Alane Boyd graduates from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program

07 January 2022

Alane Boyd, President and Co-Founder of BGBO Co, a business consulting firm and creator of software platform, Arvo, graduated from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in New York City.

Boyd completed the program alongside 170 small business owners all across the United States and Puerto Rico. There is a rigorous application and interview process and only the best small businesses are chosen to participate. In fact, Boyd did not make it into the program her first time applying.

But, good things happen to those that wait (and keep trying). When Alane Boyd was first referred to the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses (10ksb) program by fellow Upper Cumberland business owner Kellie Fitzpatrick of Lenny & Eva. When Fitzpatrick reached out to Boyd about referring her to the program, she said it was the best thing she ever did for her business.  The only problem was that Boyd had just exited her previous company and her new consulting company, BGBO Co, was only six months old when she applied. Looking at the list of requirements, she did not meet the two years in business but decided to apply anyway. Boyd's thought process: she had nothing to lose. Her hope was even if she didn't get in that year, at least she would be in their system for when her business did meet the requirements.

Boyd was not accepted that first year in 2019 but her hunch was correct and in 2021, she was able to interview for the 2021 Fall National program. In August 2021 she found out she was accepted!

Everyone says things happen for a reason and this one was no different. Our business was in an even better place two years in and they had made a big change to the program: the final week of the program was an all expense paid trip to New York at the Goldman Sachs offices. That final week was magic. Business relationships were made, long-time friends were made, and even more learning to improve your business were made in those final days. Every business owner that wants to grow their business needs this program.

Alane Boyd, President, BGBO Co

The 10ksb program is not like some of the business programs out there, especially the startup programs. It is specifically designed for business owners that are making at least $75,000 in revenue, have employees, and have been in business for at least two years. This is a game changer when you are getting to meet other business owners in the program because everyone in it is past the idea stage and is running into similar problems. The speakers for each session are experts and each week you end the week with something of value to put into place at your company.

The time demands of being in the program can be difficult, which is why they require you to have employees before getting to be in the program. If it is only you, you have no one else to continue running the business while on calls, in workshops, and completing assignments. The program is 12 weeks long with each week a different focus from finance to marketing to operations and process. Throughout the 12 weeks, you will identify a growth opportunity in your business and focus each week on perfecting that plan for executing it in your business. The final week, which happened in New York for Cohort 16, consists of 3-minute pitches from each business owner on their growth opportunity. These 12 weeks force you to work on your business and not in your business. It is the step back you always say you need but rarely take the time to do.

Boyd's growth opportunity fell into place with her and her co-founder of BGBO Co already in development of a company training and documentation software platform to revolutionize the way businesses provide training to their teams. The software, called Arvo, launched in Beta mid-program. Each week of the 10ksb program helped Boyd in fine-tuning messaging and user onboarding, determining valuation and what funds are needed to grow the software platform, and getting access to 40 other businesses in her section of the cohort for user feedback immediately.

It is rare in business that you have so many other businesses available to you to give you unbiased feedback on a product. I had multiple meetings a week with other business owners in my section of the cohort telling me how they could see Arvo working in their business and signing up for a free trial.

Alane Boyd, President, BGBO Co

Boyd wasn't the only Tennessee business in the program. Other Tennesee businesses included Jacqueline Hayes of Crayons and Marketers and Cody Robinson of HomeFit in Nashville, TN, and Chris Felder of Grubb's Grocery in Jackson, TN.

My best way to describe the program is it is like a crash course MBA. It is the best thing you can do for yourself and your business! I am forever thankful to Kellie Fitzpatrick and the 10ksb team for having me be a part of the program.

Alane Boyd, President, BGBO Co

If you are interested in applying to the program, see if you qualify and submit an application.