Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristaps Brencans.
Kristaps, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
A little over eight years ago, when I graduated from Saint Thomas University (Go Bobcats!), being a college athlete — a basketball player from Europe (Riga, Latvia) — I was faced with a dilemma to either pursue a professional basketball career back in Europe or dive into the professional business world. I chose the latter. Interestingly, my first professional endeavor was starting a web development agency together with my dear friend and business partner till this day Kaspars Milbergs.
You build websites; I can sell them. That’s essentially what our business plan looked like. Fast-forward eight years: our builds and processes have launched over thousands of websites as well as dozens of sophisticated mobile apps, and has landed our company on the INC. 5000 list for the past two years running.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I’d say any growth comes from overcoming challenges. The problem solving and perseverance that one establishes is key for ongoing success. I don’t consider myself successful (yet), but the biggest leaps in my professional career has come from solving problems that are hindering certain aspects of the company growth.
The same applies to personal growth, even more. Is one sufficiently self-aware to say, “I need to work on X to reach my goals.” To me personally, it’s a constant battle to improve my day-to-day routines and to push myself in order to get better at certain skill sets that will get me to the next level.
To identify one particular struggle would be hard. I embrace the daily grind, the challenges that we’ve faced as a unit, and the battles that lie ahead in the future.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the On The Map story. Tell us more about the business.
The specialization of my skill set and our agency would be internet marketing and software/website development. Considering both being high-level umbrella terms, the sub-categories are search engine marketing on the internet marketing side, and mobile app, e-commerce website, and WordPress website development on the software/website development side.
As a company, we have now over 50 employees and three offices: Miami, Los Angeles, and Riga, Latvia. We’re servicing around 600 clients nationwide — the majority of them being small businesses. Also, a good segment of our clients are attorneys to whom we provide SEO (search engine optimization) services. Not to mention, we love working with local companies in Miami. You can read here about some of our successful SEO case studies for local Miami clients.
The biggest accomplishments? From more of a value and global points of view, I’m very proud of the teams we have built and the company culture that embraces individual growth and forwarding thinking philosophies.
From the number side, there are a few accomplishments that stand out:
1. Making the INC. 5000 list for two years in the row
2. Being ranked #1 on Google for the term “Lawyer SEO.”
3. Launching several tech products for local Miami startup founders, to name a few:
– Geo-location based dating app Per Chance (Founder – David Gottesmann)
– Condo communication management platform – Luxury Concierge Network (Founder – Marcelo Rivero)
– Private plane booking app – Aviator Services (Founder – William Ibarra)
Do you feel like there are certain traits that increase the likelihood of success?
There are a few. Looking at my career in retrospect, I’d say each stage of my professional/personal growth requires different aspects that I needed to work on. I’ll provide a summary here of someone getting started or being fairly early in their careers.
1) Passion – You have to do something you love, something you’re passionate about.
Passion about certain matters is what will provide the necessary motivation to you see through the challenging times. Of course, this is very cliche, and everyone has heard the statement, but it’s true: do what you love. Perhaps, you won’t find that domain right away, but be able to visualize the path on how to get there. Now, it’s also very important to remember that even when you find something you love, it doesn’t mean it will be easy, but the fact that you love what you’re doing will make it “easier” to push through.
2) Constant Growth — How good do you want to be? How good can you be? There’s an old story where a guy asks a guru what he needs to do to be successful. The guru says, “Meet me at the river at 4 a.m.” He meets him at the river, and the guru pushes his head in the water drowning him for a second. The guy comes out for the air in total shock, and the guru responds, “When you want to succeed as much as you want to breathe, you will.”
In a practical sense that would mean that when you find the topic/matter that you’re passionate about, you invest all yourself in it to hone the skill set and the expertise that will set you apart from masses. How do you accomplish that? Online courses, articles, YouTube videos, podcasts. By the way, my starting study point for SEO was podcasts.
There are so many free resources out there that the excuse that one needs to go to university to be successful is a story of a past. Facebook groups are also a great place where like-minded people can share their experiences — even help each other! Yes, literally go on your phone and people will give you free advice to help you advance.
It’s incredible the time we’re living in right now. Not to mention, the lowest unemployment rates ever. (Go world!) It’s truly fascinating to me how much opportunity is around us.
3) MVP – The software developer audience will reference this abbreviation. What it stands for is Minimal Viable Product. What does it mean? When building applications or websites, you go through several stages until you deliver the public-facing product.
Reaching the public-facing product point is what’s considered the launch: you provide the app/website, and now anyone can use it or access it. Why the MVP model is crucial is because we spend too much time thinking about small obstacles that are hindering our focus on things that really matter. And what does really matter? Getting the app/website in users hands to see how they like it and how they’ll engage with it going forward!
Simplify this to non-development scenarios; set attainable goals that will give you the biggest impact possible! Action, action, action! If you’re starting a freelance career, set a goal of sending 10 or 15 cold emails per day and make sure you do it for three months straight. You’d be surprised how small goals compound when executed consistently.
Is there any pricing information that is relevant to our readers? If so, and if you would like us to share it, please include details (in bullet form) below.
- Web Development: Click Here to Access our Pricing Calculator
- E-Commerce Web Development: Click Here to Access our Pricing Calculator
Contact Info:
- Address: 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 502, Miami, FL 33131
- Website: onthemapmarketing.com
- Phone: 3054205556
- Email: support@onthemapmarketing.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OnTheMapMarketing/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrencansK
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbrencans/
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
