Company: jeanneret+kula GbR

Founders: Barbara Jeanneret, Dana Kula

Date of foundation: August 2023

Industry and company: Communication design

What drives you? What is your motto?

If we're honest, it's the fun we have doing what we do that drives us to work every day. It's a privilege that we really appreciate. It has a lot to do with the values by which we act and work.

What is your start-up about and what is special about it?

We develop visual communication. Creatively, independently, holistically. As a design team that thinks for itself and understands its craft, we develop solutions for internal and external communication together with our customers. We pack everything that needs to be told into a uniform and appealing look. Good design arouses interest and emotions, it touches, inspires and at the same time creates real added value. Our clients' success is what drives us.

What are your first successes?

Immediately after the company was founded, we were able to acquire a customer who has remained loyal to us to this day. That motivated and confirmed us enormously. We can look back on a satisfied first year and a wonderful start, which is great for us.

What is your professional background?

Barbara: "As an art director and project manager, I was able to gain several years of professional experience in a large agency. Before that, I worked creatively as a self-employed master florist. Graphic design is my second career path; as a career changer, I benefit from my detour. My curiosity about new fields of work and not wanting to stand still were my motivation to become self-employed."

Dana: "I have over 20 years of experience as an art director and project manager in various design agencies in the Rhine-Main region. I studied at Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences and as a family man and mother of two children, a high degree of flexibility is required. Empathy and the ability to work in a team are important strengths that I also bring with me from my long volleyball career (2nd Bundesliga) and my role as a team leader in design agencies."

What prompted you to set up your own company?

We had been working on projects together for several years and realized that we worked well together. In addition, there was a desire for personal development, to try out new things and to be more self-determined in our day-to-day work and structure. The need to act and work more according to our personal values also contributed to this.

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors?

We received initial advice from various business start-up organizations, such as BerufsWege für Frauen e.V., the Wiesbaden Economic Development Agency and the Designforum Mainz.

Networking with like-minded people was very important to us. Those who have just founded a company or who reported on their many years of experience. We were also able to take part in the "CoCo - Frauen gründen" coaching session, where we were given lots of tools and knowledge.

How did you experience the first few days as female founders?

It takes a lot of courage to take the first step. Especially because there is a mountain of bureaucracy and unknowns in front of you at the beginning. But every step gives you new energy and confidence to master the mountain and overcome the hurdles of founding a company. Founding the company as a team certainly made the start-up phase easier for us.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?

A big challenge for us was suddenly marketing ourselves; the focus is not on the customer, but on us as a company. Showing ourselves, presenting ourselves and standing up for our own cause. At the same time, this led to liberation, recognition of unexpected abilities and inner growth.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?

The first orders and customers came to us through recommendations from acquaintances, former colleagues and customers. But personal contacts in networks, such as the start-up breakfast at Heimathafen, are also very important, especially for entrepreneurial exchange. We network digitally via LinkedIn.

How did you finance your start-up?

As a design agency, the start-up costs are very low, partly because we did without premises for the time being and work from home. We financed the initial phase and first investment costs (IT equipment, licenses, apps) with equity and the start-up grant.

What dream would you still like to realize?

Our dream is to find premises for our agency close to the city, with a view of the vineyards, so that our agency can grow.

Please complete the following sentence: If we had more time, we would ...

... invite you to an agency party and seek more inspiration while traveling.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to founders?

The important thing is: if you get stuck, ask, ask, ask - there is a lot of support in the start-up world!