As we begin a new year, we asked Business Sherpa Group president Todd Luckasavitch to look back on the year, and to share what he’s excited for in 2023.
The last year will easily be characterized for me as a year of learning, development, and excitement. How many professionals can say that after 25 years of building their career, they have learned the most in the 25th and beyond. That I am still learning all these years later makes me reflect on how fortunate I am to continue to be on this journey leading Business Sherpa Group.
Our client base grew in 2022 to 180 active clients. What’s special is not the number, it is the type of clients we have grown to partner with and support. We are fortunate to support small and midsized enterprises, the heartbeat of the Canadian economy. But what is truly special is the diversity of our client base, which provides such rich experiences that I look forward to everyday. Learning of their challenges, who their operations impact, and the relationships we can build together is extremely enriching.
Our client base is an even mix of approximately one-third NFP, NGOs, local or national associations, one-third being technology and professional services, with the remaining one-third being owner operated, including manufacturing right through to franchised organizations.
I am finding some of the clients we are working with in the Agriculture and AgTech space particularly interesting, along with some of the amazing and humbling work being provided by our NFP clients. That said, the growth in terms of understanding different markets and sectors, businesses, and economies of so many diverse businesses and organizations continues to be amazing and allows me and the team to share our experiences and best practices with all our clients which now span across Canada.
Business Sherpa Group continued to grow in 2022, increasing our team by 30%. These new employees not only bringing additional skills and expertise to our clients and the organization, but the ability to create a senior level account and management structure to better support our work, along with a strong and continued focus on our Expert + Technology strategy.
In these uncertain economic times, with ongoing health and talent challenges, we have helped our clients through our ability to digitize their core processes through our Accounting, Human Resource and Managed Recruitment Practices. The automation and efficiencies gained have allowed our clients to transform and position themselves to continue to grow and scale regardless of required work arrangements and environment.
The continued trust and partnership from both longtime and new clients has allowed us to continue to invest in our strategy of bringing new technology solutions and professional services to support their unique businesses needs. EmbaarqHR, our new HR platform launched last year, has grown month over month, with 14 of our clients now using the service. We now have a total of 21 clients benefitting from our combined recruitment service and applicant tracking offering, and 19 bookkeeping clients who have benefited from our digitization and cloud bookkeeping support
We continue to seek opportunities to work and partner with clients who share our values of Trust, Collaboration, Adaptability, and Impact. We are fortunate to have a client community that reflects these values and a strong pipeline based on referrals and marketing efforts that attracts clients that lead and operate to a similar standard.
Our longer-term strategy remains unchanged, providing expertise and technology at a standard of quality of service that is unmatched. With our ability to support needs across multiple geographies, I am very excited to see what 2023 will bring and to continue partnering and learning from our diverse and growing client base.
