My First Business Lesson Was Hard…Read This And Save Yourself.

In January of 2020, I started my business as a mommy blogger. I had this huge dream of how I wanted to connect with moms to support, encourage and share the daily ins and outs of motherhood. I thought long and hard of a name and how it would relate to the message I wanted to display.

Picking the perfect name was actually the hardest part for me. I went back and forth on different options, but could not find a name that would perfectly fit. I reached out to family members for their help and after about a good month, I finally found a name that I loved. We came up with More Than A Mommy. It was everything!! It was me, it was you, it was every mom out there that I wanted to connect with.

So this is my first business and like some of you, I knew nothing about starting a business. (And I am still learning, day by day.) So I started my research. I looked to see if there was another website or person using that name. Although the title is common, I did not find another blog or website domain using this name. So I thought it was a go for me!! I was so excited. I purchased my domain and I was on the run to start my business. So much excitement and so many ideas.

My Business Was Off To A Great Start

Things were going great and the blog was gaining traffic. I was seeing the growth and I’m starting to brand myself. So five months in, my husband comes to me and says lets brand you because you are doing well and your business is growing. Let’s get you a LLC. For those of you who may not know, (because I was not fully aware at the time) a LLC is a limited liability company. It’s the first step to branding your company. It helps to structure your business, protects you against law suits and helps your business to become more credible.

We researched how to get an LLC and took the first steps to do so. Everything went well and it came back that we had the LLC for the blog. The feeling of accomplishment was unreal. To be honest, I really didn’t fully understand what all of this LLC talk really meant but I knew it was big for my business. My husband wanted to take it a step further and said get the Trademark as well. This is when we fell into problems. The LLC is statewide, but the Trademark is nationwide. A trademark is a brand name that is used to identify the services of a provider or company. There was a blog with a super similar name to mine in New York. And that blog had a trademark. I was told that I would need to change my blog name to be sure to avoid any legalities.

Hearing these words crushed me! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and immediately thought the information that was being given was incorrect. There is no way I could face legal action down the road for having similar names, because all of this is my story, my journey and my life. How could this be? Truth of it all….it could be.

What This Business Lesson Taught Me.

Research, Research and more research. I was not even really aware what to research because everything was all new to me. So I hope this post will help you out on the first couple of steps to take. Refer to the LLC database search and see what information comes up on the company name you are trying to start. Then go a step further and refer to the trademark database search to make sure your company name is not similar to another name that is already established. This is the first step to branding yourself. You definitely do not want to begin branding just to have someone else come tell you, you are using their brand and it’s possible for all the messy legal stuff to come into play.

Next Business Lesson: Starting Over

So here I was having to rebrand myself and change my blog name. I felt defeated, discouraged, like my baby was taken from me and everything that I have worked for over the past five months is no longer valid. I cried in the closet for a few days, cried washing dishes and even cried while driving because I couldn’t believe I was having to start over. Drey would try to talk to me and I did not want to talk. I was just sad and wanted to stay there.

The next lesson I learned, was in order to continue to build my business I have to understand that everything will not go as planned, but I have to keep moving, even if that means starting over. This was a hard lesson for me to learn. So after a week, (that felt like a month😂) I decided to change my mindset. I knew I wanted to continue my business and in order to do so, I had to think differently. So, I had to pray, get me a glass of wine, take a walk and talk to myself (which I literally did) to remind myself to use this as a learning process and come back stronger.

After long days and sleepless nights I came up with a name. But the search for a name was an even bigger struggle than before because it had to be better. I had to call in my entire team for help. Of course Drey was helping, but I had to call my mom, my siblings and even had to reach out to my besties to help with the process. I used to try to come up with things on my own, but know that it’s okay to use your resources and get help from others. I actually would advise it because someone else may have your ideal business move and simply communicating with them could be the piece that will bring the entire puzzle together. Another business lesson: Use your team to help you reach your dream.

Next Business Lesson: Don’t Keep Wasting Time.

After being down and discouraged, I knew I had to get up and get back to work. I knew my work had to be better than before and I had to come back stronger. Having a conversation with Drey, he told me you can’t sit and be sad all day, you got stuff to do, so rise and shine. Lights went off, Confetti dropped from the ceiling and Cheers rang through the house. (At least that’s how I felt. Lol) Finally!!!! That’s it!!! That was my new blog name, Rise and Shine Mommy. It fits me and my journey so well. I will always be More Than A Mommy, because that is who I am. I am a mom, a wife, a sister, a friend, an entrepreneur and so much more, but while being more than a mommy, I’m on a new journey to help moms Rise and Shine.

So make sure before you begin your business journey you research your desired company name. If your name is available and your heart is set on that name for your brand, look into purchasing a LLC and Trademark to make sure that you have secured your business name and you don’t have to start over like me. I promise it will save you a lot of tears and disappointment. But if this has happened to you, all it did was made you a stronger, more determined business woman like it did me. Good luck on your business journey and I hope my story and these tips have helped!