Anyone else freaking out that 2019 is coming to an end? Seriously, where did this year go? TBH, we’re super excited for 2020. First, it’s a fresh start – nothing like starting the year off with a clean slate. Second, it’s a new decade and that’s just exciting in itself, and third – it’s a time where we can make new goals and reflect on the past year.
Today is our last #mpblog of the year because next Wednesday is Christmas and ya girls ain’t about to be online (or bugging you guys) during that time. So… let’s make it a good one!
We’ve had such an incredible first year in business and so much has happened. When we look back, it’s crazy to think how far we’ve come during mp’s first year and it gets us so excited for what’s to come.
Let’s reflect a little bit…
New friends
This is probably one of our favourite parts of this year! When we started this wild ride, we told each other that we would step outside our comfort zone and try and connect with other likeminded women in this #kwawesome community – and that’s exactly what we did. By doing so, we’ve built so many genuine connections and made some true long-term friendships!
Attended local events
Another ‘outside of our comfort zone’ goal for this year was to attend as many local events as we could and that we did! At one point it felt like we had atleast one a week! It’s also a huge part of how we met so many local likeminded boss babes, and for that – we are grateful! Not only have we become event-attending veterans, but we’ve learned SO much. The amount of learning and takeaways we’ve received from other entrepreneurs and creatives is amazing and it’s definitely guided our business to where we are today.
Literally started a business
Okay not to state the obvious or anything but we literally started a business. We talked about starting this journey for so long and stayed in the planning stage for months before actually launching at the verrryyyyy end of 2018. MP was just a little baby at the beginning of the year and now she’s blossomed into a beautiful brand! We’ve gone through the motions of succeeding and failing, learning business lingo and managing all the accounting craziness. It’s been a learning curve since day 1 but we couldn’t be happier with what we’ve built.
Built a brand
A lot of you may know this story since we get asked often and that’s “where did the name mint & poppy come from” and to give you the Coles notes for those who don’t know – it didn’t really come from anywhere. When we were in planning mode, we tried to think of so many different names and toyed with the idea of incorporating our names, words like marketing or digital or just something that stated the obvious - but it just wasn’t us or our personality. We decided we wanted a name that didn’t really mean anything but sounded cute and fun and that we could build a brand off of. After mixing and matching hundreds of words together – mint & poppy was born! From there, we’ve grown the brand down to our colours, our fonts, our tone of voice, our cohesive theme and our overall presence online. When we meet new people, we can’t tell you how happy it makes us when we introduce ourselves and they say “OH, I’ve seen your brand online, it’s so cute” – that’s exactly what we wanted to create.
Created strong client relationships
One of the values mp preaches is that we love digital marketing and doing the actual work, however, our goal is to educate business owners on the self-serve tools they can use and understand to take their digital marketing to the next level. We want to empower entrepreneurs to manage their platforms with confidence and know that with a bit of strategy and planning in place, they can succeed. From that, we’ve created strong relationships with our clients. Although we primarily have ‘start to finish’ projects versus month to month, we keep in touch with our clients regularly and want them to continue to succeed!
One half of MP went full-time!
Okay, this is crazy! When we started – we always talked about the possibilities of growing the business and taking it full-time, but ultimately we didn’t know when or what that would look like. As of September 2019, one half of mp (@megmarts) took the biz full-time and is learning that side of entrepreneurship now. It’s crazy to think we’ve grown to the point of having the ability to take on work full-time and we can’t wait for the other half of mp (@kate.sonnenberg) to join in the fun.
We’ve grown closer as friends
And last but not least, we can’t NOT talk about each other – that wouldn’t be fun at all. Fun fact for you all, we knew each other for less than a year before we decided to ‘jump in bed together’ aka start a business. Which sounds crazy when you say it out loud, but when you know, you just know. Through this wild ride, not only have we become stronger as individuals but our friendship has grown as well. We recognize each other’s strengths and weaknesses, we’ve become each other’s woo-woman and we’ve created memories that will last forever! Sometimes you just need to listen to your gut and take risks and chances on people, and it will lead you exactly where you are meant to be.
Okay, we could probably keep going but the moral of this reflection is that we are SO happy and excited to see what we’ve accomplished this last year. Although there will always be highs and lows – it’s important to reflect on how far you’ve come and what you’ve accomplished. It’s also important to celebrate those wins – go us!
NOW, 2020 is coming so it’s time to set some goals… we’ve been in planning mode trying to prep for this new decade and we can’t wait to share our exciting ideas with you. But until then, we thought we would give you a little takeaway to set some attainable goals for the new year. Whether you’re a 9 to 5-er, a creative, a side hustler or a full blown serial entrepreneur – goal setting is something you should always make time for.
Here are 5 steps to crafting your 2020 business goals:
Dust off your ‘why’
Take a minute and remember why you started this business in the first place. What was the meaning behind your brand and the empire you are creating – focus on those reasons and bring yourself back to the mentality you had when you were first getting started.
Look back on the year
Often times we are so quick to move on to the new year, we forget to look back on the business to see what went well and what didn’t. Take some time to go through the year and recognize when the business did well and what drove that but also what didn't go well and understand why. Make note of both sides so you can plan for the new year accordingly.
Come up with 3-5 strategic initiatives
Once you understand what went well in your business and what didn’t – it’s time to come up with 3-5 strategic initiatives. These can just be a rough draft but come up with initiatives (big or small) that will ‘move the needle’ and get you where you want to be. Don’t hold back with what you’re thinking or feeling, write it down. You’ll be surprised with yourself to see how it all aligns to the big picture and seeing it all unfold.
Be accountable
Now that you’ve written down a few initiatives for the year, it’s time to create mini goals within those initiatives to get them done. What do you need to do to make your dreams come to life? Write down as much as you want but make sure you cover all the steps you will need to take to complete these goals and with that, who is accountable for making them happen. It’s one thing to write everything down, but if you don’t assign someone (or yourself) to the task at the beginning, odds are – it won’t get done. Hold yourself accountable to its completion and give yourself a visual of what you need to do.
Be open to shifting
As with anything, goals change as you evolve. Don’t be too hard on yourself if something is shifting and changing and a goal you once had, doesn’t align anymore. Be open to creating new goals and adjusting the ones you’ve set out for yourself. Change means growth and the more you grow the more you will succeed. Be open to new comings and opportunities that align with your businesses overall vision.
That’s a wrap for 2019! Thanks for reading about us tooting our own horns and we hope you do the same for yourself, because you deserve your own horn tooting too! We are so grateful for this community, our business and this past year!
We can’t wait to see you all in 2020 and hear about the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Merry Christmas lovelies and Happy New Year!
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