
Well I have to say, what a whirlwind setting up your own company is. I have, or I guess was, one of these people who always said “no I will never own/run my own company” and was very happy plodding along working within a small development company. I was living & working the dream! Working on developments that were worth millions and working internationally, thinking that I would be with the same company for the majority of my working life, that was until I got made redundant! I tried to work within bigger companies but they weren’t for me and felt like I was one of many hampsters spinning the wheel for the big boss.
I reached out to some investors/developers I knew from my old job and a few weeks later I had a offer to work freelance on a development, and Alice Molloy Interiors was established.
I know how to do the design part in my sleep but setting up a business or even running a business is a totally different ball game. You have to do everything and be everyone, book keeping, social media, networking, marketing, client relations, along with the design work. It was a constant juggling act. Move forward six months and I had agreed my second full house renovation in Chelsea (still an on-going project.) I did expect growth may be flat for the first nine months or so. I had been getting smaller jobs but not the full house projects I was hoping for. It’s gonna be okay I would keep telling myself. Almost every company has experienced this: Airbnb had to sell cereal in-between, Slack failed as a gaming company first, Tesla sold only 147 cars after 6 years!
Fast forward to 18 months, I have done my first end of year tax return, had five design proposals out to potential new clients within the last week, been shortlisted for Best Bedroom Design 2019 from HSA (Home Staging Association), met and made some amazing new friends/contacts and thinking of setting up a side design business. Of course it hasn’t been all plain sailing and had stressful times as well, I have had to walk away from a job I won and lose the money, I have had to deal with difficult clients and situations which I have never been in before. If you don’t fail or make mistakes then you can’t pick yourself up and try again/learn from them to better yourself.
Finally, I have realised that this is one of the most exciting phases: building the company from scratch. Figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Building things that haven’t existed. Creating interiors that will bring happiness to my clients! I have made it to 18 months and things are only going to get stronger!
Until next time (which will be soon, for the Christmas post),
Alice Molloy Interiors
xxx