With my family counting on me, I pooled together $7,000 to start my business, and Pulse was established with me, an old laptop, and a phone in the basement of the School House on Harlow Street. In the past six years, I have made innumerous mistakes. Each mistake proved to be an opportunity for growth and I took advantage of every single onethat's why I think we're successful. It's been an amazing journey and I would not change anything.
What started as a need to create a job for me has become a growing small business offering competitive, rewarding jobs for six (soon to be eight) local professionals. What's our secret sauce? Just the basics we learned from our mistakes along the waylearning opportunities I'll gladly share with you:
We're obsessed with our brand.We have worked extremely hard to get where we are and everything we do is focused on building (and maintaining) a reputable brand. We have four main rules:
- No. 1 What happens at Pulse, stays at Pulse. Our clients trust us and we honor their trust at all times.
- No. 2 If we're not proud of it, it's not ready to show our client.
- No. 3 Check, recheck, and check it again. Quality control is a must.
- No. 4 Provide outstanding customer service at all times and do what's best for our brand, even if that costs us money.
We're resilient.We have taken many punches along the way and we know that it's part of the game. If we fall, we get up, figure out why we fell, find the silver lining, and continue our journey. No worries, falling down is part of growing. There's a lesson and an opportunity for growth every time.
We're nimble.Marketing has changed quite significantly since I first began my career in the late 90s. In fact, most of the stuff I learned in my MBA program is now obsoletekind of crazy considering that I graduated nine years ago! We know Pulse needs to stay at the forefront of technology and marketing best practices and we don't rest on our laurels. We understand that there will always be someone out there who will know more than usso we just focus on striving to do better, every day.
We take ownership of our actions.If we make a mistake (and we do make mistakes), we take responsibility for it and fix it. It's my perception that mistakes are bound to happenand we should strive to minimize thembut if we drop the ball, we come clean. This is perhaps one of the most important rules at Pulse.
We're honest.We believe in mutually rewarding business relationships and we know when it's time to move on. We're not the right fit for every client, and vice versa. When it's time to say goodbye, we shake hands and look ahead.
This week we celebrate our 6thanniversary and I could not be happier. Pulse is healthy and growing fast. I thank my family (Sean and Isabel) for trusting me and for helping me get up every time I fell down. I also thank all of the great people who have worked for me in the past and those who are currently walking beside me--Ally Scott, Sarah Osborne, Sarah Bailey, Travis Maynard, Madeline Sim, and our newest intern, Dylan Doyon.
My takeaway here is to remind my fellow marketers and small business owners that every business, in order to succeed, will make mistakes. The important part is to keep striving to do better. We make that our focus and we keep reaching for the stars.
