When I started my company, growth just meant keeping the lights on and trying everything we could to find the right market for our product. The view was broad and experimental. I was thinking about the next order, while today, 28 years later, our business is focused on results and leading to growth every year.
Double Good is a tech-powered fundraising platform that helps schools, youth groups, and community groups raise money by selling gourmet popcorn. Fundraisers can be set up in minutes through a simple app, with no inventory or cash handling required, and organizations keep 50 percent of all sales dollars.
Double Good was named on the Inc. 5000 list 18 times, including the special honor of Inc.’s Legacy Award. Additionally, we are in our 28th year of growth, a consistency few companies see. To do that, you need to bring in the right people, and most importantly, create real value for customers. Strong growth is a measure of error.
So the central question I asked myself is: what really sustains growth for such a long time? For us, the answer comes down to three things—purpose, restructuring, and building a company that can thrive long after I’m gone.
1. Growth Begins With Purpose
Our goal is simple: Create Happiness. We think about it both externally and internally. And even though the growth spurt comes with grinding and growing pains, the work should feel satisfying. In fact, happiness does not mean that all the time is happy. It means talented people who do meaningful work that contributes to the company’s mission. This work is the root of fulfillment and purpose that fuels us.
Purpose has been our main guide. When you are clear on why your company exists, and you tie your decisions back to that purpose, your decisions will always build on each other. Instead of chasing the new, shiny thing that doesn’t fit into why the company exists but is doing it because we think it might be a short-term growth opportunity. I think you can get into trouble that way. Our mission has kept us focused on long-term trends—and subsequent growth as a product.
I am proud to say that we recently surpassed half a billion dollars raised for our clients. The number is large, but the most important are the stories of the person behind it: children getting opportunities, organizations that collect money quickly with a good return on their time, and make a difference in their communities, organizations, and children’s lives. That’s the mistake that keeps oil growing and keeps customers coming back year after year.
2. Reinvent Where It Matters
Some of the greatest changes in our history have come from a desire to completely innovate.
One moment stands out. Years ago, we sold to large retail customers and fundraising was a small part of our business. I fielded an upset phone call with a customer who was upset that our product wasn’t moving fast enough on store shelves in Detroit. We were a small company, pressured by the bosses to move the product and lower the price on our first pops. It was everything we didn’t want to be.
After that call, I look at the many letters on my desk, and see a letter with different colors. It was from a fifth grader who was using our fundraiser. It said, “Dear Mr. Heitmann, Thank you for having your fundraiser. I was able to raise $300 to fly from Seattle, Washington, to Washington, DC, for my band competition. I loved selling popcorn, and I can’t wait to do it again. Thank you so much. And PS, can you send me my fifth grade popcorn?”
The difference struck me the most. One side was a buyer who pressed us over margin and speed which would affect our quality and the other was a child who had this bad experience. At the time, it seemed like a no-brainer: our product was designed for fundraising. That day was the last day of the sale and for about five years, we got out of the big-box and corporate channels as we grew our fundraising business and became a fundraising company.
But the reinvention didn’t stop there. Along with that change, the company’s long-time customer placed the same order they had placed for 15 years. It was a good order, but it felt disconnected. They didn’t know that we were in the middle of fundraising. Finally I asked: what if 50% of everything we create did you go to the cause? How about we join forces every station surrounding impact?
I wanted an idea, but the numbers were clear: it would be important to hit, but the long-term damage was our motivation.
This led the company to relaunch as Double Good, develop new products, and then launch The Double Good Kid’s Foundation to bring happiness to children with special needs and people who care for them, supported by 50% of all non-profit popcorn sales. It was a two-year process of financial change that was painful and difficult at first, but worthwhile and rewarding.
The main lesson? When you’re creating, you can’t be afraid to let go of what you’ve already invested in when a better, more consistent approach becomes apparent. If you’re building a sustainable company, you make long-term decisions, even if they hurt you in the short term. Today, we are a $300 million company and have helped raise over half a billion dollars for youth organizations since our inception.
3. Build a Company that Outlasts You
As an entrepreneur chasing longevity, you need to build a company that will take off on your own. In practice, you should think quickly about having a team of leaders who can lead and run the organization. You can’t wait until you’re 75 or 80 to start thinking about what comes after you.
The more you have established things, like a clear purpose, values and standards of the organization and allow people to really build from those things, the more successful you will be in the long run.
You need to identify and support competent and competent leaders in the organization who can continue to achieve the company’s mission. We have been preparing for this process by looking for talented leaders who align with our mission and values. The goal is to have strong leaders in the organization who can continue as a united team and not rely on someone like me, the founder and CEO, over time.
It means changing from being the person who drives all the decisions to being the person who gives opinions and support.
It also means being honest about change. Change is inevitable. You can either drive change or you can react to it. If you don’t do well at it, you won’t last long. We have always been an organization that will drive change.
Looking Ahead
What I have learned after almost 30 years of Double Good is that leadership longevity is not about holding on. It is about letting go at the right times and holding fast to the right goal. Growth is no longer a goal for me; that’s a mistake. If we deliver real value to our customers, growth will follow.
My hope is that Double Good continues to bring joy—outside and inside—for years to come. At best, a company is not built around the founder, but around the results it creates.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions and beliefs of. Fortune.
#Heres #build #lasts #founder #million #bootstrapped #company #growing #years #straight #Fortune
