https://civicrm.org/blog/liz-wire/festive-civicrm-catch-birmingham
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Reflecting on 10 years with CiviCRM
10 Years with CiviCRM – From First Steps to Building a Business
A decade ago, I took my first steps with CiviCRM—curious, a bit uncertain, but excited by its potential. Every project taught me something new—not just technically, but about communication, expectations, and the nonprofits, associations, and advocacy groups that CiviCRM serves.
Over time, freelance projects turned into steady work. Then more work. And eventually, it became overwhelming—too much for one person to handle. That’s when I took on my first employees, hoping to ease the load and keep quality high. With their support, we got back on top of things—and the work kept building, until the cycle repeats.
Somewhere along the way, people started calling me an “expert.” It’s surreal—one day you’re figuring things out as you go, the next you’re the person others turn to for answers. Apparently, becoming an “expert” means becoming an expert at awkward invoice follow-up calls too.
Growing a business is constantly bringing new challenges—managing finances, hitting new tax thresholds, hiring, scaling operations. I’m a systems engineer and consultant, but I’ve had to become a manager, an accountant, an organizer, a planner, and finally, what comes least naturally to an engineer, a marketer! Sometimes it feels completely overwhelming, sometimes it feels exhilarating.
If you’re starting out with open source, or freelancing, or even unsure what’s next: you don’t need to have all the answers. Just take the next step. Then the next. You might be surprised where it leads.
