Bootstrapping a startup isn’t easy, but Jackie Hermes, the founder and CEO of Accelity Marketing, seems to have figured it out.
Hermes founded Accelity in 2013 after leaving a marketing role at a Milwaukee-based B2B software company to try her hand at freelancing.
She began doing marketing work for primarily B2B software companies, and attracted clients in Milwaukee, as well as Chicago and even New York.
After building a growing roster of clients, Hermes decided to begin hiring help and Accelity Marketing was born. The company still specializes in inbound marketing and lead generation for B2B software companies, helping clients identify their target audiences and crafting strategies for reaching them.
“We’re working with a lot of startups that are either funded or bootstrapping, but startups that are raising money and don’t really know what do with the sales and marketing aspect of their businesses,” Hermes said.
Accelity’s clients hail from a number of industries, like insurance, healthcare and finance, and include LeaseCrunch, Dynamis and Accutech.
Hermes is one of Wisconsin Inno’s 2019 50 on Fire honorees and for good reason. Within the last year, she has grown Accelity's client list, doubled its revenue, doubled its staff to 17 and moved into a new office.
“We really hit our stride,” Hermes said. “We have really had a crazy, banner year in 2019. It’s been very surreal.”
The startup is also completely bootstrapped and profitable at this point, Hermes said. But the road to profitability hasn’t always been smooth. Getting the company off the ground and getting to a stable enough point to begin growing the staff significantly were obstacles early on, she said.
“We would have grown a lot faster in those first four and half years if we had funding,” Hermes said. “There were times when I put my own savings into the company to keep it afloat.”
Hermes is also growing her public profile as a LinkedIn influencer. With a following of more than 37,000 people, Hermes has utilized LinkedIn to help grow Accelity in an organic way.
Doing mainly video posts, Hermes discusses marketing strategies, startup growth and other topics.
“I started building a personal brand on LinkedIn and that’s been a huge contributor to our success,” Hermes said. “It has put us in a position to grow a lot faster.”
