A Message To You

5 years ago today, I made the life-altering decision to start a digital marketing consultancy: Riaz Sidi Performance Marketing Inc.

All at once, I experienced a whirlwind of events: getting married, quitting my job, buying our first home, and receiving the news that my wife and I were expecting our first child. All of these changes without the security of a steady paycheck were quite overwhelming.

If you have started a business, you know how difficult the process is. The pure effort and energy required to succeed without knowing if you will be able to help others or make enough revenue to survive are terrifying. There is an unspoken collective thought swirling around you wondering if, and when, you will fail. You have to avoid the noise and focus on winning.

Once we started to grow, I decided that I was going to scale the team and not stay small. That in itself was another leap altogether. We rebranded to Sidi.io and our team has flourished from me to 20 employees and counting. All the while we have grown from that very first sale and continue to bootstrap today.

We have helped hundreds of businesses and we have learned a lot of lessons along the way too.

Through the ups and downs including the birth of my 2 beautiful babies, some very close familial deaths that hurt deeply, and let’s not forget a pandemic that essentially shut down the world, I have not only survived but absolutely thrived.?

Recently, Sidi.io was named one of Ottawa’s Fastest Growing Companies 2022 and I am honoured to have been named to the Forty Under 40 2022 by the Ottawa Business Journal.

With an unconditional dedication to the business and the amazing support of my wife Fatima, I am pleased to celebrate this exciting 5-year anniversary milestone. I have grown tremendously during this period and in reflection, it is really not about the money or accolades, it is about the person you become during the journey.

When people refer to entrepreneurship as “taking the leap”, it is understood to mean the initial act of starting a business. Any real business owner knows you take the leap every single day - in every conversation, every decision, and every mistake made.

Taking the leap doesn’t get easier, you just learn how to control the butterflies.?

The people become the benefit of showing up every day.?

The real constant is never forgetting how quickly it can fall apart if you don’t stay true to the person that got you here.?

You will be quickly reminded when your ego gets too big or your belly gets too full - never indulge in success.?

You will be humbled more times than you will succeed.

When you get to another level of success, you are quickly reminded that you are now at the bottom of this next level - and the associated insecurity and challenges emerge all over again.

Thank you.

Thank you for any role you have played directly or indirectly in our growth so far - whether that was trusting us with your digital marketing, celebrating wins together, competing against us to make us stronger, referring us, realizing we were better together after you left and came back, or even if that means telling us why we sucked so that we could be better the next day.

This milestone would not be possible without you.?

At Sidi.io, we pour every ounce of our heart and mind into bringing you success. If we don’t, then we don’t have a reason to exist - it is that simple.

Thank you,

Riaz Sidi