Last month (May 2020) marked the 7 year anniversary of BCS Management, Inc. While not a milestone, we think this year is rather significant for several reasons. Seven years in business with consistent year over year organic revenue growth is a tout-worthy accomplishment. Anyone who has done it will agree that building a business is not easy. The process is full of ups and downs and the occasional surprise that either makes you jump for joy and high five your team or want to throw up your hands and quit. Still, here we are.
How it Started
Working for a corporation prior to going solo provided an invaluable baseline of knowledge and insight from highly experienced leadership staff, a couple of whom I still call for advice from time to time. I also learned to navigate collaborations with not so exciting colleagues and contacts and how to cope with some pretty challenging bosses. Ultimately, working for a corporation for a salary bores my socks off.
The first couple of years in business were a solo endeavor in which I simply found it more exciting and liberating to do contract Project Management consulting for clients. I managed a variety of projects in a range of industries as well as some ghost writing for legal endeavors that added an ‘arrow to my quiver’ of knowledge. As business picked up and more work came in, I decided I should hire some help. I hired my first employee, Chris McKim in 2016. Hiring Chris was a great call, he has been a dedicated and reliable team member who is still with us today leading our GovWeb services as Marketing Manager.
Finding Our Niche
The past 5 years I consider to be development and planning years as we have worked to “find ourselves” as an organization. The results of this phase are a compilation of lessons learned in hiring practices, selling and creating value, how to effectively collaborate, navigating politics, and most importantly, defining what we really care about – the environment and clean water.
Clean water is behind everything we do and is the cause that keeps us going in the municipal space. We started and continue to organize an annual Maumee River Cleanup Day in collaboration with Upper Maumee Canoe and Kayak from downstream Antwerp, OH. We also contribute to local river management groups and are always looking for new ways to contribute to clean water efforts.
The Future
We have now established a solid identity in the municipal and environmental spaces as a niche services provider. Our tagline since the beginning of “Putting the Pieces Together” is now more relevant than ever. We have created specific, replicable programs for our client base, know who to hire to scale those programs as needed and are ready to launch that scalability effort.
Recent accomplishments include obtaining our WBE certification in both Indiana and New York State and the addition of E-Billing and Microbial Monitoring services for wastewater treatment plants operations.
Most notable for this year is the creation of Waterfield Utilities, a new private utility that will allow us to privately invest in infrastructure and acquire operations as it makes sense for our clients.
Waterfield Utilities is a complementary business to BCS Management and an opportunity we were not fiscally able to provide as a small services firm. We are very excited to move this company forward alongside BCS Management in 2020.
Stay tuned for our new website, new staff, and big things in the near future. Please reach out to us if there is anything we can assist with in our 8th year and beyond.
Cheers.
Lana Beregszazi
Founder and CEO
BCS Management, Inc.
Waterfield Utilities, LLC
Side Note: I am often asked, what does BCS stand for? It stands for Beregszazi Consulting Services. In 2013 I still thought I might get married someday and since I think my last name is pretty cool and unique I wanted a way to keep use of it, even if only the initial in my DBA