$1m+ annual revenue with a team of 10 within 6 years - all bootstrapped, this digital agency focuses on creating Shopify sites for clients (Ben De Jong)

Feb 23, 2020

In this episode, I’ll have a conversation with Ben De Jong, the co-founder of The Cut, a digital-first agency with well established creative branding skills that helps people create great Shopify websites. The Cut is actually Perth's only Shopify Plus partner and Shopify expert partner. Ben and his business partner started the agency back in 2009 after they both moved back from London.

Over a 6 year period, they have grown the agency from the original two founders to a team of more than 10 full-time employees, and have bootstrapped it purely on cash flow to achieve a consistent $1 Million in annual revenues.

One of their biggest mistakes was starting a second online business in 2011 because it took time, resources, and most importantly focus away from their core business. Ben’s advice for any startup owner is to implement simple business systems within the first twelve months, and to not be tempted by opportunities that will affect the business. Stay tuned, learn and go implement as he talks about that and so much more.

This Cast Covers:

• From 2 to 14 employees within 5 to 6 years and a consistent $1 Million annually in revenues.
• Starting a successful online marketing platform for new home builders.
• The diversity and complexity of what a small business owner has to put into the business.
• Focusing on partnership programs, marketing, sales, and building relationships to add the greatest value to the business.
• The biggest mindset shift for Ben in their business growth journey.
• New Business: The number one habit a small business owner needs to develop and maintain.
• How they added people to their team and the lessons they’ve learned.
• Building a sustainable culture to help with business growth.
• On-site versus remote employees: The changing landscape of the workforce 
• Investing more in professional development.
• The challenge of maintaining the focus required to grow a small business.
• The importance of finding an easy to use program to systemise/organise a business from the get-go.

Additional Resources:

• The Cut
• Shopify
• The Shopify Dropify Podcast

Music from https://filmmusic.io "Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Quotes:

“You’re always having mindset shifts if you’re running a small business” - Ben de Jong

“Do not settle to fill a gap” - Ben de Jong

“When you are recruiting, you have to look long and hard to find quality people” - Ben de Jong

“If it’s boring, it’s probably running pretty smoothly” - Ben de Jong