Ronn Rich

Ronn Rich is the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Four Thirty where he partners with companies to launch, revitalize or further propel their brands by connecting them with Four Thirty’s roster of top-tier freelance creatives.

Ronn Rich

Interview by Thomasina R. Legend

In addition to being a full time entrepreneur, Ronn also provides small businesses, solopreneurs and creatives with digital, social, communication and creative strategy consultations. His goal is to partner with these businesses to help them forge or revamp their brands and/or create high-quality social and digital marketing presences that help grow their businesses.

Solid experience – proven track record

Prior to launching Four Thirty, Ronn spent 6 years working in digital marketing, public relations, and corporate communications. He developed award-winning campaigns and led social media initiatives for brands such as Revlon, IKEA, Electrolux, and BlackBerry.

Ronn Rich received a Master of Professional Studies from Georgetown University in PR and Corp. Comms. and earned his Bachelor of Arts in public relations management from Clark Atlanta University.

For this issue, Ronn talks about the meaning of his company Four Thirty, the reason for its creation and The Less Glamorous Side of Entrepreneurship.

RONN ON THE MEANING BEHIND THE NAME FOUR THIRTY

Most people assume the name of my business, Four Thirty, refers to the time they think most freelancers stop working – 4:30PM.

While that might be hilarious and true for some freelancers, the meaning behind the name has a bit more depth.

A Mark Twain quote that became my mantra a few years before I conceived the business inspired Four Thirty.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why.”

For years, I struggled to find my purpose. I’ve accomplished a lot in my life, but I still found myself on a quest to find the reason I was born. Why was I here?

I’ve worked with charities, helped feed the less fortunate and played an active role in my church, but I’ve always felt like there was more. I was good at helping people maintain, but what could I do to help people grow and prosper? That’s the question that I always had ringing in the back of my mind.

On a birthday trip in Rio, it hit me. I’ve always loved creating things – no matter what it was. From trying new recipes, writing poems, designing websites, and creating random cocktails, everything that I love to do involves ideation, planning and execution.

While I found a lot of peace and happiness creating for myself, I wanted to help other people create also. The concept of Four Thirty was a perfect union of bringing my entrepreneurial passion and creativity to life while helping other entrepreneurs and creative freelancers fulfil their passions as well.

While I knew it would take a lot of hard work and dedication to bring Four Thirty to life, I was more than ready for the journey.

Four Thirty was the day I was born (April 30th) and it was also, the day I found out why.

RONN on ‘The Less Glamorous Side of Entrepreneurship’

Oh, the wonderful life I live as an entrepreneur! I travel when I want, only eat at restaurants with Instagramable food and meet random people for coffee or lunch and live life on my terms!

Okay, let’s be serious. I’m tired of reading blogs, instagram posts and hearing people talk about how wonderful it is to be an entrepreneur. Don’t get me wrong, it’s MUCH BETTER than working 9 to 5 (for someone else), but it comes with its own set of challenges.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you can probably relate to the below, but if you’re considering entrepreneurship, don’t overlook these points. These were (are) some of my biggest challenges, but I’ve also found ways to overcome – read on.

Being able to wear multiple hats is not a skill, it’s a f*ckin’ burden

Throughout life, undergrad, graduate school and my professional career, I gained a ton of useful and transferable skills that have aided in my professional growth and success. Nonetheless, I never thought I’d have to put them all to use – at the same time. While I love being an entrepreneur, switching from creative director, to business development associate, to publicist, to social media strategist is overwhelming and draining! There have been so many times when I thought (and even said), “that’s not my job,” but quickly realized, it was. In my 9 to 5 days, I could easily pass off a task to a teammate or intern, but in the early stages of launching Four Thirty, I had to pass things off to myself. Here’s how I got over it:

I theme every day of the week. Simply put, I dedicate one of my roles (hats) to each day. So, Monday is Business Development, Tuesday is Creative Direction, Wednesday is Content Development, Thursday is Admin, Friday is Web and Saturday and Sunday are days where I’m flexible. Each day, I create a TeuxDeuxlist specifically for the day’s theme. While it’s tough to stay on track, you get used to it. When non-urgent, new tasks pop up, instead of addressing it right away, I simply put it on the teux deux list for the designated day. While it seems too simple to really work, it quickly changed my life and increased my productivity. I took an online e-class that taught me everything I know.

Raising the capital to grow is no walk in the park

When we launched Four Thirty, we were completely self-funded. As we inevitably began to grow, we realized we needed more money in order to reach the next level of success. However, finding and attaining the capital needed was a lot harder than we imagined. The first time we applied to an investment fund, we were 100% sure we would get it. We spent HOURSSSSS working on the application and knew we’d done an amazing job. We didn’t get it. We applied to several others over the next few months, and time after time, we kept getting rejected. The funny thing is, EVERYONE loved the idea. “You guys are onto something great,” “We can’t believe no one else thought of this!” But WE did – so, give us the money so we can build it! Obviously, it’s not that easy. Here’s what we did instead:

Our biggest issue is that most of the investors we are interested in want to work with tech companies, for obvious reasons. However, technically, we are not a tech company. Our goal was to raise capital in order to build out the tech piece of our business, but that’s not as convincing as already having the minimum viable product, then engaging investors. So, right now, we are in the process of self-funding (my least favourite compound word) our new tech build out. Once we have it up and running, we will start the process again. I’m sure we will get rejected some more, but we will keep going until we find the right match.

Your personal finances (or lack thereof) may suffer

Start-ups are so unpredictable – business might be amazing for one or two months, then followed by a few months of drought. It has happened to Four Thirty and I must admit, we were not expecting or prepared for it. Talk about ‘shit hitting the fan!’ When you have a 9 to 5, you can spend your entire pay-check, but at least you know you’ll be getting another one soon. As an entrepreneur, sometimes, you have no clue when your next check is coming. And even if you put in hours and hours of work, guess what – there’s a possibility you may not get a new client or project. It was our reality and it’s frightening. But, when you’re passionate about your business, you push through, because giving up is never an option for us. Instead of staring at my bank account hoping I’d see the digits magically increase, I took some action. Here’s what I did:

I tapped into my unused skillsets I wasn’t using and put them to work. While I knew how to design websites and had plenty of experience in digital strategy, I didn’t think I’d have time to take on new clients and continue managing Four Thirty. However, I knew I needed to figure out the balance in order to create multiple revenue streams. So, I revamped my personal website, added a list of my services and guess what – the new projects began to roll in. Within six months, I increased my income dramatically. Long story short, get a side hustle. In fact, get a few side hustles to keep the cash flowing!

If you’re not careful, it can affect your well-being

With so many risks, uncertainties and endless work, entrepreneurship can negatively impact your health. When I first launched Four Thirty, I was so excited and wanted to work non stop. I didn’t make time for the gym, forgot to eat, and cared less about getting enough sleep at night. Doing that for months at a time caused me to hit a wall (hard). From the constant migraines, body aches and insomnia, I knew I would be of no use to my business if I couldn’t get out of the bed. It’s admirable to work hard toward fulfilling your passion, but self-preservation is key. Here’s what I did:

As hard as it was to pull myself away from the computer, I began to make time for the gym; meditated for at least 20 minutes a day; took out time to sit and do nothing; made time to have fun and be social; and made sure I was getting enough rest at night. You can do whatever allows you to add balance, but the key is to be mindful. Don’t get so engulfed in work that you forget that your company’s biggest asset is you.

If you can manage to get through these aforementioned storms (and the ones not listed), you’ve got what it takes. Let your passion push you forward and never forget the ultimate goal. The benefits of entrepreneurship might outweigh the disadvantages, but it’s important to be transparent about both. Share your wins with others, but don’t be afraid to share your losses – you might help someone.