Eight years.
By Jeff White: Jan 05, 2012
Filed Under: Jeff
Three years ago on this day, I wrote this post: Five years ago today, my life changed forever.
If you want to know how I started this business originally, have a read of that post. The basic gist of it is this: my oldest child was born on this day in 2004. The company I was working for (who had attempted to recruit me for most of a year) laid me (and the rest of the department) off one week later. I vowed to never be an employee again and here we are eight years later, and I seem to have kept that resolution.
Much has happened in the three years since I wrote that post. Two years ago, Carman Pirie, then VP Social Media at Colour and I decided that we wanted to build a new kind of agency. One that used the power of the social web to help advance the marketing goals of our clients. It was really just an extension and focusing of Brightwhite’s core abilities.
These posts have a way of becoming braggy, and I don’t want that to happen, but I do want to share a little of what we’ve managed to accomplish in eight (short) years.
- Grown the business from one person in a tiny spare bedroom (seriously it was 7′ by 9′!) jammed between my daughter’s crib and the bathroom in our minuscule 150 year old farmer’s cottage to seven people in a beautiful loft space on Grafton Street in downtown Halifax
- Worked with hundreds of wonderful people at companies as tiny as we are up to huge multinational corporations and governmental organizations
- Advocated for a better life in a city that I love
- Travelled all over Canada to meet with clients and partners
- Started speaking professionally and had the opportunity to offer lectures and train people all over the Atlantic Provinces
And there’s much more to come. Our client list continues to grow, and the projects are getting bigger, more challenging and technically interesting. Our processes have been refined to a point where I don’t need to worry about work getting done when we’re out meeting new prospective clients. Our team is incredibly capable and the work we’re putting out there is the best we’ve ever produced.
I’m incredibly excited for what’s coming next. We have some amazing internal initiatives, awesome clients and projects, and we’ll be looking to add to our growing team throughout 2012.
All that to say this: if you’re thinking of working for yourself, do it. There is no better time than now. It’s as rewarding as it is stressful, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
January 5, 2012
11:01 am
Great post Jeff! I’m excited to be setting off on my own this year (in a more concrete way) and posts like this make me more confident in that decision.
Congrats on eight years of self-employment!
January 5, 2012
11:05 am
Awesome, thanks Chris and good luck with your venture.
January 5, 2012
11:37 am
Indeed, there’s lots of lip service paid to the ‘value of small business’, but it’s rarely what the focus is for government.
A lot of time is spent creating systems for loans and other programs that only benefit midsize and larger companies that fall into a very specific formula. We spend millions bailing out dead businesses like paper mills that employ far fewer people than small businesses employ, and have ZERO future. Most small businesses I know don’t need loans. They need better tax rates, better marketing, and less red tape standing in their way.
January 5, 2012
11:27 am
Nice Jeff, and congrats to you and Carmen and your crew. I started working for myself fulltime in July 1987, and I also recommend it highly. Too bad government has never really seen the power of small business and dedicated entrepreneurs.
Steve
January 5, 2012
11:50 am
Congrats! You guys rock, seriously, so I’m not surprised
Back in the Brightwhite days even you were still the company that stood out to me as really getting it.
January 7, 2012
2:24 pm
Congratulations Jeff to you, Carmen and your team. Your post is not “braggy” at all, but rather serves to inspire other such self-motivated individuals.
I was a photographer in our family business for 9 years, then ran my own studio for another 8 years when Dad decided to retire. When I decided to change my career path I closed the business and went to work in the “corporate world”. I spent 6 years in a cubicle dying a slow death, till one day I smartened up and handed in my resignation.
I immediately headed to the local pub to celebrate my regained freedom and vowed to never work for anyone else again. Of course, at the same time, I was scared as hell – I suddenly had no income other than a few tiny consulting jobs.
That was 7 years ago. My business continues to grow and I am loving every minute of it – the daily challenges, the constant learning, the sleepless nights, the ups and the downs.
January 7, 2012
4:26 pm
Wonderful, thanks Mark. Love to hear stories like this.
January 11, 2012
8:24 am
Love this post, Jeff!
I’m a number of years behind you since making a similar decision (albeit, under different circumstances) but your words and proudness (is that even a word?) feels extremely for my own situation.
You guys have done, and continue to do great things and I’m glad to say we’ve been partners on some projects.
Keep it up!
January 11, 2012
8:28 am
*your words and proudness read extremely true to my own situation*
Apparently my fingers hadn’t caught up with my brain yet this morning
February 24, 2012
5:10 pm
Jeff,
I continue to be very proud of your success and am very happy our friendship has survived so many corporate curveballs since 1996.
Cheers to Self-Employment !!!
February 24, 2012
5:16 pm
Thanks Marc! Beer or coffee soon?