Lesson 3: The Learning That Took Us from Cartier to Reality - The truth about profit, revenue, and taxes.
In October 2025, Eleven Eleven Talent will turn 10. To celebrate, we’re sharing 10 lessons—one each month—about what we’ve learned in a decade of building a business. From community-building to resilience, from hiring to firing, these are the insights we wish we knew when we started.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a recruiter, or navigating your own career path, we hope these lessons support you in building something meaningful and lasting.
Lesson 3: The Learning That Took Us from Cartier to Reality - The truth about profit, revenue, and taxes.
Let’s take you back to a moment we’ll never forget. We had just hit a major revenue milestone that felt impossible when we started. To mark the occasion, we walked into Cartier, and each picked out a timepiece.
What no one tells you about these “milestone moments” is that while we celebrated, we were paying for those watches across three different credit cards because our limits were tiny. 🤣
What no one tells you is that two years later, after consecutive record-breaking years, the economy shifted, and the industries we supported started laying off in droves, hiring freezes were the norm, and the entire recruiting industry came to a grinding halt.
Suddenly, we were sitting in the lowest financial moment of our business—but with expensive watches on. Yikes.
No Regrets, Just Lessons
Here’s the thing—we don’t regret those watches. At our lowest, they reminded us:
- We built this once, we can build it again.
- Success isn’t linear, but resilience is everything.
But if we could go back, we’d tell ourselves a few things about money, taxes, and financial security.
What Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know:
1. Profit – Just because your business is making money doesn’t mean you always will. Understanding margins, cash flow, and expenses is critical.
2. Prepare for the downturns – No one thinks the boom will end, but industries shift fast. Don’t let good years trick you into spending like they’ll last forever.
3. Debt is sneaky – Just because you can put it on a card doesn’t mean you should. We learned to manage our debt and credit with a long-term mindset.
4. Save for taxes (before you need to) – The first unexpected tax bill will humble you real fast. Plan, set aside money regularly, and don’t touch it.
5. Diversify, diversify, diversify – Don’t rely on one revenue stream. Having different income sources helps you stay afloat when one takes a hit. This has been a game changer for us, our portfolio now includes strategic investments in the stock market, real estate and our recruiting business.
What This Lesson Gave Us:
This moment forced us to change the way we think about money in our business. Today, we run a more financially secure company, and that stability has given us more freedom, peace of mind, and longevity.
So, before you go to Cartier ☠️🤣, ask yourself: Am I building something that can weather the storm?
Because the truth is, the watches will always look good—but nothing looks better than a healthy, thriving business.
Here’s to whatever you’re building. ❤️ Alisha and Tess
Next Lesson - Lesson 4: Not Everyone Will Cheer You On (And that’s ok): Dealing with criticism, doubters, and learning to trust your gut – even when the noise gets loud.
If you have someone in your life that will find this series useful, please pass it on.
Eleven Eleven Talent is a global recruitment agency headquartered in the beautiful coastal city of Vancouver, B.C.
If you are looking for recruitment partnership on a critical executive hire or confidential search – connect with us today.
