RedBud - ONE Year in
A BLOG POST BY RHYS DENNY + CHLOE GRUTCHFIELD
Q: How do you make a year feel like a lifetime, and also an instant?
A: Start your own business!
RedBud is now officially one year old and what an incredible journey it has been; the past year has taught us more than we ever thought was possible. Not only did we make it, our revenues outstripped investment proving RedBud’s raison d’être and the market’s appetite & need to engage our services.
We want to share some some things we learned along the way, and give ourselves a pat on the back whilst looking forward with excitement as to what the future holds. WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT Lessons “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” Robert Burns No matter how much you prepare, how much you plan; things will often go awry, as is true of life and throughout my entire career to date.
However, I have to admit, it is amplified when you create a business. Challenges present themselves on a daily basis and we have learnt very quickly to not get too upset when things go wrong and not get too carried away when things go right - as nothing is ever quite what it seems.
There is nothing wrong with making a mistake; mistakes are lessons in what not to do in the future, showing you how to grow and improve your business to make the offering the best it can be. How we react to adversity is what shapes us as people and starting your own business will quickly bring you face-to-face with adversity, and reality - but will also show you how to overcome and move forward. It's terrifying and exciting all at the same time.
LISTEN
"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." Ernest Hemingway We wanted to build our business specifically to help publishers solve their challenges. So, us telling publishers what they need was never going to be the most successful business strategy!
As a wise friend once told me, you’ll succeed in life when you are interested in other people, and not simply interesting to others.
No good ever came from shouting about being the best. Rather, listen to others in how to become better, and be humble in the process.
We wanted to build something that would help publishers overcome their specific pain points and help them grow their business in a challenging environment, something “For Publishers, by Publishers”.
This required us to truly listen to what they were telling us, understand where their concerns were and evolve our offering into something that they could use to drive their business.
In fact, the majority of features on our tool DIAGNOSE, are named after specific publisher partners (you know who you are!) as they were the ones that suggested this would help their business. TIME
“How did it get so late, so soon?” Dr Seuss Patience is a virtue. Having spoken to a number of other founders, the above quote rings true. Time is the one commodity that you cannot fund, nor control!! You cannot make the world move to a time that suits you, so don't try to. If you think something will take one month to complete, the reality is, it will take three!!
Did your teachers ever tell you, good things come to those who wait? One of the most frustrating sayings ever - arguably created for impatient children making impossible demands - but a saying that holds huge value.
Ensuring you bake in time - more time than initially thought - has helped us along the way.
We learnt early that blind optimism is an important commodity for driving your business forward, but planning budgets requires a little more thought!! A WELL DESERVED PAT ON THE BACK We feel very proud and excited to be doing what we are during this time of drastic change within our industry. We have a number of publisher partners using our DIAGNOSE platformWe are working on a bespoke project with the Association of Online Publishers regarding discrepancies in the marketWe were a finalist at the I-Com Global Data startup challenge at just 11 months oldWe have had a number of articles published in industry trade pressWe are working across multiple Global markets. MOVING FORWARD Our mission for RedBud is simple, and absolutely clear: “Make Advertising Better” As we grow and learn with our partners, the one thing we are always striving to do is to work towards our mission. However, our market is one that is constantly shifting; GDPR, e-Privacy, ITP (and so much more) fills our headlines on a daily basis, making it a real challenge to keep afloat. At RedBud, we love a good challenge, and we want to ensure that we continue to evolve so that all our partners have transparency at their finger tips to understand how all these changes - current and future - will affect their business.
We endeavour to support our partners in how they can continue to grow and thrive - and ultimately work together to achieve our mission. Want to join us in making advertising better? Then contact us today: info@redbud-media.com