Celebrating 5 Years in Business
Bolst Global 5 years in the making…a personal blog post from Victoria Boldison, CEO
September 2021 marks five years since the birth of Bolst Global! From setting out with little more than plenty of passion for international trade, a drive to succeed and my prior experiences to date, both the business and I have been on an incredible rollercoaster journey of development these past few years. I wanted to take the opportunity in this post to reflect on these past few years and try to thank the many people along the way.
So let’s start from the beginning and be honest in saying it was a difficult and lonely place.
The uncertainty of fixed income, giving up my home and car to move back in my parents for a year to get the business off the ground, securing those initial contracts…but step by step opportunities came, referrals from clients helped enormously and the ability to grow the team and the business was possible.
One of the greatest starts Bolst Global got was participating in what was then the Entrepreneurial Spark business accelerator for Start Up companies. I had access to business mentors, ample business support and the ability to build a powerful and supportive network of like-minded entrepreneurs. If anyone starting out in business also has the chance to get involved in something similar, I would certainly recommend it!
From 2017 to 2019 we travelled the world helping our growing number of clients with market entry projects, trade shows as well as a whole host of events. From organising a Meet the Buyer event with the British Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia to project managing client trade shows and market visits in places such as the US to China and several global destinations in between! We are pleased to say that some of these clients who we started out with on a small project became long standing contract clients and ones we still work with today ongoingly.
When the global pandemic hit in 2020 then so did the panic…for a business based on the ability to travel, attend trade shows, visit overseas customers and markets it all could have easily come crashing down. I even signed up to study additional export courses, thinking if the Bolst Global work dried up at least I could keep my brain active (those who know me know how important this is for my sanity, along with the workouts in the gym!)
Thankfully the foundation of Bolst Global was strong enough, contract clients stuck with us, and we diverted more efforts to the website and giving the community more information and support via online methods. Travel may have ground to a halt but our passion and energy for supporting those businesses looking to internationalise certainly didn’t!
The business also took another unexpected avenue during the pandemic – our overseas customers started asking us, as trusted partners, for support with finding new brands and manufacturers. This has not only consolidated some of our international relationships further but has also opened up another arm of our business supporting retailers and distributors with the importation of health and wellness brands too.
Brexit then took hold this year and this has been a really testing time for many British businesses grappling with the new rules and regulations when it comes to trading with the EU. We also had to go above and beyond to support our clients and community affected by this. It certainly made for some long working hours earlier on this year but I am pleased to say we have helped over 20 British clients overcome some of these complexities as well as provide consultancy on Brexit matters to global organisations too.
And now here we are in the present day and I must take this opportunity to say a HUGE personal thank you to everyone who has supported me and the business to get it to where it is today. There are so many people to thank – from those clients who took an initial punt on this vibrant British lady trying to make things happen on the international front to those who came on board later down the line and even those who have never been a client but always an advocate and a champion of what we do at Bolst Global. From the Interns, Graduates, Staff and Associates who have helped grow the business and provided us with new perspectives and global opportunities, to the support team I have in place who do amazing things in the background. Thank you to each and every one of you!
Lastly, I can’t omit to mention my ever- supportive family and friends who have made this all possible too. You have tolerated a great deal of absence whilst I have been growing the business and provided me with support and patience in so many guises over these past five years. For this, I thank you so much for bearing with me!
Now as we look to the future, I am equally excited about the forthcoming opportunities that lie ahead for Bolst Global. With travel hopefully possible again very soon and the ability to see and meet clients and customers once more, we are looking forward to another fabulous year ahead with a number of exciting projects and contracts to work on. We know whatever happens, whilst we never quite know what is around the corner we know that at Bolst Global it won’t be dull and we certainly won’t be standing still!
All the best to our network and community for the remainder of 2021,
Victoria