Interview with Novelyn Cabural – The Branding Chic

Company: The Branding Chic     |     Website

Today’s interview is with a very talented website and graphic designer, Novelyn Cabural from Davao City in the Philippines. She is a guru in the online world and takes great pride in producing fresh graphics for other online businesses. For those of you who are unfamiliar, The Branding Chic takes your website design, your visual brand and all of your content to help produce a more eye-pleasing way to produce the sales you’re looking for. 

Ready to find out more?

Let’s find out what Novelyn had to say …

What inspired the passion within you to do what you do?
Ever since a very young age I always had a passion for drawing, crafting a decorating.

How did you continue to ignite that fire within you?
Truthfully, I never stop doing what I really want in life. Even though in my college years I specialized in General Education, I am still able to apply my skills by creating visual aids. I also still take time to draw when life gives me the opportunity.

Did you start with a business plan? If so, tell me a bit about your vision and mission.
Yes, I did because I believe that a business without a business plan is like tracing a line without a ruler on a piece of paper that is on a rough surface. Though having a business plan does not warrant an error-free line, you at least have more focus and know when to pause and when to move forward. My mission is to help start-ups, solo entrepreneurs and small business owners understand the importance of the consistency in branding as well as having an online presence. It has always been my vision to help my clients optimize their online presence through design and branding that converts.

What are some of the biggest challenges you feel your company is faced with?
For me, it’s time management. It has always been my enemy. Being a mom with two small children, it is really hard to stick to my daily schedule. It almost always ends up getting shuffled around.

Walk me through a typical workday – from when you eat breakfast in the morning to what you think about when you’re not in “the office”?
I seriously have it pretty good. My husband doesn’t even want me doing the laundry, LOL! But I do take care of both my girls and also do the cooking (well, sometimes). So, while my husband is preparing breakfast, I get started working on my stuff as the kids are usually still asleep. Then we take an hour and have breakfast together. My husband and I both go back to our computers and let the kids play for awhile. After about an hour and a half or so I get the kids cleaned up then go back to work for about another hour or two. We then prepare the kids for school, eat lunch then my husband drops them off (they are both in kindergarten right now). While they are all out, I take the opportunity to rest for awhile then take another opportunity to get a few more hours of work accomplished until the kids come home from school. After dinner, I get the kids cleaned up, check their homework, spend some time with them, then get back to work for a bit after the fall asleep.

What were some of the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome to get to where you are today?
Honestly, I have a lot. This is my third attempt at building a business. The first two failed because I didn’t have a solid plan for them. I just went in there and tried to sell. I didn’t even have a process. I knew what I offered but I didn’t know who my target market was, where to find them and how to market my services. So, they were both complete failures. I learnt a lot from both of those experiences. I still and will always continue learning from myself as well as from other people’s experiences.

What are three words you would use to explain your business? Your personality?
For both my business and my personality I would have to say the words would be idealistic, skeptical and passionate.

Can you tell me about your ideal target market?
My ideal client would preferably be all women who do business on their own, are just starting out or who has a small business with a small team. I want someone who knows when to listen to my suggestions, someone who loves to stand out from the crowd and know the value of my worth.

Looking forward into the next few years, what projects or goals are you most excited about?
In the next few years, I am looking forward to being more established and become an inspiration to others.

If another entrepreneur asked for your advice and you only had a few minutes to give them your best tip, what would it be?
Before you do anything else, build your target avatar first. With that in place you can easily move forward. And no matter what, always look on the bright side of things. Never lose hope and have faith in God and in yourself.

Pick one thing in your life you may go back and do differently. What would it be and why?
There is a lot I would change. Even though I made a lot of mistakes, I would not take the opportunity to make changes. The past is the past and we cannot change it. The past helps us learn a lot of lessons in life that made me who I am now. I just leave it with Him, I know he let’s everything happen for a reason.

What is it about your business that keeps you inspired?
My business is my passion and my family keeps me going.