Redundant (adjective): dismissed from employment because the job or the worker has been deemed no longer necessary*.
Well isn’t that just charming! When the whispers of redundancy started at London Weekend Television before the ITV/Carlton merger I can honestly say my confidence took quite a knock.
With one child under two and another on the way I couldn’t help but ask myself who is going to employ me now? It didn’t take me long to answer…
ME!
I took stock of the situation, and not one to be beaten, I realised I can make an opportunity out of this misfortune. I’ve worked in the events industry since I was 17 years old and have always dreamed of creating ROCK AND RUBY Events Management.
My previous boss at LWT still reminds me to this day that when asked in my interview “where do I want to be in 5 years time?” I replied “running my own events management company”
After discussing the implications of starting up a business with my family and ensuring I had their full support I spent a number of months carrying out market research to decide whether ROCK AND RUBY Event Management would be viable.
Looking at the competition, potential clients, attending conferences, workshops and seminars to learn as much as I could about becoming an entrepreneur.
It was hard, sometimes boring and often confusing but the one thing that kept driving me on was the dream of a future at the centre of a successful event management company.
The research was vital to our initial success. We knew our competition and their strengths and weaknesses, we understood our target audience and having listened to all the advice we made informed decisions to make it all happen.
We have short and long term goals in place and a determination to offer our clients a personal and professional service to develop long term relationships. Our motto: Promise Big, Deliver Bigger!
The website was the key player in our marketing and we needed a site to impress, after much research we found a design company that were not only good at what they do but understood our methodology. With the website in place we needed to get ROCK AND RUBY out there.
We paid for advertising and used Google ad words but we can safely say our referrals predominantly came through a website that only requires a reciprocal link from our own… and this we like!
It’s not easy and I’ve spent many a sleepless night battling the guilt of spending time away from my young family, but I’m reassured by the unwavering support and guidance from family and friends and the knowledge that my children are well looked after, have a happy fulfilled life and have a bright future ahead of them.
Would I do anything differently? No, any mistakes have made me stronger – knowledge and confidence is most definitely power in a start up’s world.
* Encarta English Dictionary
Gemma Stone is the founder of Rock and Ruby - www.rockandruby.com
