How I Started My First Brand Before 18
Starting a brand as young as 18 isn’t a common occurrence; however, for me, it was a significant milestone on my journey. As a student, the balancing act between academics and a social life is complicated as is, but I had made it a point to set out on my own path way before the end of school or university. That is when my first brand “Helvanta” came to my mind. Helvanta is a brand I can wholeheartedly say in the beginning stages was a passion project that was driven by curiosity, driven by the creativity that came my way and by the digital solutions I could provide. My lack of experience was made up for by determination to learn, the will to put in the work, and the ability to take the first step. I self-taught design, marketing and business through YouTube and by reading articles. In the beginning, I had to wear a lot of different hats such as building the sites and dealing with branding as well as providing the needed technical support. With time, Helvanta transformed into something more organized. I started to grasp the value of consistency, branding, and addressing genuine client problems.
I organized the company into divisions such as Helvanta Studio for offering web development and app training services, and Helvanta Lab for building internal tools and testing technology-related concepts. I included Helvanta Learning for educational support and Helvanta Creative for media production and content creation.
Balancing school activities with running a business was certainly not the easiest task. It came with a unique brand of stress and a long list of sacrifices. Those hurdles, however, taught me valuable lessons in the proper time management, business communication, and making choices in stressful situations. Creating a brand prior to turning 18 opened my eyes to the potential one thinks is tied to age. With the right mindset and the willingness to act, everything is on the table to pursue, even learning from failure. Helvanta began as a dream, and today, with hard work, turned into a functioning company and the building block for a myriad of more ideas to pursue in the future.