Growth, Part 5: Test, Test, Test Again
Remember to listen to those around you, and then test again.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Once you have your work in a groove, it’s time to do a close inspection, and examine everything from the big picture to the smallest details.
The biggest mistake I feel you can make is assuming that your brain holds all the answers. Opening up ideas to the team at large, even trusted clients, has made it easier for us to adapt quickly to market shifts or client needs. We take the most relevant feedback and we rework it into our processes.
Then we ask for feedback again. And again. And we test things constantly. I open up the floor to many of our contractors, who always have incredible ideas, as they’re closer to the projects than our oversight allows us the time to be (an inevitable expectation of agency ownership). We are always integrating ideas to make us more efficient, to remove user error, and to make us more malleable and flexible to clients’ needs. This is part of the reason we stay so small but are so robust as an agency. We keep it simple, we maintain contact with each area of our business, and we test and implement endlessly instead of getting hosed up in bureaucracy and ego.
Taking your ego out of this game should be simple if you look at your business through a lens of autonomy. It’s almost like having a child — at some point, you have to stop interfering and let them lead the way. It’s incredibly difficult to take your hands out of some of the cookie jars, but there’s no possible way you can do everything or know everything. Even then, what could have been true before may no longer be.
The point is to remain flexible, to listen keenly, and to stop interfering. Talk to the smartest people you know in all areas of business. Implement what works, make it efficient, and then take your hands off the wheel. I probably sound a little off my rocker for saying this, but it wasn’t until I stopped white-knuckling that things started to work. Knowing my lane for my work and how I can direct the business towards the best possible scenarios means that I cannot possibly do all of this on my own. Your team makes all of this possible — and oftentimes drives the real success.
— Mallory Ulaszek, Co-Founder
