Ten years of our futures enterprise!

Ten years ago this week my wife and I launched our business, Bryan Alexander Consulting.

Ten years! And we’re still going strong.

When BAC began this enterprise was mostly driven by improvisation and extrapolation. We learned — fast — how to operate a business. I’d had some experience with consulting through my previous, nonprofit employer, but then had to scale up in a hurry, covering all bases: taxes, technology support, outreach, etc. Thanks to the advice of friends, we did.

Let me celebrate today, and also share some of what we learned, and also reflect on how we developed.

It’s unusual for a new business to last this long. One source says 65% of startups fail by ten years in. Another claims 90% of businesses fail, adding that “[b]y year 5, 50% of all startups will have failed.” So BAC is beating the odds.

We started with very little, just the two of us, a reputation for working on higher education and emerging technology, and some networks. Neither of us were working for anyone else at the time. We didn’t take out a business loan nor did we receive any private funding. We had no safety net to fall back upon. We lived in a very remote area with scant infrastructure. We had to support ourselves, pay for the mortgage and health care, and also support two teenage children. This…