Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in marketing but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Devin Ambron, Chief Marketing Officer of Builtwell Digital, located in Austin, TX, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Builtwell Digital is a growth and conversion-focused marketing agency in Austin, TX. We create human-to-human growth marketing with clients like the National Institute of Health, TEDx, Ticketmaster, and over 30 different startups, health-tech companies, and services firms internationally. In an era of automation - customers are screaming for the opposite and seek human connection with companies. We've created a powerful system that takes the best of UX Design and created what we call MX (Marketing Experience Design) to help businesses experience rapid growth with less burden on their budget by putting their customer clearly in focus.
Tell us about yourself
Motivation comes naturally to me in business because I enjoy the challenge of solving difficult problems and enjoy understanding complex systems to find areas for improvement. Where other people easily tire of the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship, I find it intriguing. The promise of working on interesting business problems with brilliant people and the need to work on several projects at once got me to start my own companies. I've used my sick obsession with doing the hard things to find various companies with an extensive background in marketing, tech, systems, speaking, movement/community building, and running various networking/summit events.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
It's been six years since I've relied on a corporate salary. Being in business for myself over all these years has been the biggest success for me. I was crippled for years with fear of what it would be to rely on myself or client work in my business to make ends meet. Don't get me wrong; there have been hard times along the way. I have experienced times where I wanted to let go and return to the stability of a job, but I have realized that my value as an entrepreneur and problem solver is greater when working with a variety of clients. Being involved in many projects at once and having multiple streams of revenue help keep me and my team sustained.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Ultimately I am a builder and strategist at heart. It's simple for me to take businesses from idea to done, but the day-to-day maintenance of business has always been a struggle for me. I've learned to lean on my team and colleagues to help maintain consistency.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Don't waste too much time on creating business cards or logos. The last few businesses I started were off of a Google Doc. Find something people will buy, listen to your prospects/customers, and charge for it. Traction comes through, getting the first few dollars in the door. Then there are a lot of learning experiences that happen further on down the road.
When it comes time to hire your first staff member, always look for someone completely opposite of you. If you're highly focused on sales, you should get someone to assist with operations to ensure your customers get what they paid for. It's human tendency to hire people that are exactly like us but hiring to my weaknesses has saved me a lot of time and frustration once I learned this.
Finally, every business has a similar lifecycle. At first, you will focus on sales. Then once revenue is consistent, you will focus on hiring. Once the team is developed, you will focus on scaling. Each stage requires a different skill set, and it is so important to understand where you are. Stay focused when in each stage to see the highest levels of growth.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://builtwelldigital.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dambron/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dambron
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dambron/
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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