2009 | The Microfit Group

When I think back to this time in 2008, I remember this vivid moment, filled with emotion. I was driving on 280 in Birmingham, Alabama and I remember what I was feeling at that exact moment about the economy. I’d left Apple the previous year to start my life as an entrepreneur; a challenge and risk in and of itself, but then this… this deep, dark recession. I was angry. Not scared, not nervous, but angry.

I left a secure company, turned down a promotion, moved across the country to help pioneer a firm. After changing out some of the initial pieces, we were ready to go. Our first client was a very well established local residential design firm, whom we got in deep with them. See a problem? Our young company was not only looking to build it’s client base, develop it’s own sea-legs and introduce itself to it’s new community, it just become part of the housing debacle. We spent sixteen months prior to the launch of The Microfit Group, working with this client as a Case Study of what our strategies, structures, sales and marketing methods could do for a small business. We enjoyed all of five months of success before the collapse.

I was angry.

The partnership of firm had not faced a lot of failure in their professional lives. In fact, this was group of people who had done well in their careers. I personally felt as if I’d failed; my partners, my client(s) and their employee’s. How could I not have seen this coming… for everyone’s sake?

This is how I felt on that December day, back in 2008.

I’m grateful now for the trials our firm faced that year, that we all faced. Our firm learned more in that one year, experienced more in that 12 month period, than perhaps all our collective career’s, multiplied by ten.

The economy is getting a little better each day and I won’t bore you with all the nuances of why I believe this, but I think we all see it as Small Business owners. This world we are moving into will be different than the world we left. Companies that have made it through are stream lined and more efficient, and while this may not help those hurting in the jobless market, it has trimmed the proverbial fat of many businesses, replacing old process with new systems.

In 2009, we’ve helped our clients with strategic mergers, marketing plans for expansion or reinvention, coached start-ups looking for investors, helped old companies reinvent themselves from the inside out (love that one), taught workshops on social media/blogging and worked with non-profits to help change the tone of their conversations. Even got an article in the Business Journal. (Thanks Wade)

The advice and guidance we’ve been able to give our clients in 2009 was shaped and refined by the collapse of 2008. That collapse has perhaps built some of the strongest companies we will see in the next ten years. If their is any hope our firm holds dear, it is that we perhaps played a role in helping that come to fruition.

We want to say thank you to all those who have partnered with our firm, trusted our guidance and have been brave enough to be honest and face change head on.

On The Home Front

We are excited to announce that we will be offering our Art Director, Shane Etheredge, a Partnership with The Microfit Group. Shane has been behind the look and feel of our clients design/branding, as well as the internal branding of our firm. More importantly, he has been a foundational element of this company, a man who has always done what he said he would and a teaching resource to our clients. Making him a long term player in this firm is one of the best moves we could make for our clients.

We also hope to launch a church consulting division of our company in 2010, for the brave souls willing to take a honest look of their local establishment (not for the weak of heart).

I’d like to openly say thank to Tony Legrone and Chuck Frusterio, the less vocal partners of The Microfit Group.

In my own life, when I have financial or web based questions, you’re my resource. You are who I go to before anyone else. To be able to take our clients me are my own first choice for business advice, that is a gift for anyone playing an evangelist role for a consulting firm. You are both men of integrity and I trust you to no end. Thank you for how you treat me, my wife and my son; thank you for being family.

To high hopes in 2010!

Cheers,

John Garrett

President

The Microfit Group

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