Porteous did not have such an easy start with Red Lanyard. For starters, she couldn\u2019t come up with a name for the business.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then came two months \u201cwhere I had to sit on my hands\u201d while branding and trademarking issues were sorted with the assistance of an IP lawyer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She really only began marketing the business in late November 2011, precisely when the event season ends. Porteous sat tight and persisted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I was doing was networking breakfast, lunch and dinner, talking about what I was going to do with Red Lanyard and how I was going to deliver,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By February 2012, clients started planning events again and her patience and networking paid off.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She is now trying to figure out how to do all the work that has come in the door.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Starting their own businesses has been more than a career move for both Porteous and Peck. Both admit to plenty of soul searching.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI realised I wanted a lot of diversity in what I do,\u201d says Peck. \u201cI had got myself to a level of seniority where I saw some questionable behaviours that weren\u2019t really my style.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So Peck traded in a substantial, secure salary and inflexible 8am-7pm working weeks for the freedom of running her own business.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now she has the portfolio career she wanted to create for herself: several board positions, legal consulting work and time to support one of her daughters who is currently studying for VCE.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Porteous tested the viability of her business during annual leave while still in her role with the Queensland government.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI earned twice as much doing contract work as I did on a wage,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That got her thinking. She had also gained sector experience volunteering, managing events for a non-profit organisation, mentoring others in event management at Queensland University of Technology, working on the Fostering Executive Women Committee, QUT\u2019s Business Executive Club and working for a contact on a major conference project.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another secret weapon was support from one of QUT\u2019s mentoring programs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Says Porteous: \u201cI have 20 amazing women that I can go to for advice.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While there is a lot of information available on how to write business plans and all the obstacles to small business success, Porteous thinks more support is needed for people whose start-ups quickly take-off.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone talks about \u2018what if it doesn\u2019t work?\u2019 But what happens when you get clients straight away?\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Porteous already has a part-time staffer just months after launching: \u201cYou can crash and burn really quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Going through the redundancy process can be a positive thing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a chance to reinvent yourself,\u201d Peck says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI reinvented myself and can recommended it for people who are interested in different lifestyle and career choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
* Name has been changed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Porteous did not have such an easy start with Red Lanyard. For starters, she couldn\u2019t come up with a name<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,20,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41603"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}