I can’t believe it! City Girl Savings is 5 years old today. I think back to exactly 5 years ago, and I was on my computer ALL day as the website launched. People were registering, the site was getting traffic, and social media was buzzing. I was in such good spirits when City Girl Savings officially launched. I’m happy to say that this business is still alive and growing after 5 years.
In honor of City Girl Savings turning 5 years old today, I want to share a few of our top successes and opportunities thus far. I’ll also wrap it up with where I want City Girl Savings to be in another 5 years. Time flies, so reflecting on what works and what doesn’t work is always a good idea!
CGS Successes After 5 Years
Client Impact
The biggest success after 5 years in business would be the amount of client’s we’ve impacted. Since City Girl Savings launched in 2015, I’ve had consultations with over 300 people, created budgets for 185 people, and coached over 60 women one-on-one.
Having the opportunity to help that many people change their financial lives for the better is the number one success for City Girl Savings. The entire goal of the company is to teach and empower women to reach financial success through budgeting…as many women as possible! Every year we get closer and closer to that goal, one budget at a time.
Revenue Growth
Another big success for City Girl Savings after 5 years in business is the steady revenue growth year over year. Each year, since 2015, has been a better revenue-generating year than the last. This allows the company to serve more people and deliver real-time, valuable content.
While revenue started small in the first year of business, it has nearly doubled year over year. The plan is to continue doubling our income. More income means we can hire more people to help take care of necessary business activities, spend more time creating knowledge-building content, and develop more products and services to help boost women’s financial know-how.
Follower Growth
Moving on to the next major success for City Girl Savings in 5 years – the increased follower growth on social media. We have thousands of followers across all City Girl Savings social media platforms, with Instagram leading the pack. Our total Instagram follower count is nearly 15,000.
In year 2 and year 3 of the business, I spent a lot of time (and money) on social media advertising. This helped spread the word about City Girl Savings across a few key platforms. Now, advertising is limited to a small number each month, and our focus is on engagement. This should lead to continued natural growth over time.
Providing Income to Women
Rounding out the list of successes is the ability for City Girl Savings to provide income to women who work part-time for the company. While the end goal will be for City Girl Savings to hire people full-time, we aren’t quite there yet. However, being able to provide a part-time salary for a handful of women is definitely something to be proud of.
Starting the 2020 year off, City Girl Savings has a team of 6 part-time teammates, plus myself. These teammates assist in areas like blog content creation, social media scheduling, virtual assisting, and more. This frees up time for me to focus on the bigger picture activities and client work.
CGS Opportunities After 5 Years
Expand (as requested)
While it’s great to talk about the wins of the company over the past 5 years, it’s also important to talk about areas of improvement. I see each of these improvement areas as opportunities for City Girl Savings to move to the next level.
One particular request we’ve received multiple times is the request to start a podcast. I don’t have capacity to start one right now, but will look to change that in the coming years. In addition to a podcast, we’ve been asked to create an app, host in-person workshops, and expand course offerings.
These are all great ideas that will surely help the business grow. I certainly plan to do more workshops and expand course and learning options, so more people can participate.
Become Profitable
Although I mentioned above that City Girl Savings has been growing in revenue year over year, it has not officially become profitable yet. This is because I took on debt in the earlier years to get the business going and start marketing regularly.
PSA: Marketing can be a financial black hole for businesses, so proceed with caution!
A big opportunity for City Girl Savings in the coming years (hopefully the next one or two) will be to become profitable. This means that the company has officially made more than it has spent. This is a key milestone I want the company to achieve soon.
Increase Visibility
The last area of opportunity for City Girl Savings after 5 years in business is to increase mine and the business’ visibility. After 5 years, I feel like more people should know about City Girl Savings. Whether that is true or not, I could have done a better job of spreading the word.
For example, I’ve never been to FinCon. FinCon is an annual conference for financial bloggers, influencers and business owners. I’ve never attended this conference. That changes in 2020, as I’ve already purchased my ticket! My point is that I should have already been doing things like that. Live and learn, right?!
Vision for CGS in Another 5 Years
Thriving Business
In another 5 years, or on City Girl Savings’ 10th birthday, I see the company being a thriving business! The business is making multiple six-figures a year and has a full-time staff. We’ve enhanced our coaching program, created quality digital courses on personal finance topics, and have changed the lives of many people – whether they are clients or not.
Help many more women
If the business is thriving in another 5 years, it’s no doubt because we’ve helped many more women. I see so many lives being changed by the work that City Girl Savings does. This will only continue to expand as the business grows and gets older.
Offer more ways to learn
Lastly, I see City Girl Savings offering different ways for clients, followers, and readers to learn and increase their financial knowledge. This could be with a podcast, an app or in-person workshops. It will definitely be with online training courses and virtual workshops! In the next 5 years, City Girl Savings will have plenty of options for women to learn more about finance.
Related: 10 Things I’ve Learned after 4 Years in Business
Happy Birthday to City Girl Savings! I got emotional writing this article because I’ve come such a long way, and so has this company. I’m so proud of all we’ve done, but I know there is plenty more to do. Thank you for being a part of the CGS community, in any way, shape or form! What do you think about City Girl Savings’ successes and opportunities? Any thoughts, comments or questions to share? Drop a comment below to do so!
3 thoughts on “CGS 5 Year Mark: Successes and Opportunities”
Thank you for being honest about the wins and areas for improvement
Best of luck in 2020!
Thank you so much Emily! Best of luck to you as well!
Thank you!!