On 2024
2024 was hard.
It started with a lot of hope and possibility. That hope and possibility got redirected.
It ended with a reframed sense of hope and possibility.
2025 will start from a place of difficulty, but I’m ready for it.
With that vagueness out of the way … what the hell am I talking about and why might it matter to you?
I started Commonly Well in May 2020 with the wind at my back — despite the global circumstances.
When the company launched, I had 3 paying customers and some savings to sustain my efforts for rest of the year.
With the Recovery Capital Index as the sole product — albeit in an embarrassing software solution — we grew to 10 customers and established a proof of concept.
Another 20 customers were gained in 2021 and 2022 (my price point was quite high). By now, we had a proof value.
We improved the underlying software solution but did not own it. We learned the ramifications of this circumstance at the start of 2024.
I made the decision early on to partner with other technology companies to reduce my development and overhead costs. We’re still around today because of that decision. We were able to distribute our costs and get the most out our revenue during a time of uncertainty in the addiction treatment and recovery services market.
Our field is struggling. Despite wanting to be taken seriously by society, it’s a field that remains fragmented. Every field and industry have its in-fighting and esoteric debates — but we’ve been chewing the same cud for 50+ years.
Some of us are sick and tired of being sick and tired.
These circumstances, however, create an environment ripe for innovation and disruption.
Improvements in technology and the advancement of machine learning and artificial intelligence have spawned hundreds of behavioral health technology startups.
Greater attention on the problem of addiction and promise of recovery AND the influx of opioid settlement money have introduced never before seen investment capital in both physical and digital solutions.
Yet, the treatment and recovery experience individuals and families still get leaves a lot to be desired.
There are jewels in the crowd — in fact, many of them are our customers.
And there is improvement.
2024 saw a lot of churn.
A lot of the investment capital never matured. Providers with that capital acquired to expand, only to learn that scaling those operations is futile in a balkanized system.
Digital technology folded because 80% of the market barely has enough to pay its staff, let alone afford very necessary technology that improves their efficiency and quality of care.
With all that going on … where did that leave us?
In April we began the process of designing and developing our own software solution.
We launched that solution — which we call Solomon — in October.
Through all of the development, we had to resell our nearly 40 customers on this new solution. We retained 95% of our customers and gained a few more in the process. We renewed two of our biggest customers to multi-year contracts and for the first time in four years closed more than $1 million in deal value in a year.
But now that we own and maintain a software solution, we are incurring a lot of costs we didn’t before.
Thankfully, we have a great and dedicated team.
We have incredible customers that guide us to provide what they need to achieve their mission.
And, more gratefully, we have understanding and committed partners that are all-in on us succeeding.
I am hopeful for the next year because we see organizations that want to be the leaders, they want to set the standard of quality in their community and in the field.
2024 was hard because our business had to evolve. Our operations are also evolving. But we are resilient — nay, we are anti-fragile.
We are taking everything we learned to turn 2025 into our growth year.
What did I specifically learn about myself or leading a business? Here’s a few things:
Over-communicate. We live in such a distracting world. Whether it is with your team, your customers, your investors/advisors, or anyone you serve, communicate more than you think is necessary — even if you think you’re being clear and transparent. Breaking the barrier of distractions is harder than it has ever been.
I like to live in the grey. A story I have told myself is that I thrive in uncertainty. Unfortunately, when you are starting or running a business, uncertainty and functioning in the grey area are usually not facets of success. I had the chance to say this out loud the other day. It was acknowledged and now it can be changed.
Give more weight to the little successes. The big wins and fails tend to take up all the oxygen, but we breathe and learn through the day-to-day atomic elements. Don’t let these items pass you by. The smaller stuff is repeatable, more easily changeable. Have big, bold visions and goals … but focus and act small.
For almost five years we have been on a slow and steady path. There is nothing wrong with slow. In fact, as people in recovery or in the recovery business, slow is what we know.
