Four Lessons We've Learned in Four Years

​SBS officially turned four this October—and to celebrate, we asked Sarah to share everything she’s learned so far. But that could take up a whole book! So instead, she narrowed it down to the top four lessons she’s learned in the past four years. In her own words, here are those lessons.

1. You Have to be Ruthless About Prioritizing Your Marketing Time

It’s really important to pick and choose what channels you’re using. Your strategy should always be guided by why you’re doing the marketing. 

Research shows the average consumer uses social media for 116 minutes per day. If you can be targeted and strategic in your messaging, your chances of capturing their attention improve significantly. Let go of what doesn’t serve you so that you have more time for the channels (and strategies) that matter most.

2. Office Hours Can Improve Productivity

I recently read It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson (co-founders of 37 Signals/Basecamp). It reinforced a lot of my fundamental beliefs about running a business.

One tactic Fried and Hansson focus on is the benefits of office hours, which ideally create: “...calmer days, longer stretches of uninterrupted time, and planned moments when [one] can enter a more professional mode to teach, help and share.”

Not only do we embrace this concept, we're happy to report it’s helped us serve dozens of nonprofits in 2018 through pro-bono consulting time. Our Nonprofit Office Hours are available each week on a first-come, first served basis (and are highly productive). 

3. Ask for Help When Needed

Not only am I indebted to my incredible team, but also to an amazing array of mentors, collaborators, and resources that have made starting and running my business possible. Madison in particular has a wealth of resources for entrepreneurs.

Some of the people and organizations that have made it possible to grow our business include: 

• Small Business Development Center at the Wisconsin School of Business
• Wisconsin Procurement Institute
• Doyenne Group
• Women's Business Development Council in Chicago
• MERLIN Mentors
• UW Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic
• DreamBank Madison

We look forward to joining the Spring Cohort of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in the spring.

4. Trust is a Valuable Gift

None of this would be possible without the trust and collaboration of our clients. It means a great deal to be entrusted with a company’s vision and brand, and it never ceases to thrill us when a client calls to tell us we’ve made their life easier through our services.

To all of our clients: I and my team are so grateful to you them in our lives—and we are inspired by the work you do each day. If I could send cupcakes to each and every one of you, I would. But instead I hope you’ll accept my sincerest gratitude. Thank you for making my first four years memorable. ​