Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Rayanne Beaudry, co-owner of Avalanche Creative, located in Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Avalanche Creative is an SEO and web design agency. We help businesses of all sizes generate inbound leads by creating empathy-built content through an evidence-based SEO approach.
Tell us about yourself
Avalanche Creative began as my husband's digital marketing side hustle. I acted as a sounding board and free advisor for the first couple of years before I started to get the entrepreneurial itch. I pitched in at Avalanche when I had time outside of my full-time job at a nonprofit organization, and in 2019, my husband and I worked together to narrow Avalanche's focus and find the intersection of our expertise and the market's demand. That intersection was SEO. As soon as we committed to that niche, our workload really began to grow, and my husband knew that he needed to expand the team in order to meet clients' needs. He also knew he wasn't the right person to hire a team. We decided to take a leap of faith, and I quit my full-time job, started an MBA program, and joined Avalanche Creative long-term. Since then, we've grown our revenue by nearly 500% and have grown our team to 11 employees. As the more internally-focused co-owner, I'm motivated every day by building a culture of people who love their jobs and passionately care about creating a great experience and getting great results for our clients.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We committed to starting to grow our team at the end of 2019. After a very rocky start with a short-lived W2 employee, we brought on a couple of contractors with the intention of hiring them full-time in the Spring of 2020. Of course, the Spring of 2020 did not quite go as planned. We quickly had to learn how to lead a business and team through a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that caused a handful of clients to unexpectedly pause their contracts and left us with endless unknowns. While this was a wild time to grow a business, we learned a lot through the experience and still were able to grow our revenue and team exponentially that year and in the years since. I consider it a great accomplishment to not just survive the pandemic but come out the other side stronger and more resilient than ever.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
As a husband-wife owner team, our business is our first baby, and it's hard not to take everything personally. For clients, employees, vendors, and partners, it's "just business," and we're not always met with the compassion and care that we bring into our work every day. It can be very hard to separate our personal feelings from the business, which can be quite emotionally draining.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Have thick skin. Per my previous answer, no one will ever care about your business as much as you do, and you will often feel let down or betrayed by others. If you don't grow thick skin, you simply won't survive.
- Be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices. Your time, energy, money, emotions, and relationships will all have their moments of getting the short end of the stick. You have to be ready to go through the fire if you want to come out the other side with something to show for it.
- Be intentional. Create a strategy and a plan, and be very clear about who you are and where you're going as a business. Nothing sustainable happens by accident, and getting really clear on your vision will change the trajectory of your business.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://avalanchegr.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avalanchegr/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avalanche.creative/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/avalanche-creative-llc/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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