We opened our doors in 2010 with less than 100k in revenue. Despite bringing in money the first year, I technically lost money due to start-up and capital expenses. I even had to get a loan from the IRS to cover taxes that year that took me four years to pay off.

It was my first exposure to the “Oh wow, THIS is how businesses fail”. I had to grow quickly and with a sense of urgency to keep enough cash coming in to pay for the baseline business expenses. I was hustling while crossing my fingers that my hard work would pay off. It did. I grew so fast that I had to hire people quickly that cared as much as I did….and I did. The second year we grew by 630%. We followed that first year burst with an average of 73% growth every year for the next ...