Running 3 Businesses: The Honest Weekly Reality | Founder's Diary - EP1

Founder Journey

About this week's journey

This first Founder Journey entry sets out what the series is intended to show: a weekly view of building businesses that includes the difficult parts as well as the progress. Chris explains that the aim is to document what is actually happening behind the scenes rather than present a polished version of entrepreneurship.

The biggest theme this week is the strain of running three businesses at once. Thread A Pixel is the branded workwear business, Two Krakens covers video production and podcast studio work, and Built Not Born In Business is increasingly becoming a business in its own right. Although the three share audiences, resources and interests, Chris describes the reality as trying to steer three ships with only two people at the centre of them.

That pressure shows up in several different ways. Thread A Pixel is entering the school summer holiday period, when some team members who work term time are away. Chris and Helen value being able to offer that flexibility, but it still leaves practical questions about how the workload is covered during a six-week stretch.

At the same time, the content side of the business is busy. New guests are being booked for Built Not Born In Business, a podcast recording with Nicola Anderson has been completed, and another planned recording had to be postponed after Gavin Bell's flight was delayed. With the podcast moving towards a weekly schedule, Chris recognises that cancellations make it increasingly important to build a stronger bank of finished episodes.

Two Krakens also has significant production work under way, including further filming at Jaguar Land Rover and the final filming day on a documentary project. That documentary work reinforces something Chris has been thinking about: he enjoys client projects, but also wants space for creative work where the team has greater freedom. His conclusion is that some form of passion project needs to sit alongside commercial production work.

The week also brought more personal perspective. Hearing that two customers had passed away in a short period prompted more conversations between Chris and Helen about what they want their future to look like. Helen also received the all clear following her operation, which was an important positive moment in an otherwise demanding week.

There is no neat answer at the end of the episode. The immediate problem is how to allocate time and energy between three businesses without constantly being pulled from one priority to another. That unresolved tension is exactly what the Founder Journey series is designed to capture: what decisions look like while they are still being worked out.