Growth
A vision for Knit Marketing.
Post originally published on rebeccaborough.substack.com.
Is it a school, is it an app? No, it’s Knit 2.0.
Well, that’s how we’re lovingly referring to the next phase of our business! One thing that’s clear about creating an impact driven business is that impact is never enough. You wouldn’t blink twice if you heard someone from a profit-first business say, “we need more profit,” so I’ll be the first to tell you in our purpose-first business, we need more purpose!
In the first 6 years, we’ve created jobs for 25 young people plus countless contractors. While that’s a stat I’m proud of, I’m getting greedy. I want more. In the next 6 years, we’re going for 2500. And beyond that, we’ll add another 0 every 6 years, just like you’d project for the bottom line.
It’s not just the job creation, however. It’s the bond. It’s the community. It’s the connection to something bigger. Every member of our team is committed to their stitch in our bigger web. They know when they start they are not only gaining something for themselves, but they’re leaving something for future kninterns and associates. By the time many of our team members graduate college, they’ve been working with Knit marketing for 20% of their lifetimes! 🤯 Most people that age can’t keep a romantic relationship or even a hobby longer than a month, but they’re with me for 4+ years. We must be doing something right.
“Working at Knit Marketing has been a special experience. It has been an experience full of smiles, growth, learning, and passion. I am really grateful to have the opportunity to work with such an amazing team.” – Abeyah / Social Media Manager / College Sophomore
It is special.
I started Knit Marketing as a small business and while I wrote that I had a big vision for it, I think I internally kept the vision small because I wasn’t ready or wasn’t confident enough to reach for what I really wanted, or what our team really deserves. I was stubborn to do it alone and stubborn to not take outside funding. Because of this, it’s been slow growth. However, one Huge benefit in keeping things close to the chest initially, was creating a solid foundation and a loyal team of forever #TeamKnit members, so we’re ready for what’s to come. As per The Founder’s Dilemma, I started focusing on control, but it’s time to focus on riches. Riches in our case could mean impact, but it could also literally mean dollars, because we need money to make change.
So where are we going? How can we multiply the good that we’ve already started?
I’ll plant a seed for our new vision here, but I’m hoping this will be the beginning of a conversation. I’m open to any connections you have, ideas, suggestions, resources, partners, advice, etc. We’re not doing it alone this time, and we’re not going to be scraping pennies together to get started. It’s time for real impact.
If you don’t know, before I share about Knit 2.0, just a quick pitch for Knit 1.0 – we’re a social enterprise dedicated to hiring and training young people in all things digital. We specialize in K-12 education marketing and offer social media management, content creation, web development, and community building.
“At Knit Marketing, our main goal is to create opportunities for eager young minds that have the potential to share and create experiences that will positively affect our members as well as our customers. I am glad to be a part of this team and I am more excited for the future because of Knit.” – Tony / Video and Podcast Producer / College Senior
The agency will continue to work and grow. Alongside the agency, we are building a community or platform or school for many more high school and college students to gain not only marketing skills but also entrepreneurial and project management skills. This will become a recruiting funnel for our agency as well as small businesses all over the world seeking freelancers and marketers. It’s better than a platform like Upwork or Fiverr because Knitters will have access to experts and software resources that make their jobs easier. They’ll become part of a network of peers who will be able to collaborate on creative projects and commiserate about challenging clients. It’s better than a school like Udemy or Udacity because instead of paying, the students will be paid. And it’s better than an agency because it has a greater potential for scale. It’s a community of junior marketers mentored by seasoned professionals where all stakeholders benefit from each other’s growth.
Does any of this make sense or am I talking crazy founder talk? We’ve been in ideation and customer discovery for a few months now, and are motivated to move forward with our vision. So if any of this pulls a heart string for you or turns on a light bulb, please leave a comment or email me at rebecca@knitmarketing.com.
Will you help us get to 2500 junior marketers or “Knitters” by 2028?