Social

A Journey Made Easier

Starting your own business is a journey and while I would welcome the opportunity to say I followed the recommended guidelines, read the expert advice and devoured a number of start your own business books, the reality is I didn’t! So what have I learned over the last twelve months? Some days, I would say I’ve learned nothing but thankfully most days I reflect on a twelve month period that has given me so much. This time has challenged and rewarded me, made me more confident but at times made me question myself. The good days have outweighed the bad but whether going through a good or bad day, I’ve always been learning. Here are my three takeaways:

1. Be Flexible

While it is important to have a clear vision of what you want your business to be and what you want your business to achieve, it is just as important to be flexible. I have found that being flexible has allowed the business to take advantage of new opportunities ensuring strong growth and ultimately allow the business, in many respects, shape itself.

2. Seek Advice

Working within the global meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry, I have been fortunate to build up excellent relationships across the globe. When the time came to go from employee to business owner, these relationships have made all the difference. The willingness of people to afford me time and offer advice has been invaluable and made me realise that it is 100% OK to ask for a person’s time and advice. A 30 minute chat over a coffee, a quick telephone call or a leisurely lunch or dinner with industry colleagues has ensured I have stayed on the straight and narrow and been able to face challenges with confidence, be brave and grab opportunities and remain energised by the journey.

3. Choose Partners with Care and Consideration

We can’t do it all and we are not supposed to! When I decided to set up KL Communications, I knew I would have to align myself with the right partners to ensure the start-up phase of the business was successful. This started with Paul Condron of Condron Photography (condronphotography.com). Paul has provided the imagery that features on the website of KL Communications and made me think differently about the role imagery plays in enhancing your business’ personality. While KL Communications focuses on people and businesses, the imagery used on the website references the environment in which the work of KL Communications takes place, reminds me us all that there is always a bigger picture and that opportunities are endless. His influence extends much further than simply the provider of striking imagery and future collaborations in the world of creative communications are imminent. Bringing my ideas together is not an easy task but the team at Allen Creative (allencreative.ie) have been superb partners from the get go. They listened to my ideas, took them away and returned with a brand identity that showed how in tune they are with what I wanted to create with KL Communications. They have been invaluable partners and will remain so for a long time to come. Besides, I don’t know anyone else who has the patience to turn my ideas and thoughts into something so cohesive and tangible! The same can be said of the crew at Green T Digital (greentdigital.com) who have acted like an extension of my own team when working on web development. They simply got it from the beginning and have been able to bring my ideas to life through the website seamlessly.

KL Communications

KL Communications is a Dublin based interaction design studio specialising in branding, communications and sales. With a background in business tourism, Ken Lyons brings a fresh approach to B2B sales. To further expand the agency offering, the collaboration with Paul Condron, Creative Strategist, brings a dynamic approach to how businesses embrace creativity. By adopting a Brand Publishing mindset to communications partnered with a commitment to company culture alignment, KL Communications collaborates with businesses to transform their branding and communications activities.

Ken Lyons

Based on mutual trust and respect, sales representation services grow a partner’s revenue through the provision of a range of sales activities, primarily within the global meetings, incentives, conferences and events industry. Such activity includes direct sales through the organisation and execution of sales missions, participation at industry tradeshows, commitment to relevant industry associations through voluntary work and the organization and execution of client events and familiarization programmes.