2016 is a significant year for SGC. It will be our 10th year anniversary in September and this milestone will not go without a proper celebration. And to think it all started with a chair.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Typically one starts a new venture with a business plan. A new business needs seriously thought out structure including goals and budgets, forecasts and revenue predictions. Where would my company be located? How do I go about building a website? I’ll need business cards and a phone number and accounting software. A bank account needs to be opened. But first, as I stood outside a store in Selinsgrove PA looking longingly through their display window, I knew I need to buy THAT chair.
My chair is the motivator that got me started. I loved the color and based my logo around the colors of the chair. “In this chair I could achieve anything”, I thought. I pictured myself seated in my own office with a big antique desk, some computer equipment and a chalkboard (I have always loved chalk boards – way before they became so vogue). On that chalkboard I wrote my business plan: You Will Not Fail. It was that simple – I had no choice but to make this company work. Failure was not an option. And I planned to do this in the comfort of this beloved new chair.
SGC is no longer the little staffing company it was back in 2006. I am no longer the naïve business woman who spent many hours hustling all by myself to make this business grow. There are many people who mentored me along the way (you know who you are!) and my staff is irreplaceable (read previous blogs). I even now have banks taking my calls. My little business plan that read “You Will Not Fail” has somehow worked and provided many people with great livelihoods. I still have an occasional lunch with my very first hire, continue to nourish my network, and pay attention to the smallest details.
Fast forward 10 years to 2016 where you will find me happily walking into my office full of chalkboards. It’s in a much larger space than where I started 10 years ago, yet every day I settle behind the comfort of my desk, continuing to grow my business in my slightly tattered, beloved chair.
