Happy Anniversary, Boon! - 7 things we learned in 7 years.
Happy anniversary Boon! We all work remotely, so try to get together twice per year to celebrate in-person. This is a quick snap from our summer get-together.
Phew! It feels like yesterday when we were just getting things off the ground here at Boon, but lo and behold, seven years, 16 team members, 60+ happy clients, and countless spreadsheets later, we’re here celebrating our birthday!
In honor of this momentous occasion, we decided we deserved a mini makeover (have you seen our rebrand?), and have been feeling reflective as we look back on how far our small business has come. And so, we wanted to share seven lessons we’ve learned in our first seven years in business.
You have to create goals. (Yup, seriously).
Boon started as a dream, to create a place for people with their own dreams to grow and be successful. But before we could get to that ultimate vision, we needed to figure out how to steer the ship in that direction. This is just as true for the brands we work with as it is for our own demand planners.
Sitting down prior to the start of each new year to review how last year went, what we want to improve on, what to repeat, and what to add in makes all the difference—and provides direction. Since Boon started as a solopreneurship, Mary initially did this on her own, but once Boon started to grow, this ‘sitdown’ evolved into an offsite with Boon’s VP of Solutions. (Two heads are better than one, afterall!)
Creating goals gives you direction and helps you decide when to say, “Yes!” and when to say, “No,” because every ‘yes’ to something unimportant is a ‘no’ to something that actually matters.
2. “Hope is not a strategy.”
Hope is an essential part of life—but it’s certainly not a strategy to rely upon when it comes to work. That’s why this little phrase has become a favorite catchphrase among our team. At Boon, strategizing ties into everything we do—from creating goals, to forecasting, to working with experts. When we create our yearly goals, identify an area that could improve upon, or have a new idea, the VERY NEXT STEP is creating a strategy for implementation. If your goal is to get across the river, you need to first figure out a way to do it without just diving in head first.
We put strategy behind everything we do at Boon—from new client acquisition and satisfaction to team engagement. Developing strategy has enabled Boon to continuously grow year over year—and not just when it comes to headcount, but in a dollars in the bank kind of way! Strategies need to continually be refined, so stay hungry because what worked last year won’t necessarily work this year—and that’s just as true for our client approach as it is for our team internally.
3. Even the forecasters have to forecast.
As you may know, forecasting is kind of our thing, so we may be a bit biased about how useful it is, but we’ve found that the tactics we use daily for our clients work just as well for the day-to-day at Boon. This includes forecasting labor needs, doing scenario planning, and looking at upside and some downside potential to give you an understanding of your business’ range. For instance, how many new clients are too many without hiring another team member? Or, what would the revenue picture look like if a certain number of clients didn’t renew their contract?
Figuring out those high and low thresholds will help your leadership really develop a comfort level and understanding of when you need to be in emergency mode. Plus, forecasting a timeline ties right in to having a strategy for accomplishing your goals (lesson #2!). You don’t have to stick to it exactly but if you don’t have a deadline, it’s easy just not to do it.
Growing business means starting with your goals, strategizing how to accomplish those goals with helpful tactics, and grounding those tactics on a timeline. This will help you to stop, start, and continue booming behaviors!
4. Even experts need help sometimes…
Yes, even us! Boon regularly tells its clients that external support is a more efficient way to upgrade your processes and inventory accuracy than doing it on your own or relying on trial and error, so oftentimes, we need to follow our own advice!
When Boon was just getting started, we primarily gained clients via word of mouth, but rather quickly, there was enough client work that Mary couldn’t manage it on her own. As Mary onboarded additional Boon consultants, she also needed legal and accounting solutions to ensure she handled things right from the get-go. All these years later, we’ve received support from copywriters, marketing agencies, CXOs, branding experts, IT, and more. Working with outside experts empowers us to elevate our company culture and client offerings much more efficiently than if we relied on our own internal skills alone.
5. It’s OK to be scared, but do it anyway (and quickly!)
Starting to create a business plan, investing in a new initiative, working with a mentor, hiring a team—whatever you’re considering might seem like a risk, but waiting until you know the exact outcome likely means you’ll not be doing anything new or innovative. Just trust your instincts!
As a new business trying to establish your reputation and viability, you can’t waste time on things that aren’t going to work. In your forecasting, you’ll figure out how much up- or down-side you can afford, (financially at least—mental exhaustion matters too!) so you have guidelines for when to pull the plug.
In our experience, setting goals and figuring out a strategy means you’ve overcome the hardest part. You’ve done the troubleshooting, and while the path forward might not be entirely clear, you’ve got to keep going! Lean into the risk—after all, “Perfect is the opposite of done!”
6. Empower your team to be intraprenuers and own their roles
But once you do, back away and trust them to handle it! It’s one thing to say your team has autonomy, and it’s another thing to actually give them that freedom. Empowering your team to deliver to clients independently requires a high degree of trust, communication, and support—but it’s so worth it!
Each member of our team works according to their own schedule, creates tools and reporting based on client requests, and delivers in a timely fashion without continual over-the-shoulder micromanaging from the boss. We’re encouraged to come to leadership with proposals and ideas of how to improve operations at Boon and streamline offerings and services for our clients. Because of this, our team feels valued, recognized, and included—no pizza parties necessary!
This culture allows us to collaborate better and feel more motivated to deliver exceptional results than working in a more traditional corporate structure. This mode of operation has an impact on leadership, too, allowing everyone to chime in and share ideas. The spirit of learning is present in all of Boon, and it’s enabled us to be nimble and innovative as we grow, rather than slowing us down.
7. Take the time to celebrate, because entrepreneurs can be their own worst enemies
It’s so easy to get stuck in DOING mode, especially after you’ve created all of those goals and strategized and forecasted them. When you’re the driving force behind your business, the buck stops with you, which makes it SUPER easy to just keep going. In fact, taking a moment to see how far you’ve come or slowing down to celebrate can almost feel like a waste of time.
However, it’s important to have an anchor point. You need to actually STOP sometimes to remember that you don’t have to always do three things at once. You deserve a pat on the back once in a while for doing everything you do to keep your business going. Otherwise, you risk ending up feeling completely isolated and resentful.
Celebration is a motivator, and a necessary part of refilling your cup so you can get up and do it all again tomorrow. If that’s not enough, your team needs it! This is your dream that they’re giving their all for, so show them how much it matters to you that they go the extra mile!
It’s been our pleasure
If you’ve worked with Boon, we hope you’ve seen some of these values shine through—and if we haven’t made your acquaintance yet, we hope to soon. In the meantime, we’ll be working toward making these next seven years even better than the last!
