- Mar 1, 2024
- 5 min read
My work life thus far.
Working For Oneself
I didn’t experience a 'blue Monday'. It completely passed me by. Generally, I find Mondays to be a hazy shade of cerulean, not a deep navy.
They're manageable but not exactly thrilling. However, the prospect of the week stretching out before me always seems somewhat daunting. I'm often at a loss about how to fill my time. There are countless things to do, and being the captain of one's own ship should theoretically make navigating easier, but I often find myself lost in Bermuda triangles of procrastination (and that's the end of my sailing metaphors).
I suppose the crux of my problem is that I was never cut out for running a business. My brain doesn’t seem wired for it. My journey into this world was anything but organized. Here’s a brief history:
I once worked at a charity, Kids Company, which shut down overnight in 2015. It was a terrible period, and though my experience was less severe than what the people we were helping and my colleagues went through, it still hit me hard at 27. I bounced around a few jobs before landing a position at House & Garden on the decoration team, assisting with shoots and admin. A few months in, sensing impending cuts at Conde Nast, I thought it wise to have a fallback plan. Thus, in 2016, I started Tat London.
So, my knowledge about running a business was oh so limited. I also hate reading any sort of formal documents. Really, emails, in general, disturb me. So I just went head-first without thinking about any of those things that people tell you to do. This, coupled with my deadly fear of people thinking I am stupid (which I believe comes from being dyslexic). Manifests itself by not asking questions. Get an accountant? No, why would I do that? I will file my own tax return and make an £8,000 mistake (2019). Set up a Ltd company without realising I had? Oh, but of course. Then, on the morning after my wedding, I get a letter telling me the company is about to be struck off. A costly and timely mistake that I spent the first week of our honeymoon rectifying.
These were the worst two things that happened. Both were extraordinarily hard to untangle, and the last one cleared the Tat bank account in one fell swoop. But they sadly aren’t the last hair-pulling moments I’ve had. Every week seems to offer up another challenge that wacks me around the head like a cartoon frying pan. When people in the industry ask me with charming interest, ‘So what’s next for Tat?’, a question that is only second to ‘Are you thinking of having children?’. I stare back at them and say through a grimace, ‘Staying above water.’
When I left my job at House & Garden, I went to a party where I bumped into Sarah Watson, the founder of one of the great companies, Balineum. I told her with abandon that I had left and was going it alone. She looked at me and said, ‘It’s hell’. I remember thinking, fuck. If someone like Sarah finds it hellish, it doesn’t spell sunshine and roses for old CP.
Despite all this, it's been an extraordinary journey. It's pushed me to work harder than I ever thought possible. For someone who spent most of their academic life hoping to go unnoticed, who knew they weren’t a complete dunderhead but couldn’t find a way to show it, seeing Tat start to gain recognition and appreciation has been incredibly rewarding.
If you're considering making a similar move, or have already done so, here are a few more tips, pros, and cons. Feel free to add your own experiences and advice in the comments below (for a friend, you see) -
Days off - these are far easier to take, but on the flip side, you never really are switched off. There is always something; since I left House & Garden, I have had more days out of the office, but I can’t think of one holiday where I didn’t have to work. For me, that seems like a fair trade, but I can’t deny my love for Christmas, where everyone in the interior industry seems to switch off - a true Christmas miracle.
Freedom - As hinted above, my freedom is by far the biggest positive of working for myself. Last week, I was able to catch the Frans Hals exhibition at the National Gallery before it closed, an extraordinary bonus for working on one’s own.
Ideas - Any idea (within financial reason) I have can be acted on immediately. That being said, the idea well is running extraordinarily dry at the minute, so I am hoping burst of inspiration in the near future…
Partner - One of my great regrets is not having a partner at Tat. I see two-man companies all the time and think to myself, what a delight that would be. To have someone to share the load and help keep us on track, help promote the company, and listen to my endless pontificating would be a joy. This fictional partner sounds remarkably understanding and patient. They would have to be.
Future - I have never done a five-year plan. I have no idea what it would consist of - apart from writing ‘Sell More Tat’ on a piece of paper. But those of my friends who did start their companies in a more businesslike manner have certainly benefitted from the structure and objectives.
Accountant - Get one; seek out an accountant at the beginning, even if it’s only to get their advice on what to do when setting up.
Competitors - I have heard so many times that so and so copied so and so. Invariably, there is a hell of a lot of copying or ‘inspiration,’ as some people so paletably name it. Try not to be too weighted down by it; I used to see people pop up and think, ‘Wow, that looks awfully like Tat’, but now I just bypass it. As mentioned before, the zeitgeist is a tricky fellow, and we can all be brought to the same idea around the same time. But as a wise person once told me, ‘Navigate by stars, not by the other ships around you’ I think of this often.
Friends - If you can find some people in the industry who are also working on their own, it makes the whole thing a hell of a lot better. I went for a walk the other day with an interior designer and friend. We talked about VAT and growth. These two things are deadly dull but, for us, fascinating.
Feast or famine - Tat’s fortunes change on a daily basis. Having a month or two’s operating costs in the bank is a good idea. It's not one that I have adhered to, but it's a good one nonetheless.
Debts - Pay them, pay them straight away. Any bill that lands on my desk gets paid immediately. They never go away if ignored, always face it head on, and as a family friend once said, ‘Make that call’. In my head, this is said in the accent of a 1960s New York reporter and refers to doing that thing you so don’t want to do.
Instagram - It’s an excellent tool, but it's important to explore other marketing avenues. Instagram has been immensely beneficial for Tat, yet we've diversified with a newsletter and a substack for good reason. Relying solely on Instagram, where algorithms dictate your visibility, is risky. As Instagram evolves, seemingly aspiring to emulate TikTok, it's wise to invest energy in varied marketing strategies. Nonetheless, make use of Instagram. It's a free platform with enormous potential for capturing customer attention. Be sure to follow interior journalists, bloggers, and influencers to increase your visibility. While it may seem obvious, I am always surprised when people don’t do it.
For the moment, that's all I can recall. However, I'm certain there will be plenty more cartoon frying pan moments to bring me back down to earth whenever I start feeling like things are going smoothly.
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