Only 4% of businesses make it past 10 years. Sunwapta Solutions just celebrated 12 years in business.

Woohoo. (insert fireworks,marching bands and the Flintstones).

For that I am extremely grateful.

This is also my 400th blog post and 2nd video blog. 

It has been quite a rollercoaster ride over the years. Bootstrapping with a $100 initial investment. Not getting paid much for the first year(s). Long hours. Watching our baby grow… and stumble.

I wouldn’t trade it. It has been 12 years of University, Graduate School, Internship and Hard-Experience.

Because without this experience we would not have been in a position to launch our Manifast product and services; and I am extremely excited about that and will have lots to share over the coming days and weeks.

Looking back I think there are some key lessons for longer-term business success.

Great Business Partners

I don’t think I could have made it without my two business partners, Al and Glen. We each brought our unique talents to the mix and kept each other honest. According to Les Mckeown businesses are 5 times more likely to succeed if they have two founders.

Awesome Staff

Some of our employees have been with us over 10 years plus years. Some have come and gone. And some have joined more recently. We’ve always learned from each other and it always felt like family. Having a great team has been essential to success.

Do Excellent Work

We are only recently mastering the art of marketing and sales. However, we’ve always done our best for customers and it shows. Our biggest client has been with us for over 11 years and our PenForms clients continue to rave about the high value support they get.

Have a Plan

We didn’t always have a plan. When we didn’t and were going with the flow, we put ourselves at the most risk. Accoring to Chet Holmes and Anthony Robbins from Business Breakthroughs, you double your chances of success just by having a plan (no mention of good plan or good execution).

A plan means:

  • Have a strategy. 
  • Work on your business. 
  • Develop your people. 
  • Deliver as much value to people and customers as you can.

Perseverance

This was one of the tenets of Tae Kwon Do and it applies to business. Never give up. Change strategies if you must but keep going as long as you can. I’ve always been amazed how easily the average person gives up.

Many business owners quit before they learn enough to succeed. You aren’t born an entrepreneur. Perseverance makes luck possible.

Perseverance allowed us the time to learn what we needed to develop Manifast both from a business and technical perspectve.

We hope to make a big difference in the first statistic I mentioned about 4% success in 10 year… to make allow people to Manifast their dream business and enable everyone involved in it to achieve their full potential.

A big hairy audacious goal but one worth striving for. And we still have lots of growing to do ourselves; but we are going to work with lots of other people to make it happen.

Happy Anniversary Sunwapta!

What are some of the things you are grateful about in your business? Share a comment below.