It’s January 1st, 2012. The day that I decided over six months ago that will be the start of my dream. It has always been a dream of mine to own and run a design firm, and with college graduation just months away, today seemed like the perfect day to kick-start that dream and make it a reality!
I’m eager to share with you over the next several weeks about my trials and tribulations I’ve experienced over the last six months. It has been a long road full of excitement, stress, planning, and work. But I am so glad I stuck through it. I’m sure many other business owners and those in the process of starting a business are going through the same thing, and I can’t wait to share with my potential clients, current clients, friends, and fellow freelancers the road trip to my dreams.
I have been asked many times “how did you come up with the name January Creative?” Well, it didn’t start out with January Creative, or even a month for that matter. I originally started with flowers. Yes, flowers. Probably not the best starting place for a business name, but it did develop into some great business names (one in particular involved “blue orchid”). I was settled on a flower name, but I ran into the issue that most business owners do: the name was already taken. Bummer.
January Creative was a name that I had originally written down because it was the month I was born. That was the last time I thought about the name. Something still resonated with me, though, every time I saw the name “January Creative” and was in the process of coming up with other names. The more I kept thinking about what my business was about, the more January Creative hit home.
I ultimately picked the name January Creative because, like many of you are thinking about now, the month of January is often associated with “new beginnings” and “fresh starts,” as right now is the prime time of year most people are thinking of ways to improve themselves through new resolutions and goals. When clients come to me, they are often starting a new business or in the process of taking their current business to a new level by rebranding themselves.
The primary service I offer is visual identity design, which normally starts with a logo design for a new business or a business that is in the process of rebranding, then extends to other services such as business card design and website design.
Since I just went through that process, it feels like a “new beginning” and a “fresh start” for my business, and I am sure others that come to me feel the same way about their undertakings. Thus, I wanted clients who were having the feelings of new beginnings and fresh starts about their business to feel comforted in knowing that I can help them through the process through visual identity design.
The site went live today, and it is the crown jewel to this journey. Being my main marketing tool, it had to be perfect; so much so, I was thinking about the website way before I nailed down the name for the business! Well, that is just what web designers do.
I’m so eager to finally be living a dream: To own and run my own design firm. It has been a long road, but exciting and a great experience!
I want to thank everyone I have talked to about my business and what I wanted to do over the last several months. Special thanks to those that have helped me the most, including my very supportive boyfriend Steven Lassan, who has been there for every decision and every aspect of this journey since June.
Also want to thank my family for their support, my friends for listening to all of my ideas, my professors for giving me guidance and direction, and to the handful of special freelancers who have helped me when I asked for opinions or advice. Here’s to a great 2012!
