"Enjoy it now, they grow up very fast"
Most of the time I talk to someone older than me and mention my son (he is four years old) I listen to the advice " enjoy it now, they grow up very fast ”.
That phrase, that at first I did not take it so seriously, now every time I think about it I find more sense; so much so that I even find extensions.
Exactly one year ago, in Tucumán, we had our first team meeting to give birth to Virtual Remote Partner , How do i know? well, technology reminded me today. Today my cell phone reminded me of some photos we took that day with the team with which we started this adventure. Inevitably it brought to mind a lot of memories of that moment and of so many things that happened until today (It was only a year!).
I think apply the phrase “enjoy it now, they grow up very fast” fits perfectly, I don't know when we grew so much, How did we go from a bunch of notes on paper to what we are today !?
I still remember the first meeting, a Monday February 3 at 6.30 p.m. in the offices". We choose that time, since each one had “his work” Y “this” we were going to do it a little in the afternoons, making an extra sacrifice for a few months.
Message sent by WhatsApp on Friday, January 31, 2020 " Monday we meet in the office, But just to meet up and go downstairs to the bar, since we will not have where to sit because there are no chairs and we are going to die of heat because there is no air ”
So it was. Of the four people that we were going to meet, there were only three of us. I had prepared a Power Point to explain the business model, present our first Strategic Plan and the marketing and sales strategy. In addition, we did some team building exercises and the coexistence and respect agreements .
It was one of the best meetings they had, and it was in a bar, tired and hot.
But not always everything was so nice…
In this first year a lot happened, too many, I would say. Suddenly the whole world went into compulsory isolation where companies and businesses were forced to close their doors and it just grabs us "undertaking”; leaving our jobs "safe" to get on a boat to sail under adverse weather conditions.
At that time, it did not measure the amount of things that must be taken into account to start a company; from defining the name, design the logo, choose and equip an office, there were so many things that the to-do list seemed to never end, crossed out two items and wrote three new. Some of those things I didn't even imagine at first.
We were finally able to prioritize, learn and advance.
I remember how difficult it was to stay motivated after spending 3 months without getting any results., but nothing, absolutely nothing. I also remember how we held the first interview we got with a potential client and almost immediately we got 2 more interviews, we do not make sales in any of them, but it was an advance worth celebrating.
Later, having meetings with potential clients became part of our day to day, we were gaining experience and adjusting, until one day we managed to make a sale (And how we celebrate it!). Other sales came from behind, we improve our processes, we strengthen, we invest, we trained and became professional in everything.
Today, a year later we have offices in 3 countries, employees in 6 countries and customers in 5 countries. We received 785 resumes and conducted 173 interviews. We increase and improve our offer of products and services, we specialize.
We became strategic partners.
The road ahead is much longer and more challenging than the one already covered, but we know it will take us as far as we imagine, and for this we are going to continue preparing.
This is the first year of many, so let's “enjoy it now, they grow up very fast".
Happy Anniversary!
Ramiro Chemes CEO – Virtual Remote Partner