Company: jeanneret+kula GbR
Founders: Barbara Jeanneret, Dana Kula
Date of establishment: August 2023
Industry and company: Communication design

What drives you? What is your motto?
To be honest, it's the enjoyment we get from what we do that drives us to work every day. That's a privilege we greatly appreciate. It has a lot to do with the values we live and work by. 

What is your start-up about and what makes it special?
We develop visual communication. Creative, independent, holistic. As a design team that thinks ahead and understands its craft, we work with our clients to develop solutions for internal and external communication. We package everything that needs to be communicated in a consistent and appealing look. Good design arouses interest and emotions, it touches, inspires and at the same time creates real added value. The success of our clients is what drives us.

What are your first successes?
Immediately after founding the company, we were able to win a client who has remained loyal to us to this day. That motivated and validated us enormously. We can look back on a successful 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 was self-employed as a master florist. Graphic design is my second career, and as a career changer, I benefit from my detour. My curiosity about new areas of work and my desire not to stand still were my motivation for becoming 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 area. I studied at the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, and as a family person and mother of two children, a high degree of flexibility is required. Empathy and teamwork are important strengths that I have also gained from my long volleyball career (2nd Bundesliga) and my role as team leader in design agencies." 

What prompted you to start your own business?
We worked on projects together for several years and realized that we work well together. Added to this was the desire for personal development, to try new things, and to have more control over our daily work and structure. The need to act and work more in line with our personal values also contributed to this decision. 

Who advised you, who are your helpers and mentors? We
sought initial advice from various start-up services, 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. People who had just started their own businesses or who could share their many years of experience. We were also able to participate in the "CoCo – Frauen gründen" coaching program, where we gained many tools and knowledge. 

How did you experience your first days as founders?
Getting started and taking the first step requires a lot of courage. Especially because at the beginning, there is a mountain of bureaucracy and unknowns ahead of you. But every step gives you new energy and confidence to conquer the mountain and overcome the hurdles of starting a business. Founding the company as a team definitely 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 having to market ourselves; the focus was no longer 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 a sense of liberation, the discovery of unexpected abilities, and inner growth.

How do you draw attention to your company? What is your best marketing idea?
Our first orders and customers came to us through recommendations from acquaintances, former colleagues, and customers. But personal contacts in networks, such as the Gründerfrühstück (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 decided not to rent office space at first and work from home. We financed the initial phase and initial investment costs (IT equipment, licenses, apps) with our own capital and a 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
...... to an agency party and seek more inspiration while traveling.

What is your special tip: What would you recommend to other founders?
The important thing is: if you don't know what to do, ask, ask, ask—there is a lot of support in the start-up world!