on May 1, 2018
10 YEARS LATER, AND I STILL DON’T HAVE THE ANSWERS
This month, we’re celebrating 10 years in business. Pretty cool, right?
As I reflected on what it took to get here, my marketing brain jumped into hyperdrive, and kept circling around clever, blog-friendly lists that tied in with our milestone. 10 principles every business owner should live by. 10 ways to make it to 10 years. 10 tools we can’t live without. 10 treats I always keep in my desk drawer.
Sure, we could credit making it to this milestone to the tried-and-true principles that are the foundation of every professional development conference/book/podcast/blog/speaker ever – defining goals, knowing your numbers, celebrating wins, learning from failure, giving more than receiving, always be learning, being disciplined, developing systems, blah, blah, blah…
Thanks for the tips, Captain Obvious.
It doesn’t matter if you own a multi-gazillion-dollar international enterprise or a one-person shop that hangs a virtual shingle, or if you’ve been in business for 6 months or 30 years. These things are common sense, and every business I know commits to them. If an aspiring entrepreneur reads that list and is surprised by it, they probably aren’t going to make it 10 days much less 10 years.
The truth is, I really don’t know how we got here. All I know is one day I woke up, looked at the calendar, and realized “Holy crap, Rescue Desk is 10 years old. Where the hell did the time go?!”
I think the key to making it this far lies in perfectly mixed cocktail of stubbornness, stick-to-it-iveness, persistence, faith, grit, and humor. And, of course, a dash of naivety, luck, and humility sprinkled on top.
There is no magic bullet. No secret formula. No one path.
It’s trusting your instincts when it’s time to zig and when it’s time to zag. It’s facing challenges and, sometimes, accepting that you’re going to get your ass handed to you. It’s surrounding yourself with the right people at the right time, and knowing when to listen and what to ignore. It’s digging deep to find the discipline to get all the boring, unsexy stuff done. It’s being terrified of making difficult decisions, but doing it anyway.
It’s knowing when to let go, when to trust the process, and when to believe that one or two small steps back will launch you several giant steps forward. It’s having faith that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
Are we where I’d like us to be after 10 years? Yes and no.
Yes, I’m beyond proud of the amazing and loyal team we’ve built, and the hundreds of clients we’ve served. I love that we are constantly expanding our areas of expertise (mostly by design, but sometimes by accident). It’s awesome when we get to grab opportunities that help us jump a little further out of our comfort zones. I’m honored and humbled every time a client outgrows us; it’s proof that the work we do matters, and another small business is ready to hire a permanent employee.
And no, I’m not anywhere near where I thought we’d be after 10 years. Our profits are definitely not where I’d like them to be (although, to be fair, I challenge anyone to find a business owner who says, “Meh. Our profits are fine. No need to make any more money.”). I still haven’t figured out how to escape the billable-hour model in a way that makes sense. I’ve chosen to keep our firm fairly small and nimble, but I’m constantly challenged by the battle between how much we could grow versus how big we should grow. I have yet to figure out the whole “work smarter, not harder” thing. And I still spend way too much time working in the business instead of on it.
But, as we celebrate our birthday this Spring, I’m not going to worry too much about where I think we should be, and instead applaud exactly where we are. So, we’re going to drink a toast to 10 years of fighting hard, making mistakes, celebrating wins, working as a team, exceeding what we thought was possible, and continuing to chase our big, hairy, audacious goals for the next 10 years.