I started my consulting LLC in 2014 and recently celebrated 10 years in business. Looking back on this decade—which has both flown past and crawled along at a snail's pace—I'm struck by how much I've learned along the way.
When I launched Springboard Strategy, I was driven by a simple desire: to stop hustling for someone else's dream and build something I could truly own. Something portable that would move with me beyond my current life chapter and location. Something that was mine.
Building a business means becoming comfortable with uncertainty. After 10 years, here's what I wish someone had told me:
Lesson 1: Perfect Later, Help Someone Now
We all want to spend those early months perfecting our brand—crafting the perfect logo, agonizing over website copy, designing beautiful service menus, and perfecting the perfect pitch. But I discovered that the best first step is much simpler: find someone who needs your help and help them.
“Your First Client Won't Care About Your Font Choice"
My first project was a strategic plan for a small nonprofit. I approached them as I would have one of the big corporate brands I'd previously worked with—and quickly realized my mistake. What they truly needed wasn't corporate frameworks or sophisticated analysis. They needed someone to help their team and board make decisions together.
I pivoted, focusing on surfacing key decisions and varying opinions, then facilitating the group through making actual choices. I tracked my time but charged very little, considering that project "tuition" for what would become a decade of delivering strategic planning services.
That single project taught me how to:
Meet clients with what they truly need (not what I assumed they needed)
Price and scope work fairly
Build in boundaries to avoid over-delivering and undercharging
Don't sit quietly at your desk building the perfect go to market plan. Get out there, make first contact with a customer, and build as you go. The real-world experience will teach you more than any amount of preparation ever could.
Stick around for Lesson 2 of '10 Years, 10 Truths: What Building My Own Business Really Taught Me' where I'll reveal why the unsexy behind-the-scenes work—like setting up your LLC and tracking systems—becomes the invisible infrastructure that actually makes freedom possible. The foundation matters more than you think!
