I am a strong believer and follower in making sure we are stable, sustainable, and scalable to achieve our ultimate goal of creating abundance.
This year, our commitment toward creating abundance was tested. In the history of our company, this is the first year we did not grow in revenue. In fact, we had a 5% reduction in our top line. 2023 brought additional challenges in the economy, from high interest rates and inflation to government tax regulation changes and a potential recession. Money is required for business to function, so having a reduction in revenue created quite a few challenges for us to manage.
When I look back to this year, I found out that we have the strength and foundation in the company to weather any storm. Despite a reduction in revenue, we did not ask anyone to leave the company. We did not increase prices for our clients. We continued to invest in leadership development and growth. And we continue to sponsor events such as Boise Entrepreneur Week, SheTech, and the Idaho Technology Council Leadership Summit in our community. We also welcome our employees to remodeled office spaces to ensure that this is a place where people love to come and work.
Overall, we are ending the year with the same number of employees, projects, and clients/partners - and that is only possible because of our employees’ day-in and day-out tireless work and our partners’/clients’ continuing belief in us to creating abundance for them and their end-customers!
On the one hand, we have faced a reduction in revenue. On the other hand, we have doubled down on business growth this year. We opened five new offices globally - Australia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands - and expanded our Jaipur, India office with an additional building.
Our goal is to continue to go through with global expansion and to grow the newly established five offices by 150% to 200% next year, establishing them as major players in their regions. We also have plans to open an office in Colombia and continue to explore possibilities and expand our presence in the United States, Canada, and Latin America in 2024 and beyond.
We rebranded In Time Tec to reflect our purpose of creating abundance and our values of trust, transparency, integrity, and leadership for our partners. Next year, we will launch a newly created, user-friendly website based on the new branding.
We also continued to formalize our leadership team and developed a solid core team capable of leading everything from HR (Human Resources), finance, operations, IT (Information Technology), and marketing. In 2024, we would like to continue providing our services while extending our offerings to AI, data automation, cybersecurity, and IT service management (ITSM). Our goal is to achieve 25% growth in our overall business next year.
We have continued to take steps to achieve our Created Future 2030 – our goal of becoming a global software company built on trust, transparency, integrity, and leadership while creating abundance for everyone and achieve $250 million in revenue by 2030 with profit every year. This future is like a Chinese bamboo tree; while it may grow underground and out of sight for the first five or six years, when it breaks the surface, it will come out with a solid foundation to foster its growth.
One way for us to know that we are making progress toward our goal is when people recognize our efforts. In that context, awards are very meaningful and provide moments for growth and celebration. From being recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Idaho and as a Top 100 Private Company in the state to being a Future-Ready Organization, a promoter of Indo-US trade, a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), and a leader in the managed print field, these accolades demonstrate that we continue to show up for ourselves, our partners, and each other.
Leadership development happens by giving people space and opportunities to be who they are. There are three ways that we invest in leadership development at In Time Tec. The first way is by hosting offsite meetings. We take groups of people together, from leaders to managers to team members, and we explore who we are, what we do, how we do, and why we do what we do.
Another way is through one-on-one coaching plans within the company. These plans cater more to everyone to help them discover what may be out there for them. In addition, our leaders coach other leaders and develop those around them.
Lastly, we ask our employees to have deliberate intentional learning programs for themselves, such as attending seminars, going to self-development programs, reading books, and more. Whoever they feel like they can learn from, we ask our employees to look for any means to continue developing themselves as they grow in their lives.
Part of our growth strategy in 2024 involves expanding our presence in the public sector. We have made significant progress on our Idaho Industrial Commission and Transparent Idaho projects, which are great for Idaho citizens to use and learn with and have received lots of positive feedback that has contributed toward creation for next year.
We continue to pursue opportunities with state agencies and are also partnering with other Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) companies. Our goal is to achieve 50% growth in this area next year – and we are listening, learning, and ready to lead.
Following the launch of NextGen AgTech last year, we have invested $1.5 million in further NGAT product development. We would like to launch all our NextGen AgTech apps, set out for a break-even and growth path, and establish ourselves as a go-to company for agriculture and farmers to ensure we have a solid future in 2024 and beyond.
We would like to continue to explore opportunities in the Managed Print Service (MPS) space, too. We already offer our Cartos Suite product line, but we would like to simplify and help MPS businesses by expanding our presence to cloud-based solutions.
We contributed to our communities by helping the next generation of people learn more about technology. We have helped our women innovators at SheTech, taught kids at Boise CodeWorks, offered internships, invited students from nearby colleges, and worked with organizations like Breaking Chains Academy. We have also volunteered with food banks and spoken at local events.
One of our goals this year was to give the new In Time Tec Abundance Award at Boise Entrepreneur Week. I’m happy to share that this award was given to someone who showed up powerfully and presented an idea that personified our values of putting people first and creating abundance in this world.
Last week, we met in McCall, Idaho for a week of exploration, creation, and celebration. Together, we created a list of objectives with a focus on growing revenue, building competency, inspiring employees, and promising consistent and predictable delivery in the company. I’m really excited to share the results of this creation - and what the team is up to - in 2024.
As an entrepreneur, I always look for ways where I can live a holistic life. I don’t separate my life from this business. This holiday season, I ask you to take a moment and ask yourself a question: “What kind of life do I want to live for the remaining time I have on this planet? Am I living that life? If not, then why not, and what gets in my way?”
Discover the life you want to live. Structure your future in 2024 to take a step toward that life. If you don’t know how to do that, find a coach, read a book, or personally reach out to me. I’m more than happy to help. Whatever you decide to do, make a commitment to take a step to living a life that you love and live it fully. I’m applying this for myself, and I’m taking a stand for everyone in our company to do that as well.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and here’s to many more years of creating abundance together. Love you all.