To Grow or Not to Grow

After five years, BOCA is at a crossroads where I must decide whether or not to grow my business. Yes, our little agency, once comprised of me, myself and I plus a few contractors, now employs 20 souls. And despite minimal branding efforts, word of mouth has spread: We've won many accounts, formed strong partnerships and continue to attract high-quality candidates. So with all this in mind, the ambitious PR professional in me says, "Grow!" while my shrewd small-business owner side takes a more tempered approach. 

Favoring the small-business owner side, I recently sat down with the BOCA team and we talked about growth and our brand. (As the owner, I feel it is important to consult and work closely with my employees, as every decision I make for BOCA impacts the universal BOCA team.) Our discussion yielded a unanimous decision: It is time to share BOCA's amazing culture and build upon our great work. "Growth" it is.

I love our current North Beach location. We are located on Francisco Street between Powell and Mason. Our space is an old, ground-level art gallery with beautiful French doors that open up to the sidewalk and afford a ton of natural light. But growth translates to a need for more physical space. So we began to look at spaces around San Francisco. I found that, aside from the deterrent of high rents in the City, I just couldn’t imagine leaving my art gallery space — at least not yet.

So instead, we decided on the "Google campus" approach and signed a lease for two more spaces (an old laundromat and a former hair salon) right around the corner from our current location — literally within 100 feet. We are excited to take these two obscure spaces and turn them into beautiful creative galleries. (You may recall that an early Facebook posting of ours referred to our art gallery spot as a "creative think tank" rather than an office. That's more reflective of BOCA, don't you think?)

Now, BOCA is ready to turn up the dial for its next phase of growth. We plan to promote our brand for the first time ever, and put heart and soul into an awards program that will highlight all the great work we do for our clients. The small-business owner part of me is still understandably anxious, but the PR professional is, as always, fearless. Wish us luck!