Attract the Right Humans - Grant Design
Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Aislinn Grant, founder of Grant Design, located in Calgary, AB, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Our bread and butter is branding. Yet, branding isn't just about a logo- and that's why we work to build out the full array of experiences someone can have with a business. We work with businesses run by passionate people. Designing brands is about story-telling, and we love to hear the stories of passionate entrepreneurs ready to make their mark on the world.
Tell us about yourself
I've always been passionate about entrepreneurship, and nothing lights me up more than helping someone launch their dream business. I started teaching myself to design at University. By the time I graduated, I had launched into freelancing and haven't looked back since. I love developing brand identities so much. There's no better feeling than creating something that a business owner resonates with that will give them the confidence to sell, pitch, and launch.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Having a team of incredible humans that are also incredible designers. Working with brilliant, motivated people makes every day feel so accomplished. I feel lucky to work with the people that I do.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Time management. As someone who gets a lot of enjoyment out of my work, it's hard not to want to do a million things. Learning to have boundaries with time, meetings, ideas, and scope is probably my biggest learning curve.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Test your idea before you invest anything into it. Make customer discovery, ask a ton of questions, and have enough flexibility in your idea to pivot if you've discovered an issue.
- Don't seek perfection. You'll never stop tweaking and learning, so once you've validated your idea launch a lean version and gain traction as quickly as possible.
- Don't launch with ALL of your ideas. Launch with one core product and/or service, and get a lot of feedback early on. Learn not to take feedback personally- it's all in service of you and your goals, so learn to love feedback.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I love chatting about starting businesses, and I've recently started a little blog to throw my learnings + lessons down to make the road easier for future freelancers/service providers. https://www.soyouwanttofreelance.com
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.grantdesign.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grantdesignco/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grantdesignco/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.