What I Learned During My First Five Years in Business

⌛  By Kaylin R. Staten ⌛

In March of this year, Hourglass Media turned five. 

Five years of blood, sweat, tears, sleepless nights, wins, losses -- and everything in between. Five years of this crazy ride I started as an official LLC side venture to protect myself as a communicator.

I have grown so much as a person and small business owner in this half of a decade as CEO of a business I started on the floor of my childhood bedroom. I was a single, ambitious, compassionate millennial who moved back home with my parents and decided one night to finally take the risk and apply for a business license. 

And I haven’t looked back since.

To celebrate these five years (well, more like five-and-a-half at this point!) and to share more of my story with you, here are five insights I carry with me from each year of business.

Do your research about business ownership.

I will admit that in my first year of business, I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. While I knew the creative end, especially with regards to writing, public relations, and communications in general, I didn’t know the business side. I knew enough to be dangerous because I grew up with a contractor dad who owns his own business. I saw some of the ins and outs of business ownership, but I literally had zero idea how to manage a company at the beginning. Just a tip of the trade (especially if you’re wanting to start a business in West Virginia) -- you don’t have to pay for an EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the IRS. There are plenty of services that will look legitimate that could convince you to pay them to “file” for you. I fell into this trap when I applied for my own EIN. Thankfully, I was able to dispute it with the bank and get the charge dropped, BUT it was a major learning curve! 

Don’t always listen to what people tell you to do.

I have said this before in previous blog posts and other communications, but I allowed myself to be misguided when I began Hourglass Media. First off, I named it Hourglass Omnimedia, which is still its legal name for tax and business license purposes only. I allowed a former colleague to talk me into the “Omnimedia” portion. At the time, I thought it sounded grandiose and prestigious, and I clearly wanted to make my mark on the public relations industry and the community at large. What I didn’t realize is that most people could not say it or spell it. And it made me feel arrogant, which is not something that Hourglass Media values. I am constantly learning something new, so being “all knowing” with the usage of “omni” was off putting to me. I also listened to what people said I should offer, instead of just following my intuition and heart. The bottom line is this: name your company what you want from the beginning and choose products and services that speak to your business plan and passions. Don’t listen to what others say entirely. Target audiences are vital, and we should listen to them, but also listen to yourself with regards to your company. Someone who has that much of an opinion about your company should be an investor or should just remain on the sidelines. Just saying.

Business is business -- personal issues aside.

One of the most challenging things to learn, especially when you’re at the helm of a communications-based company, is knowing when to be personable versus when to approach an issue with a more business mindset. As a people pleaser, I always tended to say “yes,” even to ridiculous requests and try to give clients the moon when they only asked for a few stars. It’s wonderful to overachieve, yes, but when you do so much for a client and they make a decision to part ways, you could be left feeling resentful. You could think, “But, I thought we were FRIENDS!” I have been so fortunate to have long-lasting client partnerships (and ones that are growing), but I maintain that balance between sharing my personal side but maintaining that strictly business relationship. It’s great to go out to lunch with clients and to send them a gift or card during the holidays, but you cannot take things personally (for the most part). For example, there have been a couple of problematic instances in which clients have breached contracts. Those are not fun conversations, but you can’t avoid conflict and allow emotions to overrule your decisions and ways you do business. Most of the time, it’s not you. It’s just that they may not have the budget anymore, may feel upset about something that they never addressed, or another reason behind a bad business move. Just try your best to handle it without taking it too personally.

Find your true focuses.

This goes hand in hand with not really listening to what others want you to do. It’s great to seek out advice and to gauge opinions, but when it comes to your products and services, less is more. Start out with one to three niches and scale when you reach a certain point in your business. For example, that could be when you decide to hire your first employee, offer your first product, or decide to go in a new direction with your mission. Make intentional decisions that will improve your company and not detract from it. I will admit, I had a laundry list of services at the beginning. I tried to do everything, and essentially, that made me not as efficient as I could have been right out of the gate. So, about halfway through my stint at Hourglass Media CEO, I decided to focus on these three facets: public relations, writing, and education. I do offer some photography and several off-shoots from PR and communications, but I decided to hone in on my strengths and the company’s vision and mission. That led to a new-and-improved aesthetic, brand voice, and services and products I could really be proud of.

Be prepared to pivot. 

I don’t need to tell you this, but 2020 has been the Year of Pivoting. Like you, I had high hopes for a new version of The Roaring Twenties, complete with a fresh business and communications plan with goals and objectives that would go around the Earth at least twenty times. I choose the word “Renaissance” for 2020, after 2019’s Year of Recalibration. I was finally ready to implement so much of what I had wanted to do since the inception of this beautiful little dream, and then -- the COVID-19 pandemic knocked the world on its ear. As a perfectionistic master planner, this was a bit challenging at first. I found myself in crisis communications mode for my clients and had to change business plans without ever imagining I would have to do so. The racial injustice movement also ignited communications changes on all fronts regarding diversity and inclusion. We can’t predict what we will collectively face as a world or what we will deal with on a more individual level. All we can do is pivot and do the best we can to do our due diligence with everyone we serve -- and do better to understand others’ narratives. 

Kaylin R. Staten, APR, is an award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner and writer based in Huntington, WV with 18 years of professional communications experience. As CEO and founder of Hourglass Media, she uses her compassionate spirit and expertise to delve into the heart of clients’ stories. She is a recovering perfectionist, mental health advocate, wife, Luke’s mom, cat mom, and Leia Organa aficionado. Connect with Kaylin on LinkedIn.