How We Built A $4.2M/Year Business By "Mastering The Mundane"
This is a follow up story for Bodify. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 5 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you
My sister, Melissa, and I always had a dream to run a business together. Our passions and interests took us on different routes early on but inevitably we were shown an opportunity that we fell in love with. My sister was running a medical spa that offered CoolSculpting, she invited me in to do a treatment for free several months after my treatment when my lower abdomen had transformed dramatically, I knew we should build our business around this technology.
We try to buy the practice from the doctor my sister worked for and he politely declined, but he told us to go out on our own and pursue our dreams, and so we did.
Over the last 7 1/2 years, we have built an incredible team and continued to dedicate ourselves to a single service, CoolSculpting, which is the world's number one noninvasive fat reduction technology. We have two locations and six staff members, we are incredibly proud of our culture and the experience we deliver to every client.
I remember when we started and we made $3,600 in one day Melissa and I looked at each other and said, “wow if we could just do this every single day, that would be amazing” Little did we know we would make close to $4 million of revenue a year offering a single service.
Over the years several companies have approached and asked if we were open to selling we have continually declined.
The partners had never been the right fit, and Melissa and I both knew if and when the time came to sell we would both know it in our gut.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
Business is a contact sport, you can never sit on your laurels and assume things will continue to go up and to the right. The last several years have had many ups and downs as most small businesses know. However, we have remained strong because we understand the fundamentals and we never stopped marketing.
The numbers in our business make sense and therefore we were not crippled as many small businesses were who operate on a very small profit margin.
I like new challenges, being creative, and finding new ways to do things, so I often struggle with the idea of continuing to do what we do daily. It works beautifully, but the entrepreneur in me is called to shake things up.
Something we are deeply proud of, throughout the pandemic and everything else, we have continued to have the same team, never let go of anyone, and continue to offer the same experience to our clients.
30% of our revenue last year came from existing clients, this is an often overlooked area for a business. Businesses tend to focus on getting new leads and new clients but the truth is, if we continue to deliver exceptional results and an incredible experience to our existing clients, they continue to come back again and again and freeze different body parts and we also have a much higher referral rate than many practices because our clients' trust, respect, and appreciate us and are happy to send in friends and family.
We still believe the surround sound effect with marketing serves us best, we don’t believe we could take anything away from the mix and still thrive. We have to have a presence on multiple platforms as potential clients are educated and intelligent and will go to multiple platforms to verify our credibility and authenticity.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
Bodify grew tremendously from year 1 to 2, 2 to 3, and 3 to 4, although we knew in our hearts we would not experience that same level of growth most likely after that (unless we added more locations), it is still painful emotionally and psychologically as a business owner to not see the type of increase you did in the first several years.
I like new challenges, being creative, and finding new ways to do things, so I often struggle with the idea of continuing to do what we do daily. It works beautifully, but the entrepreneur in me is called to shake things up. What we do at Bodify is not sexy, but we have mastered the mundane and that is why we continue to win and thrive every year.
We have come to understand and appreciate that at this stage we have to become more ninja, there isn’t a single thing we can do that will make revenue grow by 50% outside of adding additional locations. But we are not satisfied with leveling off either, so we have to find ways to incrementally improve and the aggregate of those improvements will impact revenue positively.
We have to segment our database more effectively and we have to up our game in many areas to see an uptick in revenue growth year over year. This is exciting and fun but can also be frustrating.
If you’re not growing, be willing to look at the things you did originally that you stopped doing. Everyone, including myself, gets comfortable and gets lazy it is our job to continually relight the fire and fuel it.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
Running a business offers continual lesson learning. I had no idea that being a leader would require so much self-reflection and work, but I love it.
Learning to let go and truly understand that there are things I am not in control of is a lesson a butt up against often. I work hard daily to remember the only thing I am 100% in control of are my responses to those things I’m not in control of.
I have learned to trust my intuition and my gut, and I also trust that if I continue to do the right things, that things will always work out.
Some so many entrepreneurs would never have this perspective, and that’s OK, but it’s the one I have chosen and the one that has worked for me brilliantly.
I am deeply passionate about what we do and being a business owner, I was married in 2018 and Chad is a powerful reminder that my life should not and cannot revolve around work. I continually work to remember this. He is the most meaningful relationship I have and there is a delicate balance between building an incredible present and future for us and also not letting days, weeks, and years go by in a blink of an eye with my head down just working.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
Numbers always tell a story, but we can’t forget to look at the context. Peloton is such a great example of this.
They had the most incredible year during the pandemic, and then their sales plummeted, although this felt like a massive fail, the truth is their numbers were inflated during the pandemic and they were not a true reflection of the growth of the business.
So if you compare 2020 to 2021 and 2022 you probably want to cry, but if you look at 2019 and compare it to 2022, hopefully, you have a better understanding of the growth of the company.
I share this because the last several years have had several scenarios that could deeply impact a company's growth or decline and we must keep that front of mind so we don’t judge ourselves too harshly or try to grow too quickly
Remember the fundamentals, go back to basics, if you’re not growing, be willing to look at the things you did originally that you stopped doing. Everyone, including myself, gets comfortable and gets lazy it is our job to continually relight the fire and fuel it.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We would love to hire an individual who has a knack and a passion for building business-to-business relationships. We have built a handful of these and they are a beautiful revenue source for Bodify and the other business. As a small, local, and woman-owned business we believe this type of endeavor helps support other small local businesses as well.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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