Lessons Learned + Successes of 2022
Episode 710: Show Notes
In the process of reflecting on our mistakes and successes for 2022, we realized that for all of the “mistakes” (except one) that we’ve made, we would actually classify them as lessons-learned instead. So, in this episode, we go over the key lessons that we’ve learned this past year and some of our most memorable success stories. Overall, this year was very challenging but we are feeling so good about what we’re creating, who is along for the ride with us, and what 2023 holds!
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Success One: Our Team
Sometimes you don’t realize the extent of the impact of an action until much later on. That was the case for us with our team. We went through a stage where we thought we would never want to have employees again, but because of our culture of experimentation and our curious natures, we decided to give it a try. We have spent so much of this year learning how to be better leaders and creating communication channels and establishing a company culture that is based on our values. It took a full 12 months, but with the team, we have now, we couldn’t be happier!
Success Two: Pivoting Smoothly
As a CEO, you always want to be a few steps ahead of the changes that are happening in the world around your business (consumer spending, for example). Although we knew that change was inevitable, in the first half of 2022, we chose to double down on what we knew was working in our business. Then, with a firm foundation in place, in the second half of the year, we pivoted, built a team around us, and saw incredible growth as a result.
Success Three: Rolling Out Benefits
The decision to roll out benefits for our team was nothing short of a game-changer for our business. From healthcare and 401(k) to time off and wellness additions, expanding our employee benefits is one of the most impactful decisions that we made in 2022. The benefits that we offer uphold our values and enable our team (and us!) to feel fulfilled and operate optimally at work and at home. To give you an idea of how much we value rest, we closed our business for an entire month in 2022, and it only had positive effects!
Key Lessons Learned
The tide officially turned this year in the advertising realm, and even though we knew it was coming, the change still hit us like a brick wall. There are still people making great ROIs with paid advertising, but in our space, it became a whole lot more difficult to target customers after the privacy changes came into place. What we learned from the shock that we received when this change happened is that it’s worth diversifying your source of income so that (ideally) no more than 15% of it comes from one source.
The Big Mistake
When you’re growing a business, you have to make different decisions at each stage of the journey. This year, we chose growth and we chose to hire ahead of that growth. From a financial standpoint, hiring ahead of growth was a big mistake. Ultimately, everything shook out the way it needed to but it was a very painful process and if we could do it again, we would have approached the growth process very differently. Take note: savings are essential!
Quote This
As a CEO, you want to be three to six months ahead of any major change in consumer spending or industry.
Highlights
Success One: Our Team. [0:12:37]
Success Two: Pivoting Smoothly. [0:16:15]
Success Three: Rolling Out Benefits. [0:20:55]
Key Lessons Learned. [0:30:19]
The Big Mistake. [0:37:20]
Today’s Guest:
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
The Strategy Hour Podcast is a twice weekly show hosted by Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams, the founders of Boss Project. Join us for semi-ranty biz conversations for service providers looking to ethically grow their agency businesses. Episodes cover everything from lead generation to leadership mindset to team culture and beyond.
Key Topics:
Lessons learned, Success Stories, Mistakes, Pivoting, Hiring, Offering benefits, Team building, Importance of time off, Diversifying income, Growth strategy
