We get a steady stream of emails from young designers asking for tips on starting a design firm and it’s always flattering. There are tons of tips and tricks that we’ve learned over our 12 years and most of them are pretty standard fare, things you could learn from most books or magazines. We love to learn new pearls of wisdom. Even the smallest tip can have a huge impact. Here’s one that I came up with.
Patience is one of the best tools in your toolbox when your starting something like a new company. P.R. people will have you believe that everyone just happened upon their success. That achievements are stumbled upon like an unpicked-up dog turd at a park. This is rarely true.
Things take time. Doing things correctly takes time. Getting work, building an audience, creating a reputation, it all takes time. Now, I don’t think I’m a naturally patient person so that’s why I keep citrus trees in my house. Not only do they look great and give fruit, but they are a great clock for life. Let me explain. Every couple days you have to water it. You have to clean, fertilize, and groom it every few months. And maybe, if your lucky, once a year you’ll get fruit. The next year, you’ll get a few more. And so on. Each time a new lime blossom starts to bud it reminds me of all the work I’ve put into that tree to get to that lime. Whenever I’m feeling like things are taking too long to wrap-up or get started at work, I’m reminded to be patient by this little lime tree.

This is a Kaffir Lime tree that I acquired a little over a year ago and it’s already given us a few limes. It’s our third citrus tree. We also have a Meyer lemon and a Key Lime. Man, there’s nothing like cracking open a beer and squeezing a lime into it that you’ve grown. Is a fruit tree a cheesy metaphor for life? Sure. But it works!
I’m pretty sure 2012 is going to be a great year for Brandiose and Clink. We’ve been watering a caring for a lot of trees and they’re about to bud. We can’t wait to share that stuff with you.
Next week we launch another cap! Kick this weekend’s ass everyone!