14 Years and Only Getting Stronger
March marked the 14th anniversary of Lyons Consulting Group, LLC. (LYONSCG). It’s been a remarkable roller coaster of a ride with many ups and downs, but as we reflect back on 14 years, we realize how thankful we are to be part of such a phenomenal team, with amazing clients, in an exciting, dynamic industry.
From implementing back-office ERP systems in 2003 to our work today delivering holistic commerce solutions to some of the world’s leading retailers and brands, we have witnessed the amazing development of LYONSCG and the clients we serve.
Founded on a Promise
We started the company with a simple promise to ourselves – to always put the client first. It sounds like a common purpose, but we believe few organizations actually operate by this principle, and often this determines success or failure. As employees, we experienced the rise and fall of two large, billion-dollar organizations. Many things contribute to a company’s success or failure, but as these companies grew, they increasingly lost focus on their clients. Losing client focus ultimately led to their failure. So, we decided to start our own company where there would never be any question about our priorities.
Right from the beginning, our mantra at LYONSCG has been if our clients are successful, we’ll be successful, and we’ve never wavered. This guiding principle has helped us get through trying times and tough decisions. And after 14 years, we are still here, bigger and stronger than ever.
Sharpening Our Focus
We started out as an IT consulting firm. Our first clients were large businesses looking to implement complex ERP systems. In 2005, we launched our very first eCommerce site for a client. We built the site on the Demandware platform. Demandware was still a start-up at the time, but we took a chance, and we liked it.
We weathered the storm that was the 2008 financial crisis, along with our clients and the industry overall. It was then that we sharpened the focus of the business on eCommerce. We had found our sweet spot and decided to align our efforts toward helping clients be successful in this exciting and still emerging sector. We focused on building strong partnerships, a strong team, and delivering great results for our clients.
We are a “People Business.”
As demand for our services grew, we added people to our team, always looking to hire the best and giving them the tools and environment to do their best. Our growth has been organic, not through acquisition. Organic growth has allowed us to scale smoothly and cohesively while maintaining our culture.
As clients’ needs evolved, so did we. We added a creative department to provide design and user experience services. We built a digital marketing and strategy organization to help clients with customer engagement and conversion. We have been fortunate to attract talented people across a wide range of disciplines.
Norm Alesi joined us in 2010 as COO/CFO and Partner. He brought the operational rigor that we needed to scale our organization further while providing best-in-class services. Norm had the experience and abilities to drive success, and his alignment with our core values is what makes him a perfect fit.
LYONSCG is a learning organization. We learn through formal training and by exchanging experiences and ideas with each other. Whether it’s through our 360-degree SWOT process or our continuous, open dialogue, employees have the opportunity to leverage their ideas and expertise to improve how we deliver and operate.
Our people drive results. Our clients have won hundreds of awards for excellence in eCommerce. We have been recognized with the highest awards from our industry partners. We’ve also been recognized by independent publications such as Crain’s Fast 50 (three times) and The Inc. 5000 (seven times) and have made the list of Best and Brightest Places to Work three times running.
An Industry of Change
So much has changed over 14 years. The emergence of mobile commerce, omnichannel, and now, unified commerce. Consumers are more informed and more empowered than ever before. While once only for early adopters, cloud technology is now the industry standard.
Operationally, today’s clients want to be trained, empowered, and consulted. Technological disruption, market expansion, mobile proliferation, co-development, and other change-driven opportunities drive companies to seek out strategic partners, not commoditized skills. This industry is about people and results, not just cost savings.
LYONSCG has certainly grown and evolved since 2003, but our unwavering commitment to client success has never changed. It’s what made our past so successful, and what makes our future so bright. After 14 years, we’re only getting stronger.
