We're 4! Here are 4 Decisions We've Made That Have Shaped Us

As we celebrate our 4th birthday here at The List, we're reflecting on some of the decisions we've taken over the years and the new directions they have taken us in.

As any small business owner knows, it's not always easy, but we're sharing some of the choices we have made that have helped us get to where we are today.

So raise a glass and join us in celebration, while you read about some of the decisions that have helped to shape us. And we raise our glasses to you. The List would be nothing without you and we thank you for your support.

 

 

1.  Scrapping Our Membership Plans.

A membership scheme was a big part of our original plans for The List. We spent time mapping out the processes and setting up the IT systems. We got our compliance checks and balances in order. We even onboarded some partner offers.  

But when it came down to the big reveal, we kept putting it off. Something wasn’t sitting right with us. A membership scheme just didn’t feel like an authentic fit for the brand we had built. We believed then, and still do now, that we are better placed to support local small businesses with quality editorial content, and through regular features like the Things To Do and Things We Love sections in our weekly newsletter. 

So we went with our gut and parked our membership scheme plans. And whilst there are a few decisions we've made along the way that we could regret, this isn’t one of them.   

 

2.  Keeping It Authentic.

As our change of membership plans shows, it’s not always about the money here at The List. Yes, of course it’s important to be able to make a living, but when we consider proposals that are presented to us, our primary focus is always on authenticity over financial gain. That has meant saying no to financial propositions at times, and that's not an easy thing to do when you’re a small business. 

But we’ve always said that our articles, events and campaigns need to appeal to us in order for them to appeal to you. If we're not feeling it, then we're not passing it on to you. That has been one of our core principles from the start, and we firmly believe that if we stick with this authentic approach, you’ll stick with us. So far, so good!

 

3.  Supporting The Local Community.

A key focus of The List has always been embracing local and supporting small businesses in Guernsey. Sticking to our principles in this respect has meant we’ve faced some difficult decisions over the years. We’ve been presented with opportunities to work with large retail companies but we’ve passed up on them because they don’t feel like a good fit for Guernsey or don't have a Bailiwick connection.

The same goes for our editorial partners. There is a wealth of talent in the islands, and we are happy to be able to showcase the work of our chosen partners on our platform. From nutrition and hormonal knowledge to financial expertise, alongside local moon guide information and mental health guidance, we choose local experts to inform and support your wellbeing journey.

 

4.  Implementing The 51% Rule. 

Sometimes it’s about the process rather than the actual decision. We have to make a lot of decisions, big and small, to keep things running here at The List. From our initial deliberations around brand guidelines and our corporate structure to everyday decisions on editorial content, there’s a lot to think about. And the time we spend physically working together is limited, so we don’t always have the luxury of discussing things for as long as we would like. 

We recognised this from the start and decided to implement a decision making process called The 51% Rule. It stops us getting fixated on minor details. When we’re going back and forth, one of us will say ‘51%!’ and it will help us to settle and move on really quickly.  

It’s a strategy that Barack Obama has used over the years when making tough decisions - especially when there's more than one person or opinion in the room. If it’s good enough for a former US President, it’s good enough for The List!

 

Thank you to all who have supported us over the last year. Here's to the next one - and beyond! 

We've shared our reflections on past birthdays below.

 

 

 

10 Reasons We're Smiling On Our Third Birthday

For our third birthday we flipped the switch to acknowledge everything and everyone we were (and still are!) grateful for - and that included the biggest surprise birthday cake ever from our friends at The OGH. Read more...

 

 

 

7 Epic Wins We're Celebrating On Our Second Birthday

Year two, and this time around  we chose to celebrate our achievements and be thankful for the relationships we built up along the way with local businesses, charities, expert contributors… and you! Read more...

 

 

 

10 Things We've Learnt Over The Past Year

When we hit out one year milestone, we took a moment to reflect on what we had achieved - and celebrated in style with a party at Red. Read more...