The Catch Up: October 2024
Welcome to the first instalment of our monthly blog, where I'll catch (see what I did there?) you up on all the latest from Catch Rhys and my life as founder. Since it’s the debut edition, there’s a bit more than usual to share – I hope you enjoy catching up with us!
October marked my second month back full-time since my daughter’s arrival, and we’re settling into a good rhythm at Catch Rhys. We work a four-day week here, which gives me one day each week just for her – a balance I’m incredibly grateful for. Many of you know I didn’t have a traditional maternity leave and managed as best I could while working through it all. Looking back, I’m still not sure how I did it – it was very much a case of "survive" rather than "thrive," which has made 2024 an unconventional year for Catch Rhys. We haven’t launched any new products or focused heavily on marketing, but the business has stayed resilient, and sales are only 13% down on last year – quite an achievement under the circumstances!
It’s so easy to compare ourselves to businesses chasing rapid growth, but I have to remind myself that my focus has been on something even more important: creating and raising a tiny human. Now we’re in Q4 – the "golden quarter" for sales. It’s a brilliant opportunity to close the small sales gap from earlier this year, but also a bit daunting as the festive season ramps up. Our recent HQ move has kept things interesting too. At the end of September, we brought our studio back into my home to cut costs and boost profitability, so this month has been all about getting the new workspace up and running. We’re also back on Instagram, and I’m building some good content creation processes to keep everything running smoothly – having good processes in place is the key to productivity!
Another key focus this month has been refreshing our newsletter flows. These run in the background on automation and are essential for keeping things ticking over, so I’m pleased to finally have started updating them after putting it off for far too long! A big struggle I face as a founder is knowing where to best focus my time as I'm constantly juggling so many tasks.
Now that November has arrived, we’re shifting into festive mode, with some big goals to reach before year-end. And yes, it’s that time of year – Black Friday is looming. We’re steering clear of traditional sales as they don't quite align with our values, but we do have something special planned.
Liked this blog? Subscribe to our email newsletter and get The Catch Up in your inbox every month!