In the beginning was a favor. And the favor was free advice.
Like most people with specific technical skills, we’ve been asked by our friends, families, and colleagues to examine their moles and advise them on formulation and animal health. This is how we began consulting.
Growing any business is like raising a child. On January 1st, 2011, Kaufman and Thomas Consulting was born. She was a fat and happy baby with tons of great ideas, limitless potential, and no money.
In the first few years, we wandered in the wilderness of figuring out how to make a living without working 12-16/7. Those were the KT consulting days. We were on the road 90% of the actual time and spent more money and time than we ever got reimbursed for. We met a lot of interesting and talented people along the way. More than anything we solidified ourselves as masters of product formulation, supply chain support, and thought leadership.
Rewinding the clock is way less interesting than advancing it. The pivotal moment for our business was when we hired our first employee in 2016. At that time, we also changed our name to Blue Sky Mining Partners. The idea was to give the company a name that didn’t reference what we did, and the bonus was that it sounded like a shell company.
As it turns out, mining the blue sky is exactly what we do. We’ve intentionally grown our business with a very tiny digital footprint, no website (until now), few public appearances, and zero marketing. Our business was built on good work, our reputations, and referrals alone.
By the end of 2021, with over 28 associates, we’ve become substantially the largest, most highly-credentialed, and only full-service consulting firm operating in our industry. Sure, we have competition but we’re really only concerned with our team, our industry, and our clients.
To us, nothing is impossible, just degrees of difficulty. Everything we do is hard and we deliver. People don’t hire us to learn what they can’t do; they hire us to learn what they can do. Our people are the critical ingredient to our success.
BSM Partners is a lifestyle. We still love hearing ourselves give free advice.
