From future-proofing your venture to perfecting your timing, gain the insights you need to launch your business, from a female co-founder that knows.

For many of us, the idea of starting our own venture is something we plan, deliberate and assess for years. For others, an idea sparks – and we hit the ground running, developing as we go. But how do you know if your business really has legs? Is there a winning formula in transforming a start-up to success, or is it simply launching the right idea at the right time?

Natalie Holloway, co-founder of functional yet fashion-forward fitness accessories brand Bala, shares her tried and tested advice on launching a brand and why finding your niche could be your superpower.

A Change Of Scene Can Spark Inspiration

Rewind to 2018, and Natalie and her husband Max had just sketched out their initial designs for Bala. Following the couple agreeing to take a break from their day jobs, they traveled to Indonesia, which is where – at a yoga class – the idea for Bala was born.

“After almost a decade in advertising, we both got a bit burnt out and wanted to do our own thing, but we didn’t know what that was or where to start,” Natalie tells AllBright. “So we thought, why not take a break and travel the world?”

Travelling for six months gave the pair an opportunity to clear their heads and take a step back to look at the bigger picture as budding entrepreneurs. “I really recommend a sabbatical,” Natalie adds. “It gives you a fresh perspective.”

Research What’s Out There – But Don’t Lose Your Focus

When finding your niche, Natalie agrees that utilising your connections (her husband conveniently comes from a family line of inventors) and conducting a degree of research is essential. But, she adds, don’t become so focused on what’s already out there that it allows you to lose your way.

“I would say do light market research, but if you do too much and you see that something similar is already out there, you might be deterred from launching,” she shares. “Everything already exists in some form if you really look hard enough! Don’t focus too much on it, but instead define what will be different about your own specific product.”

Secure Investment To Test The Market

For many businesses, securing investment is the boost they need to bring their dreams into the real world. Natalie has experience in this field, from launching on Kickstarter through to securing the investment of two sharks on SharkTank.

“We were very anti-risk in the beginning and wanted to spend as little money as possible,” Natalie says. “We knew we wanted to test the market, and Kickstarter is an amazing way to do that as you can see if your idea is viable, without really losing anything.”

Be Innovative When Building Connections

Natalie and her husband infamously built a multi-million-dollar brand in two years – but how did the Bala team initially spread the word? Surprisingly, having launched across big name stores from Free People to Goop, in Natalie’s opinion there is power in being economical.

“We knew the whole time that our approach would be bootstrapping the business,” she says. “We were funding our growth with our sales, so we had to be scrappy. Instagram was a huge tool for us. We would tag other brands and influencers that we wanted to work with and then reach out to them to gift, which was a huge part of our strategy in getting product into people’s hands.”

Building organic relationships with everyone from buyers to writers was a core part of Natalie’s game-plan, as it meant the brand could gain credibility through growing authentic bonds. “From early on, we knew that our retail relationships would be important. Because if Goop says we’re cool - then we’re cool!"

Future-Proof Your Business

When launching your business, it’s important to define the difference between finding your niche and limiting expansion. “We launched as Bala Bangles for various reasons, then realised pretty quickly that we didn’t want to be pigeonholed,” Natalie says. “So we started switching everything over, and knew that this would help show our customers that we are Bala – the brand – and that we’re not defined by just one product.”

The same can be said for the aesthetic of a brand. Utilise the power of embracing change by seeing your brand as an evolving concept and accept that it (probably) won’t be perfect from the start. “It was an evolution when learning who we really were as a brand, and we didn’t have a ton of money to spend,” she adds. “It took a while; you just get better and learn your voice over time.”

Own Your Mistakes And Take Your Time

Even once you’ve defined your brand and carved out a niche, it’s inevitable that there will be bumps in the road ahead. For Natalie and her husband, a key part of launching successfully was owning their mistakes and learning from them. “We definitely made a ton of mistakes, but we adopted the philosophy that it’s better to move fast and get something out there rather than overthink it,” Natalie says. “We rushed to launch certain things that weren’t ready.”

For the Bala co-founders, their brand was very much a side-project until they truly knew they could make it work. Working full-time for the first year and a half of launching the business, and hiring their first employee at the one year mark, they channeled all of their extra energy into fueling the idea that it could become more, which was key to allowing them to live the lifestyle they wanted.

“We felt like working our day jobs allowed us to live off our salaries, while putting every other dollar we had into the business and staying afloat. I kept telling myself that this is very hard work now, but you can live on your own terms later.”

Remain Nimble

Like almost every business worldwide, COVID-19 has impacted Bala. With the majority of the business tied up in partnerships with retail stores and fitness studios – which subsequently closed their doors during the pandemic – the brand was faced with a sense of the unknown. To counteract this, Natalie and her team thought innovatively.

“We pivoted from Bala being a ‘use it at the gym’ product, to become more of an ‘at-home fitness’ product. In line with this, we started making lots of digital content and workout videos for people to enjoy at home.” Natalie also shared how looking ahead, they’re shifting their focus to the direct-to-consumer side of the business and thinking about their next innovative launches and expansion plans for the coming year.

With a niche product offering and forward-focused approach, for Bala, the future looks bright.