If there's one thing I've learned these past few months about business, it's that strategy is fundamental to growth.
When I first started Elle & Company, I was a 23-year old graphic designer who aspired to work full-time for myself. Even though I grew up in an entrepreneurial household, my dad's business venture and mine are very different. I didn't know the first thing about pricing, taxes, and marketing, and I was convinced that the passion I had for design would be enough. I saw many other women starting creative businesses with some success, and I found myself looking to them for how I should be running my business.
I had no business plan, no goals, no strategy. So inevitably, I failed miserably.