My totally wrong business plan (that still worked)

Near is one of my most successful business incubations. 

We launched it with a one-page business plan back in 2021. But when I looked back at that plan recently, I realized we actually got a ton of things wrong.

So here’s my guided tour on why I think this business works so well — and what we got right and wrong from the very beginning.

First, here’s the whole doc. (Don’t worry about reading it now, I’ll walk through each section.)

Let's get into it.

Here's something I believe: the values section of most business plans is filler. Nice-sounding words that nobody actually uses to run the company.

Near's is different. And if I had to point to a single thing that explains why this business took off, it's always be closing.

More than a value, that’s a personality type (and a rare one). 

It’s a mindset that leads to success in every business, every industry, every market condition. Because the second you’re satisfied with the status quo, you stagnate. 

Near's differentiation in the early days was almost entirely customer service, which is an extremely high-agency game. You either move fast to solve the problem or you don't.

For values in general, I think it comes down to this: are your values aspirational or operational? 

(Related read: Core behaviors are 1000x better than core values.)

Early on, we had real conversations about whether we should stick to sourcing talent from Latin America, or go global with our systems.

In the end, we stayed focused. And I’m glad we did. 

Latin America has a nearly perfect talent base for US companies: timezone overlap, strong technical education, and cultural familiarity. 

And Near has spent years becoming the definitive expert in that market. That expertise is an unfair advantage you can't replicate quickly. Our focus became our moat. 

The pressure to expand is one of the most consistent ways I see good businesses hurt themselves. It could be more markets, more products, and broadening your audience. When things are going well, the opportunity looks great, but it’s often a fatal distraction.

If you’re thinking about expanding, the question is: have you actually exhausted what’s possible in the lane you’re already winning in? 

Usually the answer is no.

Here's my honest take: these numbers both have an asterisk. 

Gross vs net matters a lot in staffing companies. Your gross can include all the salaries of the people you’re placing. So a $300M staffing company might be running at 3% net margins, because most of that revenue is just payroll flowing through.

So when we wrote 85% profit margin, we were actually picturing a totally different business: a job board.

An early version of Near was exactly that: a directory where talent could sign up, and US companies could browse for hires. For that business, with no delivery costs, 85% is totally doable.

But here’s the thing: Near actually isn’t that far off from hitting that $50M mark. And the margins are genuinely good, even if they’re not 85%. 

So while the number was wrong, the ambition created was right. 

This is one of the best arguments for writing down big, specific targets: they pull you in a direction. 

The team knew this goal required building a lean, high-quality operation. So that’s what they built. The target did its job.

So your 10-year targets don't need to be right. They need to be directionally correct and ambitious enough to shape decisions. Write a number that makes you a little uncomfortable.

This was a solid list to start with. 

What we found, though, was that really tiny companies behaved like consumers than business buyers: less sure of what they need, less dependable… often small for a reason.

So we shifted toward larger SMBs and mid-market companies. They know what they need and commit to it. We still have a ton of small customers, but that’s not where most of the growth is coming from.

The idea here isn’t that all of these are unique about your company. It’s that nobody else has this combination of these three things. 

Honestly, this section has changed the most.

Being exclusively LatAm based is Near's biggest differentiator today, but it’s not on this list. Competitors can't quickly copy years of relationships, sourcing expertise, and brand reputation in a specific talent market.

Customer service is still true. This is definitely unique: in five years as a board member and investor, I've received exactly zero customer complaints about Near. It’s almost weird. I've never seen that from any company I've been involved with.

“What’s unique about our business?” is a question worth asking on a regular basis. Knowing your edge tells you what to focus on.

The guarantee is still one of my favorite things about this business. It eliminates the biggest objection a new customer has before they've ever tried you. Near can offer it because they're that confident in their own process.

These numbers use the same asterisk as the 10-year target: gross vs. net, staffing-company accounting, all of that. But directionally, Near got there.

For the bullets, some of these are striking to read now. I’m not going to talk about all of them, but here are a few:

True. I get compliments about the Near website constantly. There are some great tools there, too.

Also true. About 40% of the business now comes from referrals. There wasn’t some big referral strategy, it was just an outcome of doing the work well.

These ones just didn't happen. The custom platform was more when we were trying to be a job board. The co-branded products… I’m not actually sure what we were talking about it. A highly engaged community might come if we get a lot bigger. Hasn’t happened. That’s fine.

The point is: a 3-year picture isn’t a contract. You don’t have to hit all your bullets to call it a success. 

Use it as a milestone towards your 10-year target. If you were on track for that, where would you be in 3 years?

One more thing.

I love looking at old plans. You see how you were thinking, and what you got right and wrong.

And with Near, we got a lot of things wrong on this page. The model, the margins, some of the vision. 

But they got the important things right: who they were serving, how they'd treat them, and the attitude they'd bring to the work every day.

That's what built the business. Not the document.

What would your original plan reveal about you?

Thanks for reading.

Michael

P.S. If you're growing and need to hire remote talent in Latin America, Near is who I'd call. Five years, zero complaints, 40% referral rate. Plus, tell them I sent you and they’ll give you 5% off your first hire.

hirewithnear.com/girdley