Boldr, a global impact-driven outsourcing company, has been ranked number 1053 on the 2022 Inc. 5000 list. While this is an extraordinary achievement, Boldr CEO and Founder, David Sudolsky, sees it as a challenge to raise the bar even higher.
What is the Inc. 5000?
Founded in 1979, Inc. Magazine has remained at the forefront of business news. They offer solutions and advice to entrepreneurs or CEO’s, which makes it essential reading for startups, privately owned companies and even global enterprises, especially those on the cusp of expanding their business horizons or reshaping their processes.
In 1982, Inc. launched its first Inc. 500 list, which would become an annual report of the fastest-growing privately owned companies in the United States. The list delivered insight into essential business trends and offered fellow CEOs and managers a different perspective when establishing industry baselines. It quickly became a benchmark of entrepreneurial success. As interest and submissions increased, Inc. expanded the list to include 5000 honorees from 2007.
Making it onto the 2022 Inc. 5000 list
In the wake of a grueling 2021, where businesses combatted high resignation trends and tough economic conditions, many companies struggled to get back on their feet, while others seemed to hit the ground running. The latter excelled or expanded at a phenomenal rate, often because they employed unconventional methods to overcome specific obstacles, or because they offered their clients a unique or superior experience. The qualifying criteria for the Inc. 5000 list sought to assess these companies and their achievements.
This year saw nearly 7 million submissions. Honorees that found themselves on the list were in the top 0.07% of companies in the United States for that period, which makes them part of an elite group. No wonder the list previously featured the likes of Bill Gates when Microsoft was busy reshaping the IT world.
“Within the last five years, Boldr has moved from one office in Manila to six offices in four countries,” says David. “While this geographical expansion had its challenges, it created opportunities for us. Clients wanting near-shore solutions had availability to teams in Mexico, while those expanding into Europe leveraged our South Africa offering.”
Boldr’s growth is only eclipsed by their internal community culture, which is evidenced by the level of engagement and retention of team members. Sudolsky was quick to note that Boldr’s success is because of the partnership with like-minded companies and the valued contribution of their teams.
“Challenging the traditional, exploitative outsourcing practices that exist in our industry is exactly what drives success for us. And we owe this success to our mission-driven clients, as well as our valued team members who helped us to get here, even former team members, like Suneet Bhatt.”
Suneet Bhatt was the former President of Boldr. He left the company in Q1 of 2022 to start his own consulting practice. “He started out with Boldr as an advisor and grew into a full time executive,” remembers David fondly. “He oversaw commercial related activities and was single-handedly responsible for our growth strategy. Our growth over the last five years would not have been possible without Suneet. We wouldn’t be celebrating around the world today if it wasn’t for his hard work and focused energy.”
Following Suneet’s departure Boldr was back in the hands of its Founder, David, and Mari Parker, Boldr’s COO. While they are proud of Suneet and recognize his contribution to Boldr, David maintains that there is still a lot more to accomplish.
A focus on operational excellence and ethical outsourcing
The wealth of opportunities that come with an Inc. 5000 feather in the cap, include funding opportunities, potential to expand, media exposure, and much more. While there is always a need for any business to grow, Boldr is adamant about not losing sight of its bigger picture, which is to have a positive impact on the company, their clients, and the larger community.
“It is important for us to grow in a healthy way, a way that is in line with our purpose, our vision and our core values, which means that the more our business grows, the greater our impact efforts will be in the communities we are operating in.”
Since the turn of the century, consumers have become aware of unethical business operations and practices. Illicit conduct, such as the exploitation of cheap labor in developing economies, has led to a demand for better stakeholder governance and more transparency in supply chains. More and more, business owners were challenged to think outside of the box while conducting business ethically, especially following the global pandemic.
This is a tender point for David, who believes that the company’s strong focus on impact and ethical outsourcing, has been the key catalyst to their overall success. While they always strive for superior client delivery and operational excellence, it is their mandate to outsource ethically that sets them apart. Being included on the Inc. 5000 list while operating in a socially responsible manner proves that growth and impact are not mutually exclusive.
“We’ve been fortunate to partner with clients who truly believe that talent is equally distributed and are willing to invest in the communities where opportunities are scarce. What’s been amazing is to see how this approach has helped us to attract mission-driven clients while driving our own unique team member engagement,” says David. “Much like obtaining our B Corp certification, we see the Inc. 5000 as recognition of the work we are doing to change the outsourcing industry, as well as our communities. We are grateful for this acknowledgment of our team’s hard work and look forward to ushering Boldr into the next 5 years with a focus on delivering impact-first outsourcing to our partners.”
James Fouche is a Content Writer at Boldr, an author and a columnist. He is passionate about sharing his love of reading and writing with others.
