Integrity Matters.
As many of you know, we moved our business from Denver, CO to a small mountain town high in the Rockies. We live, work, and play in a town of approximately 5,000 and business is booming. Why? In part: Our small-town mindset.
Soul Graphics has always been committed to doing things the right way — whether it’s meticulous billing, standing by an original quote, spending the necessary time researching new methods, or working through training slowly and patiently, it’s part of our value-add as a business. We hang in there until the job is done, and done well.
With our business relocation, we evaluated the impact a smaller town would have on our revenue. We gave ourselves a year to get rooted and get off the ground in a new place. Basically, a “ok, this is our goal for year one; this is what we need to move forward sucessfully.” What we weren’t planning for was business growth in a small town, in year one.
It’s been a wonderful surprise and here are the reasons we think we’ve been on a positive growth projection:
Locals want to support local businesses.
The ‘local’ movement has been around for a while, but working in a small town we feel the commitment to this mindset much more. Simply put, other community members want to support each other. For instance, we shop at our local stores and avoid Walmart, and for good reason. The more money that stays in the community, the more vibrant services that are offered. Our community does a great job supporting each other and our business has benefited from this too.
Slowing down personally has allowed for more creativity.
We’ve had to adjust to down time. Sometimes — and I dare say it — we’re bored. Our culture leans into busy-ness and breaking out of this cycle takes some internal work. We read that people who feel busy are really just out of control of their time management and have tried to learn from this tenant. However, now that we’re used to more free time, we are much more creative. Late night dish washing led to this article idea. Opening up your mental space allows for creativity to flow in.
Competition is different.
Our community is filled with brilliant artists and smart business owners. However, compared to tech-centric Denver, there are different skill sets that are more popular in the area. Thankfully for us, web design and marketing balances the community well and people need our help.
Our small business mindset is valued
Within the web and graphic design industry, it’s pretty easy to get priced out. There’s competition all over the planet that can undercut your pricing schedule. We even wrote about why it’s still worth paying for a web designer in the past. While price is one element of picking a business partner, it is important to find an ethical and committed collaborator. Our focus on these elements has paid off and people want to work with us.
We’ve been lucky (and also intentional) in our move. Not everyone can move to a small town (or necessarily wants to), but these values can work in any business size. Slowing down and focusing on partnerships will work in any environment. When reflecting on our various occupations over the years, the deadlines met and the numbers reached only had so much impact on performance. It was the interpersonal relationships and commitment to our integrity that has left a lasting impact.
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