20 years in business is a very long time, and may leave you wondering “how did they do it?” (and stay married!!). To reflect on the past 20 years, Warwick and Penny sat down and answered some of the most common questions they get asked – being not only business owners together, but also a couple.
“So, 20 years is such an achievement! Does it feel like it’s gone quickly?”
Warwick: Yes and No! Our children were 7, 4 and 1 at the time. It seems like yesterday, and also ages and ages ago!!
Penny: It really is a bit surreal. Now they are 28, 24 and 21 (had to think about that!). At the time people thought we were crazy. Warwick giving up a ‘secure job’ but we’d had a few instances where he hadn’t been able to come to school things, or was really late for Maddy’s second birthday party, and we realised we didn’t want that
Warwick: Yes, obviously we needed to make a living, but that wasn’t the primary reason for wanting our own business. As Penny says, there were lots of reasons.
“How did working for yourself change your life?”
“How did working for yourself change your life?”Penny: Well, obviously Adventure was already a choice, but at the time we didn’t know how it would give us the flexibility we needed to support our son when he was diagnosed with Autism.
Warwick: Yeah, it meant we could take the leap to run a home programme for him, and we worked from home at that time, so I could come in and do a session with our son while Penny went to get our girls from school because even something as simple as that wasn’t easy for Henry.
“So it made a big difference then?”
Penny: Absolutely. I worked evenings and weekends at that time, but if Warwick didn’t run Adventure, we couldn’t have done the home programme as we did.
“That must have been hard to balance it all”
Warwick: It wasn’t easy at times, and we barely saw each other, but I was lucky that I really enjoyed what I did and our clients were always really lovely.
“Is there anything else you struggle to balance 20 years later?”
Penny: Switching off is now really hard, especially as we work together, so you never quite clock off, especially now the kids are older and not at home mostly, so apart from Brody, there’s no reason to rush home.
Warwick: It’s been nice to share it all together (the good and harder parts!), but it can be hard to draw a line between work and home.
“What is it actually like working with your wife or husband?”
Penny: How honest do you want us to be haha. It’s actually really nice and brought us much closer, although I don’t think we could have done it 15 years ago, when the kids were little.
Warwick: Yeah, like I said, it’s really nice to share it, and Penny never really knew what was going on because we were both so busy. Obviously, sometimes it’s a bit tense, but not very often!!
Penny: Hopefully the team would agree!! Caitlin?!
Caitlin: It’s fine, funny sometimes!!
Penny: That’s good! No, it is really good, and Warwick knows this business much more than I do, but we have lots of ideas together that we want to do, and I think we make a good team.
Warwick: We do make a good team!
Penny: There’s just never enough time to do everything we want, no matter how many hours you do!!
“What do you think has been your biggest learning over the 20 years?”
Warwick: I think it’s believing in our worth and being brave and not saying yes to everything. That can be so hard when you are running a business because there’s a constant worry about having enough work. We’re still not great at this, but we are trying to recognise red flags or warning signs.
Penny: It is so hard, but we’re not the right fit for everyone, and we do feel there’s enough work for everyone, so it is important who we work with, and we don’t try and be ‘someone else’ and actually be confident in who we are as a business.
“It can feel rare that people are transparent about those kinds of things! Is there anything else along those lines that you think is worth knowing for anyone starting their own business?”
Warwick: I think it’s that successful businesses take time, and the first few years are the hardest with cash flow, client base, etc but stick at it, and maybe don’t run before you can walk.
Penny: For me, I think it’s that we all (or most of us!) have imposter syndrome. Even the ones who don’t look like it! I still even now attend things like networking events and feel really out of place, although that might just be me!! You do have to push yourself, though, and not everything will feel comfortable, but sometimes you just have to do it. I have had to let go of being such a perfectionist; otherwise, I’d never do anything (as you might be able to tell from my videos on our story!)
“What is it about Adventure that you guys pride yourself on? What makes you stand out?”
“What is it about Adventure that you guys pride yourself on? What makes you stand out?”Warwick: We really pride ourselves on our relationships with our clients. We have so many long-term clients. As I said, you can’t be everything for everyone, but over 20 years we’ve got really strong relationships with our clients.
Penny: I’m sure, like lots of small businesses, word-of -mouth referrals are our main way of getting new clients, and before I came, Warwick already made this the case. He always goes above and beyond, and I think this shows. We also try to be honest and open, too, and nice to work with!! Hopefully most people appreciate that!
“Beyond client relationships, your visual identity as a business is really important being a design agency. What advice would you give to other business owners?”
Warwick: I think (and it’s not just because we are a design agency!!), but professional branding and design really is obvious and does make you stand out. We totally understand how difficult it is to pay out all the time, but if you pay strategically for professional branding and design templates to start with, you can save money later on.
Penny: I think it’s that marketing is ongoing and a website, for example, is never finished, and you need to help people find it and that’s something we’re trying to help our clients do a lot more.
Warwick: The other thing we always say is how people buy people, and we really encourage our clients to bring their personality into their branding and website.
“Finally, what’s one thing you’d love people to know about running a business?”
Penny: Ohh, that’s a big question. You go first!
Warwick: Be brave, honest and transparent! (Sorry, that’s three!)
Penny: Ok mine, if I had to choose, would be that it’s like an iceberg; for what people see, there is 10x/100x more going on behind the scenes, and if people are doing well, it’s not by accident, it takes such a lot of work.
“Thank you, guys, for sharing! Let’s do a quick this or that!”
Working late nights or early mornings?
Warwick – Nights! Penny – Both!!!
Paper diary or digital calendar?
Warwick – Digital Penny – Both lol and I still miss and forget things!
Office chit-chat or peace and quiet?
Warwick – Chit Chat Penny – Both haha
Working at home or in the office?
Warwick – Both Penny – Both, but I prefer the office. I’m not as good at working at home as Warwick (although I have more jobs to do there haha)
Traditional marketing or digital marketing?Warwick – Digital Penny – ohh I do like digital, but I do really love getting creative with printed things too, and I think people really like them now, especially in the digital age! I also can’t make decisions, as you might be able to tell!!
Face-to-face meetings or Zoom?
Warwick – Face to face Penny – face to face
“Thanks for answering the questions, both! To finish, what’s one thing you’d like to say to everyone?”
Penny: The people you have around you and team members, if you do have a team, are so important. Adventure wouldn’t be what it is without all our team members over the years and all those who support us.
Warwick: Definitely, thanks for everything, everyone and we hope our website competition really helps another business, because the support we have had has meant a lot.
Final thought?
Final thought?Warwick: Twenty years go by much faster than you think.
Penny: In every way!
Warwick: Yep! Enjoy every bit of the adventure.
Are you in a similar position or just starting your own business? We’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to drop us a message here .
