It's been a while since I've personally written a blog post, but it's definitely time. FieldClock has been on an amazing journey over the past few years and the real fun is about to begin.
Humble Beginnings
Let's travel back in time... I have a vivid memory of standing in a grower's office in 2016 explaining how we were going to provide real-time labor information and do away with punch cards. In the middle of the demo, our web app hit a snag and simply stopped working. You can imagine how awkward it is to ask a farmer to trust you with their livelihood, their baby, and completely trip on your own shoelaces while doing so. That was not fun, and no -- we didn't get a sale that day.
I'd like to pretend that was the last bug we've ever had, but this is software and it's never perfect. You really learn a lot about people by how they react to adversity. Our reaction was to put measures in place to make sure the bug that occurred that day couldn't happen again. We walked out of that meeting determined to be better so that some day we could walk back in with our heads held high and show our neighbors how we had improved.
That self-improvement attitude carries with us to today.
Growing Stronger
In the past year we heard that our customer support needed improvement. I'm proud to announce that we are up to the challenge and we've hired 2 grower success managers to provide a more hands-on touch. Better trainings, faster response times -- a better experience.
We've also revamped our entire knowledge base to provide most of the content in short videos that are easier to understand than text articles. There are so many features in FieldClock that it's hard to read about all of them, but it's not so bad listening to our team talk about them one at a time. :)
We have heard from farms that they need better tools to manage new overtime expenses, and I'm excited to say our notifications feature is imminent.
In addition to improving our offering, we've been working on ourselves. Self-reflection is hard and it's necessary. We've been through a lot of changes and the end result is an energetic team that is ready to take on the world and has the tools to do it.
Sustainable Business
I recently heard that one of our competitors is giving their product away for free. I was disappointed to hear this -- not because they might take some of our customers (sure, they might) -- because it seems like they might be playing the Silicon Valley game of "growth at all costs". The last decade has many examples of high-profile venture-backed startups that chased unsustainable growth only to close up shop when the funding ran out. I wish them the best. Their failure would be bad for them (obviously), but also for their customers who are our friends and neighbors.
I'm proud that FieldClock has never taken outside investment. Might we someday in the future? Sure, but only if it makes sense for our customers -- never because we have to satisfy "investors from a previous round".
From the very first day we started building FieldClock, we felt the responsibility of our friends and neighbors entrusting us with their farms' labor. We're going to be here for them and for you and for every other farm that comes our way.
Continuing to Grow
Remember that botched pitch I mentioned from 2016? We eventually got that account.... in 2021. It took 5 long years, but we got 'em. I'll say it again: we're committed to the long play.
They're not alone. Despite pursuing growth in a reasonable and sustainable way, I'm very excited to announce that we've had several record months in a row. As of summer 2023, we are officially tracking more employees in the PNW than we had estimated existed back when we started -- and there is still plenty of room to keep growing.
At the beginning of this long-winded post I said "the fun is about to begin". There is plenty of growth in all the markets we operate in, and we're growing our company accordingly. Do you want to work for the company that makes the best damn farm labor app? Give us a shout.
I'll wrap this up by saying thanks. Thanks to our customers for being on this journey with us. Thanks to all the other farmers out there who keep plugging away as their job gets harder by the day. Thanks to the members of the FieldClock team who come to work for those farmers.
Thanks for helping us build something that makes life better for tens of thousands of people every single day.
Josh
Co-founder, CEO
