“Happily Ever After” is Not a Good Business Strategy

Fairy Tales. Shakespeare. Jane Austen. Rom-Coms. A happy ending in Western culture almost always ends with a marriage - the resolution of opposing forces into happy, peaceful unification.

Modern storytelling, even on reality TV, is no different. “Happily ever after” still means the creation of a partnership - whether it’s on The Bachelor, Joe Millionaire, or even in business deals like Shark Tank. The happy ending is the one where the parties make a deal and live “happily ever after.” No deal made? That’s a sad ending.

Running our company our way

But the decision we made while we were on Project Runway: Fashion Startup - not to take an investment - was a happy ending for Princess Awesome. We knew how much our business was worth. We knew how much equity we would be willing to give, and for what price. We had carefully calculated how much each investor would be worth to us, and how much we were willing to negotiate. In the end, we did not come to an agreement with any of the investors, and that’s ok. It’s still a happy ending for us - because no deal is a better outcome than a bad deal, for either party.

Not every coupling leads to “happily ever after” - and not every parting of ways is the opposite. At Princess Awesome, we’re committed to empowering girls to honor their interests and value their integral worth. “Happy endings” that force one person to compromise their core values or devalue themselves in order to unite with another are not laudable - not in fairy tales, not in our own romantic lives, and certainly not in business deals. We all love seeing unions at the ends of stories, but sometimes walking away can be far more empowering and happier.

Cheers!