20 years in business is a very long time, and may leave you wondering “how did they do it?” 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 married 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?”
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, 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 boundary between work and home.
“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: This 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
“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! We still even now attend things like networking events and feel really out of place. However, we’ve found everyone feels the same and is just focusing on pushing themselves out of their comfort zone.
“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 happen. He always goes over and above, and I think this shows. We also try to be honest too, and 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.
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’s it like an iceberg, for what people see there is 10x/100x more going on behind the scenes!!
“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/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
Traditional marketing or digital marketing?
Warwick – Digital Penny – digital
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!
Twenty years go much faster than you think. Enjoy every bit of the adventure.
