Industry: Branding
Year Founded: 2015
Location: Novel Coworking Gaslamp, San Diego
Tell the story of how your business was founded.
“Strive & Grind was born out of the passion to help others STRIVE to achieve greatness, and GRIND to get there. We currently do this by helping entrepreneurs, influencers, and service based businesses create memorable, disruptive, and badass PREMIUM brands. We saw that there was a huge gap in the marketplace when it came to branding. A lot of entrepreneurs had crappy brands and didn’t know how to brand themselves or their businesses correctly. A lot of business owners also didn’t know what branding really was, and we wanted to educate the community on the power and importance of branding. We believe that without a brand, you’re a commodity. At the end of the day our goal is to help entrepreneurs truly thrive and not only create a successful business, but also a life of freedom.”
How is your business innovating and providing something new?
“We’re currently the only international branding and creative boutique that helps entrepreneurs create premium brands through one badass offering. This offering is what we call our Brand Slam. It’s our signature 7 step process that allows us to create and launch a premium brand in 45 business days. We realized that a lot of creative agencies offered a ton of different one-off services. In the beginning, we did the same, but realized if someone asked for a logo, we’d create a dope logo but the rest of their brand looked like crap. If someone wanted a website, their logo and photos were usually crap. And most of the time companies never had any brand strategy, which is key to a successful business. So we had to step back and figure out how we can really serve our clients in the best way possible, and that’s how the Brand Slam was born.”
When did you first feel successful?
“We moved to California in March of 2015 all the way from the east coast to grow our business and connect with the entrepreneurial hub that’s here in San Diego. At the time, we were bootstrapping our business working day jobs trying to make ends meet. We made the declaration to quit our day jobs and work full time on our business exactly a year from moving here. And on March 1, 2016, we both put our 2 weeks in at our day jobs! It was a day that always felt like a dream, and it finally became a reality!”
What has been the biggest challenge in starting a business?
“With any business comes many challenges, but a big one for us is finding and hiring the right team members. It’s a challenge finding quality creative talent that will stay for the long term. Especially when you’re a startup because you don’t have as many resources. As an entrepreneur you also feel like sometimes you’re the only one who can do everything, but we’ve learned that’s so far from the truth. So much time, energy, and resources goes into hiring one person. So navigating how to train, manage, and delegate employees has been an interesting learning experience.”
What advice would you give to startups?
“Be patient and consistent during the process. As long as you’re Striving & Grinding, you’ll keep moving up the ladder. Don’t be afraid to fail or face hard obstacles. It’s during those moments that we grow and excel the most.”