Riggs & Co: 2021 A Year in Review
Written by Katie K Riggs, Chief Event Strategist
I cannot believe we are days away from the close of another calendar year. It feels like we were just saying good riddance to 2020 yesterday!
While 2021 may not have been the breath of fresh air most hoped for, it was overall a successful year for Riggs & Co and our clients. This year brought on a fair share of opportunities for us to grow and stretch our skill sets while supporting our clients in moving through a year that was full of surprises.
We want to reflect on the highlights from 2021 as we are proud of where we sit at the close of this year. However, what highlight real would be complete without a few bloopers as well? Let’s dive in!
Highlight #1 – Company Growth
In 2021, Riggs & Co was blessed to see 100 percent growth over 2020! I had no idea it was this much until I found myself needing to run the hard numbers. Now, we are a boutique firm and 2020 was our first full year of business so some of this was natural growth that we may not repeat. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see what we were able to do this year.
This growth comes from a few areas. First, we love our current clients and a few of them had increased needs that we were able to serve, which increased our existing contracts. I believe that this is the most important growth. It is great to bring on a new client, but it is a true compliment when an existing client increases their contract.
Secondly, we brought on four new clients. These clients are utilizing our team to support them on the logistics for trade shows, annual conferences, leadership retreats and awards programs. Three of these clients came to us in the fall, and we will begin to ramp up work in 2022.
Lastly, we have been expanding the consulting side of our business. I find that my passion lies in leading organizations to be more strategic with the meetings and events they plan or participate in.
Highlight #2 – Back to In-Person Meetings
Since the spring of 2020, due to the pandemic, none of our clients were hosting or participating in live events. This was due to varying factors from meeting and event restrictions, internal travel restrictions and saving budget.
In July of 2021, we had our first client move back to a 200% in-person conference, and the ball started rolling.
We were fortunate to support our clients in a number of virtual and hybrid events and conference through the year, but closed out strong with five live events. It was great to see the increased ROI from these events proving that gathering in person cannot be fully replaced by virtual. For 2022, we currently have 18 live events on the books for our clients!
Highlight #3 – Internal Team Growth
The company growth we experienced certainly brought on a need for more team members. This year we have been looking at this growth very conservatively; however, moving into 2022, we anticipate adding to the team again!
In July, we were blessed to add to a coordinator to our company. Lindsey is basically the jack of all trades and provides necessary support to keep things rolling smoothly. From research to spreadsheets to websites to design, she can do it all, and we are so glad to have her on board.
We also added an accountant. For me, personally, this allowed me to breath a huge sigh of relief. Keeping our finances and legal documents healthy is important to me, and he does just that.
Lastly, I increased our contractor pool to four. These meeting and event pros support so many client projects and to get all of their skills in one person would be to find a unicorn. As I mentioned, continuing this growth into 2022 is a priority. We will kick off the new year with adding a part-time social media coordinator and will be looking to add more individuals throughout the year.
Highlight #4 – Doing Work We Love With Clients We Adore
This sums up who we are at Riggs & Co. One of the main reasons I wanted to start the company was to never have to work with clients I didn’t want to ever again. So far we have been blessed with the best clients who want to partner with us, get more strategic and overall host or participate in more ROI producing events and meetings. This may seem simple, but after almost 20 years of not piking my clients I can say this is work its weight in gold!
Now that I have shared my top three highlights, let’s jump to the misses from the year. All of these were so important to support me in growing as an entrepreneur.
Blooper #1 – I Stink at Accounting
Yep. I am bad at accounting, and I dislike it. Sadly, it is necessary for any business owner. After attempting to just do it, muster through and make a mess, we decided to bring on an accountant.
This was a necessary investment, but one I am so glad that I committed to. This leaves me the time to do what I am good at instead of spending time spinning my wheels on accounting. I just wish I had done so sooner. If we would have, wrapping up year-end would likely be much easier!
Blooper #2 – Canceling Refine & Refuel
After coming off of a wildly successful inaugural event in 2020, I was passionate and so excited or the 2021 event. Sadly, because of COVID, this wasn’t a reality. I wasted a lot of time trying to make it work instead of just accepting the reality that it was the right time.
I wish I could get those hours back, but you live and learn. We will also skip 2022 as it is just too risky for an early February event, but we are on track to plan a bigger and better event in 2023 with a development series leading up to the big event!
Blooper #3 – Budget Backlash
With growth comes cost and since Riggs & Co started as a grass root company, we never really built a budget. Throughout the year, there have been numerous added costs with the growing business. Luckily, the revenue still far outweighs the costs. Without an accurate budget updated monthly, I know that we spent on things we didn’t have to and could have invested more. We have a much better plan moving into 2022 to support accomplishing our growth goals.
As we close this chapter, we are excited for what is next and know that we will take the lessons from the highlights and the bloopers that 2021 offered to be a better company in 2022. Happy New Year!