February
And just like that, another month has past! Here’s what I have been up to this month:
Branding signed off!
Here you have it, the final brand visuals! The blue & green gradient will be the leading brand logo but there is the option to change this for events / limited edition launches & to catch people's attention on social media etc. The circle ‘S’ logo will form the social icon as well as feature on articles of clothing etc as an alternative to the full ‘Suspense’ logo.
Big thanks to Pip and the Tynan D’Arcy design team for their work on Suspense!
Trademarks
This was a tear-jerker if I’m honest! I wasn’t aware of the need to Trademark my brand name.. (is this common knowledge that you need to do this?!). After a quick panic search on search trademarks, Suspense already appeared to be registered under a class which featured ‘sporting articles’ & is owned by the people’s republic of China… not something I wanted to go up against..! I feared the worst; that I would need to change the brand name after having invested some of my savings in the brand design & domain name.
Luckily, after a deep dive, I was able to identify that the class I would be filing for trademarks within, differed to the already registered ‘Suspense’, and therefore isn’t deemed to be an issue (you trademark a brand name within a ‘Class’, better referred to as a category). I have now registered a request to trademark ‘Suspense’ within the shoe lace and clothing category (which includes caps/socks/running tops etc). The initial review came back with one potential challenger company; Suspense Hosiery, but I am hopeful this won’t be an issue due to the different target demographic within the clothing category.. It is a waiting game on this for now but I am much more hopeful of the outcome!
Thanks to Duncan McF the flag of needing to ™ my brand! A(nother) lesson learnt..!
Product development
- It’s a close call as to whether I have messaged more friends or more manufacturers this month!
- Elastic shoe lace product updates: with Mikal, we have worked on the range of laces needed for launch. More on this to be shared at a later stage but I am currently sat on a plane heading to China (visiting some shoe lace manufacturers and touring expos) confident of the shoe lace range we aim to launch with!
- Custom sample orders have finally been placed of the supporting product range (caps and socks for now..). Stay tuned for March’s update where I will hopefully have good news to share regarding the first custom samples of these products!
Below are the digital images shared with the manufacturers that I have created with the support of Tynan D’Arcy:
(*sock design has changed since this creative but not too dissimilar!)
Website
I am now the owner of suspense.co with a live webpage!
Another new world comprising of A, MX & DNS records to get my head around… I spent the best part of a day on the phone speaking with GoDaddy/Shopify customer services team members to get the domain name set up and running - a painful process but with a successful outcome!
Shopify is a new platform to me but one that comes recommended and seems relatively self explanatory to navigate my way around. I have spent hours upskilling myself (in the form of watching ‘how to’ youtube videos) to build a ‘coming soon’ page where you can now leave your email address to be the first to hear about the official brand launch! Please do leave your email address if you are interested in the launch and products on offer!
I will be working on the website development in the background over the next few months to ensure I have a professional website for the launch.
Business email address
I have now set up my business email address; jess@suspense.co & hello@suspense.co (both of course will be managed by me); but it’s important to have a generic email address to add to the website and allowing for future scalability offering a positive customer service experience.
Copywriting
Let the copywriting commence.. Admittedly, not something I love doing as it requires a lot of time and focus to get right! With only one of me, but multiple channels to communicate on (website/email/social) it is worth getting a head start on; getting the website copy ready for launch as far in advance as possible, as well as setting an email comms plan for any customers that register their consent to marketing emails.
Chinese Visa
This was a stressful process! For 2 reasons…
- First world problems… My Dad (/business advisor) was only going to be in England for 4 days between getting back from 7 weeks in Barbados & our trip to China so we had to submit a special case request & get his visa from the Chinese embassy in Barbados, a 3 visit process…
- The Chinese embassy in England is VERY busy… luckily I arrived 30mins before they opened and joined the queue of 150 people already lined up ahead of me! If I had arrived 1 hour later I was told I would have been too late to submit my application that day - crazy! It was a long and highly stressful 2 visit process (you had to have EVERYTHING printed off; passport photocopies, passport photos, flight details, accommodation bookings with your name on them and your 7 page Chinese visa application)
Nevertheless - success!
General thoughts/comments this month..
Launching your own business isn’t easy by any means, but I am determined to ride the waves that come my way and launch a brand I am proud of!
The biggest shout out to Mikal who is forever keeping my head up and supporting me through the highs and lows! It really is a rollercoaster but I am enjoying the journey & all that I have learnt so far! Final shout out is to my Dad, who I am currently sat next to on route to China, for a full on week of exhibitions and meeting manufacturers!
The main thought that ‘got me through’ this month? Control the controllables.
Next month’s update: reports back from my visit to China and the first Suspense branded physical samples!