There's a Myth That Starting a Business Just Takes Courage
There's this myth that starting a business just takes courage.
Courage alone doesn't pay for prototypes. It doesn't cover packaging, production, or the supplier who quoted you hundreds just for samples before you'd sold a single thing.
The truth is messier than that. Building from the ground up as a solo founder without funding means wearing every hat at the same time. Designer. Strategist. Customer service. Marketer. Dreamer. And sometimes the person sitting with a spreadsheet at midnight trying to make the numbers work.
I had to pivot from my original supplier after discovering their sample costs ran into the hundreds. As a self-funded founder that simply wasn't sustainable. So I adapted. I found new manufacturers. I kept refining the designs. The sculptural bag concepts I've been developing aren't going anywhere. They're getting better.
But the pivot taught me something.
Every roadblock has a lesson buried inside it. Not the inspirational kind you put on a graphic. The practical kind. The kind that makes you a sharper operator than you would have been if the first path had worked.
The part nobody talks about loudly enough
There is a quieter, tougher side of entrepreneurship that doesn't make it into the highlight reels. Access to funding.
Small business owners, especially those without a long financial track record, face a specific and exhausting wall. Traditional lenders want proven sales history, steady cash flow, collateral. Things most early-stage founders simply don't have yet.
It creates a cycle. Brilliant ideas struggle to get off the ground not because they lack potential but because the system demands proof before possibility. You need money to make money. But you need a track record to get money. But you can't build a track record without the money.
Most people don't talk about this because it feels like admitting vulnerability. Like it might make you look less serious, less viable, less ready.
I'm talking about it because pretending it isn't hard helps nobody.
What keeps me going anyway
Oriah Nova isn't just about products. It never was.
It's proof. Proof that creative women of colour can build powerful, purposeful brands even without a safety net. Even without the backing. Even when the system isn't designed with us in mind.
The foundation is already here. The community. The belief. The designs that exist and the ones still coming. Funding would help finalise production and launch with the impact this deserves. But even without it, the work continues.
I'm not giving up until the world sees what I see.
And I'm not building quietly anymore.
If you're building too, some things worth knowing
Funding options that don't require traditional credit history exist. Here are a few worth researching if you're a UK-based creative founder:
Innovate UK - actively supports creative industries businesses (Innovate UK Business Connect) and is currently open. Worth checking ukri.org for current competitions relevant to design and creative businesses.
Black Seed VC - based in Brixton, they invest £100,000 to £400,000 in early-stage Black British founders, and at least one co-founder must identify as Black. (LinkedIn) They focus on tech but their community events and network are open more widely.
F100 Growth Fund by BEO - Applications are currently open and close 2nd June 2026. Up to £15,000 equity-free funding for Black-led UK businesses, plus mentorship, workshops and a Demo Day at Sky HQ. (The Black Wall Street Times)
Prince's Trust - still operating best to verify current eligibility on their site.
Crowdfunding - Kickstarter and Indiegogo remain valid.
None of these are guarantees. But they exist. And knowing they exist is the difference between feeling like the system has locked you out and knowing there are doors you haven't tried yet.
For women who are building without a safety net and refuse to stop. Sign up and receive 3 free Oriah Nova digital art prints. Sovereign, Reign, and Audacity.
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For the thoughts you need to think through on paper. The plans, the pivots, the moments you need to map out before you can move forward. oriahnova.com
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