Happy Birthday To Us!

According to the calendar, today is July 2nd, 2019. It’s a Tuesday. Or as you may know it, one of 52 days out of the year in which tacos are to be consumed. But if you have the nagging sense that this particular Tuesday is of some import beyond the mere consumption of Tex-Mex cuisine, you are correct (and as an aside, good on you for being so in touch with your instincts), for today marks Dirigible Studio’s five year anniversary. That’s right, half a decade in the books. Our first of hopefully many quinquennial celebrations. There’s lots to be thankful for and we’re pretty excited to disperse many congratulatory GIFs in the group Slack thread, but that’s not very engaging to those of you reading this.
Dirigible Studio started as a side hustle, a way for Kindra and Sam to apply their web design chops/skills/mastery of marketing mayhem. So, if you’re looking for the right time to start a business or a significant project, the time is now. Do it. There’s never going to be “the perfect time”, so don’t keep your dreams in a holding pattern.
Now, this isn’t permission to be reckless. There are certainly factors that you should take into account before you make any major decision. You know, things like how you’re going to go about the business of living and paying your bills and the sort while going through the process of getting your dream operation off the ground. So, yes, create a checklist of things you have to get in order prior to launching your operation and start knocking them out one by one, but get started now.
#1
Get started. Now.
The Self-made Man is a myth. No one has ever made it on their own. And if they claim otherwise, run away as far and as fast as you can from that person. Preferably with the assistance of a friend! The point is, if you want to succeed, you’re going to need a team to help you achieve your goals. That doesn’t necessarily mean that having employees or a cadre of experts at your disposal correlates to success on a 1:1 basis, but it does mean that developing a reliable network of people who you can count on to help you in a jam, to delegate tasks to, or who can handle a job more efficiently or with greater expertise than you can is vital if you want to grow your business beyond what you can do as a one-person organization. What does your team look like?
#3
You can’t do it alone.
At the risk of repeating motivational poster pablum, take time to celebrate the wins when they occur. This is pretty solid advice, not just in the workplace, but with life in general. Finalized that big project and made a client very happy? That’s a win–go party. Rocked those Q3 sales? Also a win–time to celebrate. It doesn’t have to be a huge accomplishment; be sure to find time to recognize the smaller ones, too. What do we mean by smaller ones? You’ll know them when they come around. Celebrate in proportion to the feat, of course, or you’ll have inadvertently created a confusing hierarchy of priorities. But, you can always sort those issues out later so long as you start celebrating whenever you and your team achieve your goals.
#5
Celebrate the victories, no matter how big or small.
