Spark Content

We’ve worked together for years, but we were still excited to celebrate Spark’s one-year anniversary recently. Although, we almost missed it because we were so busy!

To mark the occasion, we celebrated with a team lunch, taking a few minutes to think about what we’ve learned over the last year and make a resolution for the year to come.

1. Don’t panic when all of the projects come in at once!

As contractors, we are at the mercy of other people’s timelines. We can sketch out a project schedule that fits perfectly around our other projects, but if one deadline slips by a few weeks, the domino effect that it can have can wreak havoc with our stress levels.

But, we’ve learned to breathe. We remind ourselves that, with three of us, we’ve got this. We’re expert planners and have years of experience juggling projects and working to timelines. After all, our ability to load-balance between the three of us is one of the benefits of hiring us!

2. Not all business relationships are about drumming up business.

We had a great time chatting with people at September’s Communitech TechJam. We knew that most companies were looking for developers, not writers, but many companies were happy to talk with us, too. That’s what’s so great about the Waterloo tech community: everyone is supportive of local businesses, no matter what your talent is. We learned more about some of local tech companies and made some great connections. And, if those connections bring work in the future, we’ll consider that a bonus.

Outside of the tech community, we found that the small business community is just as supportive as the tech community. We sincerely enjoy the weekly WRTalk Twitter chats and the quarterly in-person meetups, where we find out more about the amazing small businesses in Waterloo Region. Without those connections, we wouldn’t have discovered businesses such as Shawerma Plus supporting Syrian refugees – not to mention discovering their awesome shawarma!

We’ve also connected with professionals in the area who can enhance what we do. When you work for a big company, it’s easy to insulate yourself within it. When you’re a contractor, there’s nowhere to hide. But there are a number of fabulous marketing, UX, and graphic design professionals in K-W. We’ve learned that it’s helpful to have a network that you can trust if work comes up that doesn’t fall within your area of expertise.

3. Know when to say no to an opportunity that isn’t right.

We love what we do and with our experience and knowledge, we know that we can help our clients. Sometimes, however, the best way to help them is to say no. That might mean saying no to the first request, but after further discussion, uncovering what they really need. We’re very good at asking questions. And, with the right questions, we can find out what the client is really trying to achieve and guide them towards a solution that will meet that need.

Rarely, saying no means saying goodbye to a potential client and pointing them in the direction of someone who is more in line with what they are looking for. But, it can happen, and we’ve learned that it isn’t the end of the world. It’s another reason to have that network of excellent contacts to point people to. It’s better to have a good relationship with a contact than a bad relationship with a client.

Our resolution: keep the awesome coming

We’re proud of the work that we’ve done for our clients and excited for the work that’s ahead of us this year. We’re busy doing what we love, with a fantastic team and a supportive network. Thanks for following along with us on our first year. With so many amazing companies in Waterloo, we know that we can keep doing what we love and having a good time while we’re at it.