August last year my business partner (Sarah, my sister) and I begun hand balling around ideas about potentially opening up a shop in our small coastal home town of Robe, South Australia. Our startup original clothing brand Salubrious Apparel had just been coasting along as a side hustle but feedback had been very positive and we thought it was time we reached a wider market.
So when the opportunity came up to take out a lease on a small shop back in Robe, we thought fuck it why not! Well actually we thought of plenty of reasons why not too. Will people buy our stuff? What if it fails? Are we kidding ourselves that we could run our own store front? All these doubts were stemming from one fact; it was all an unknown. Unfamiliar to us and frankly like so many we were scared to fail. Perhaps it is this one underlying factor that prevents so many people pursuing certain things in life. Whether that be love, a true passion or in our case a business venture. People stick to what’s familiar and although I reckon nearly everyone has these desires to chase their dreams, only a few have the opportunity and drive to make it happen. So if you can, I say go for it.
Committing to the shop was like releasing the shackles, there was no backing out now and it was up to us to make it work. We had an opening date decided and the reality set in.
Our first major hurdle – the shop fit out and stock was going to take some capital investment to get started. It became clear early on that the banks were not going to join the party so we pooled our life savings, sold all other investments, got a credit card and took the plunge. Sure it was scary but I always believed that the biggest regret I would ever have, is if we didn’t have a crack. Personally what I have learnt and the fulfilment I get when people love our products far outweighs any monetary value, plus if you aren’t going to back your business who is?!
Npw over six months in and I have absolutely no qualms about saying it is the best decision we have ever made! Most of the major doubts and fears have completely gone and it has created a tremendous amount of self confidence throughout all aspects of our life. Plus our business has gone from strength to strength. Failure is one thing but perhaps “fear of failure” is the major instigator in people not giving ideas a start in the first place. So next time the opportunity presents itself no matter what the situation, take it! Start slowly, dip the toes in and go from there; in any case you’ve got so much to gain and in the grand scheme of things very little to lose.
