Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Robyn Orsini, Founder of Lunas Consulting, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Lunas Consulting is a lead generation and consulting agency for early-stage startups all over the world specializing in sustainable revenue growth, helping clients make data-driven decisions, and building transparent relationships. Helping startups is our passion, and our mission is to help startups grow across the globe.

Tell us about yourself

With over 13 years of experience working in business development, I discovered my passion for helping startups while working for non-profit organizations dedicated to fueling ecosystems of entrepreneurs through community support and innovation. Over the years, I've met so many notable startups, which led me to want to dedicate myself to helping them scale and grow. Operating this business for nearly two years now, I've been able to work with so many amazing startups across different industries, all of them trying to achieve something that helps humankind. Knowing that we are able to contribute to their goals keeps me motivated to continuously improve and learn, all to help even more startups all over the world.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

While other startups take about 2+ more years to attain $1M ARR, Lunas was able to scale over 1 million ARR in our first year of business. Although we are still in our first few years of operation, we have been growing exponentially with a growth rate of 75% since launching, and it warms my heart to say that we now have over 40 high-skilled SDRs under our wing.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

As a young company, we often encounter a lot of setbacks and hurdles. In the first few years, no matter how much you know, it can be surprising sometimes when some challenges arise and you cannot face them head-on right away. Still, we believe that it's inevitable, and each setback isn't a failure but rather an opportunity to grow. One of our values is facing difficult facts and dealing with them together. Regardless of whether the challenge we face is big or small, we take pride in the fact that we go through it together and come out the other side as better people and colleagues. At the end of the day, setbacks are part of the process, and it's another avenue for our company to grow and presents an opportunity to improve.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Keep learning - When you start a business, it's often because you have a background in the industry you want to explore or it's something you have profound knowledge in. What can surprise you and sometimes be a setback is you'll be welcomed with so many new concepts that can be intimidating, but my advice is – to keep learning. When you face uncharted territory in your business, read about it, find resources, and ask colleagues. Chances are, the top performers in your industry have gone through the same thing. Even when you're at the very top, there's never a limit to how much you can learn. Take advice, wisdom, and knowledge from your seniors, even fresh graduates. When you learn, you also grow and adapt, and that is one of the most powerful foundations of keeping a business successful.
  2. Don't go through it alone - Sometimes we think we best keep our focus when we isolate ourselves and let our own ideas flow, but when you're faced with hurdles and challenges and everything gets too overwhelming, it's best to get an amazing team with you and take their ideas into account as well. The best ideas and solutions are often made up of cumulative ideas from different people.
  3. Accept failure - It sounds weird at first, but as humans, we're built to think that we have to be afraid of failure and that we have to find a way to avoid it the next time around. However, I believe that one of the building blocks toward success is accepting failure for what it is. The sooner you acknowledge lapses, may it be small or big ones, the sooner you'll be able to pinpoint just what you need to improve and how you can improve it. Like I've mentioned, we're humans; it's innate that we don't do things perfectly the first time around. Accepting failure is the first step; seeing failure as an opportunity to grow can open up many doors for you and your business.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.lunas.consulting/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lunasconsulting/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunasconsulting/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConsultingLunas
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robyn-orsini/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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