5 Minute Dance Parties

I won’t lie. I stole this from Niamh, our Community Manager at Opsh. Every time we have a success here at Opsh Towers, be it mini or massive, Niamh insists on having a ?five minute dance party?. The reason? Without them, we would never take stock of how far we have come and how far we are headed.

As anyone who makes the crazy decision to set up a business will attest, much of the start-up lifestyle revolves around stress, panic, fire-fighting, caffeine addiction, 24-hour social networking, Sunday Night Fear, missed gym classes, cancelled cocktails and relentless apologising to friends, family and partners over absenteeism. It is an all-consuming work-life blur, propped up by the goading voice in your head reminding you that it was your decision, your responsibility, your success, your fail. It means that you are inclined to keep your head down and work, work, work. You are always looking ahead, always trying to be better, be bigger, trying to get where you need to be without money running out or without the 2nd-hand printer imploding. As soon as you reach one milestone, another clutch of them will appear, all with seeming urgency. It is quite easy to forget to acknowledge how you got to that milestone. It’s often a team member, and not a co-founder, who will bounce into the office and unapologetically shout out the number of new twitter followers or what a great meeting we had with our branding team the previous day. And thank God for that.

Setting up a business is a rollercoaster with hysterical highs and nose-dive lows. You have to take the time out to celebrate the victories. From the two-page interview right down to negotiating a discount on the office rent, five-minute dance parties for anything and everything that brings you one step closer to where you want to be. It’s a long, gruelling road and you need to take a step back whenever you can and admire your accomplishments. We managed to set up a meeting with Topshop and we bought some celebratory biscuits. We heard someone pronounce ?Opsh?* correctly and I’m pretty sure we went out to lunch for that. Work hard, think big, celebrate EVERYTHING. And then get back to work.

*Say it like you see it!

Jennie Mc Ginn is CEO and Co-Founder of Opsh -?A New Way To Shop Online.

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