Seven Feet Apart is one month old.

We have been open for business for a month. We have sold hundreds of pairs of Original 172s. Our customers are comfortable (in) with them. Having - and delighting - customers is a wonderful privilege. 

What have we learnt in a month? 

1. Clients can be grumpy for a reason. If you work in an agency or consultancy - as many of you do, don't underestimate how busy the client is beyond the project, programme or campaign you're working on together. Yes, you work hard to provide a service and work that can change their fortunes but they may not necessarily put what you're doing at the top of the priority list. On any given day, practically anything could happen. Go easy on them. 

2. You need your friends. There are moments to celebrate and moments of doubt. Your friends, with their love, support and good humour, can fuel your dreams, lend a hand, market for you, be honest, slap your back... thank you friends. 

3. Customers are a good thing. If you invite them to be a part of your business, they will tweet you, they will write to you and they will call you. Always, always, always have time for them. Be nice, it's free. Be helpful, it's rewarding. Go the extra mile. We have hand-delivered sneakers once or twice because we like to keep our promises. I was told, doing so isn't a scalable solution. In reality, it actually might be but it doesn't necessarily need to be. The point is, we do whatever it takes to make each customer happy. And I believe that's scalable. 

4. Those that can do, do. There is a profound difference between having consulted on many aspects of brand management and marketing and doing it. For example, my teams have 'run social' for some of the world's leading brands but until this month, I've never used Facebook Ad Manager. Now that I have, I realise far more about its potential and how 'hungry' the machine is. Yes, it's a full time job. It's probably someone's you know. Ask them for help. 

5. Data really does matter. I've managed data teams for nearly a decade. I always liked what the brilliant people in those teams could do. I was always a believer. I only wish I'd paid even more attention to the 'how they do it' as well as the why and what. Why? Because now, observation, questioning, hypothesis, test, learn and adapt are the life blood of acquisition and we will thrive if we do it well. If you have these people in your business, take them for lunch and get to understand what they do even more. 

6. Take a run. When things are great, run. When they are tough, run. There have been times when taking a break seems counter intuitive but in my experience, it's never counter productive. 

7. Remember your why. Why are we doing this? Because we genuinely believe that we can create a business that can affect the world - at our local community level - for the better. We believe that there is a fair price for a premium product. Our shoes are the first manifestation of this belief. 

8. Stop and listen. Ian and I stopped after two weeks and listened to how each of us felt. Properly listened. We'd worked long hours sat opposite on another for two weeks - in good humour - and through our do-to lists. But we had really been each other's list at all. Talking - and listening - was refreshing and important. 

9. Be prepared to compromise. Sometimes. I remember the quote "no strategy survives contact with the enemy." I think it was said by Field Marshall Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke. As soon as we went live, things changed and we've had to adapt. Forecasts become reports. Hypothesis becomes evidence. The phone rings. We've learnt that not everything is - or really should be - perfect. However many things can be good and everything can be challenged to be better. While everything can change, we do hold on to our three founding principles. Make it beautiful. Make it brilliant. Make it better. This cannot always be done in the pursuit of quick results and revenue.

10. Don't separate brand and performance marketing. The more I hear brands talking about two teams, the more I wonder why it's been divided. I know different campaigns have different objectives and different channels need different skills. However, different disciplines should be working together to join the dots. After all, customers do. 

11. Play the long game. Building a business is a marathon made up of many sprints (agile ref. intended). We oscillate between WTF and LOL and we have to constantly remind ourselves of what we know and what we know we don't know. And we have to forge on. If building a successful business was easy, 'everyone' would do it. Pace yourself. Take a break. Go for a run. 

I love that people who I don't know wear shoes Ian and I made. I love that some of those people have taken the time to compliment us on both the product and the brand. I couldn't ask for more. 

In the next month, I'll learn from mistakes I've made so far and do things differently. That's ok. We will launch a beautiful brogue that has sneaker-like comfort engineered in. In fact, as I write, we are flying to the factory to make them. We will 'pop up' a few times so you can 'try before you buy' (although returns are free so don't hesitate to buy anyway. We will start our content strategy. We want to be a platform for interesting people to share experiences - great and small. We'll deploy email campaigns and new technologies to help make our customers' experience even better. We will plan our first This Mile event - a summer BBQ for people who have been helped to 'get back on track' with boxing and counselling.

Oh, and have some fun. 

One final observation. I think Steve Jobs once said - paraphrasing - 'if you do something you love, you'll never do another day's work in your life.' In so many ways, I feel that this is true. 

Running Seven Feet Apart feels like many things but it beats work hands down. 

The Original 172 and Pioneer are both on sale here: 

www.sevenfeetapart.com