In August 2018 we formally launched Bridge. This was 13 years on since I last started a business. Over that period of time it's fair to say my glasses had become heavily rose tinted regarding those 'do or die' early years. In my mind's eye it was a time filled with laughter, excitement and intrigue. We merrily skipped around our crappy little office above a curry house, conjuring game changing ideas, that somehow, always worked. We waltzed into opportunities with ease, dazzled customers with our wares and winning came easy. This was fuelled by the spirit of the underdog and a bottomless pit of self motivation.
Funnily enough, as I now remember it, this isn't quite how it played out.
Sure, there was definitely a lot of this but also a boat load of stress, anxiety and doubt that Old Father Time had helped me to forget. So, the second time round, with Bridge, I've been occasionally sporting a grimace of remembrance as I've stumbled through those early year growing pains, ripping mental band-aids off of my memory banks as I go.
In conclusion, starting and growing a business, isn't easy. Even if you've done it before.
So, aside of this glaringly obvious admission, what's been going on?
Well, I like to think, a lot. Especially when you consider Sales Enablement is a market and practice area that's still in its relative infancy. We've worked really hard at integrating ourselves into the Sales Enablement community in order to understand how best we can help customers. And with that, we've assumed a duty of care to drive that conversation forwards, increasing awareness and understanding of Sales Enablement as a going and growing concern. This is why we've continued to invest in running, attending and speaking at so many events.
We've won some great clients. We've deepened our relationships with key partners. We've started to develop a great team and culture. We've designed and built strategies, sales tools, apps, content, onboarding programmes and training curriculums. With everything being delivered through the application of best practice Sales Enablement principles and our own methodologies.
We've learnt a lot, we've got some things wrong, we've got some things right.
What will the next 12 months have in store for us? I honestly wish I knew but I don't, so we'll just crack on and see where we end up.
To celebrate our birthday we made a cake in the form of a 60 second showreel / recap video. Tasty.
I've been occasionally sporting a grimace of remembrance as I've stumbled through those early year growing pains, ripping mental band-aids off of my memory banks as I go.