I went a month without writing.
I was dry. Without content. Without smell or taste.
After everything this year had made overflow within me, I needed time to breathe.

I went a month without writing.
Over the last two weeks, I chose to travel to that place of mine, on the other side of the world.
Alone.

I went a month without writing.
And today, as I return to it, I see that things have changed.
Many things.
In the way I see things.

2021 marked the abrupt turning point in B16’s history. Without a shadow of a doubt. If I had to point to one year in which everything changed, it was this one. For several reasons, some more significant than others.

The first reason, a very significant one, was that we began to approach the financial side of the business differently. We started by adopting the Simplegest invoicing software and stopped issuing invoices by hand. We began to benefit from all the features of a financial tool that provided us with reports, ratios, processes, and ways of viewing and studying the accounts that were completely different from anything we had done until then. It was a breath of fresh air. A qualitative and professional leap.

My dear Friend Pedro Martins, whom I met in 2010 while I was working at Releve Energia, has shown me over the years that Friendship is something you cultivate, something that grows and develops whenever you give it attention. A little like plants. The sky is the limit. And with Pedro, that is how it has been. A person with a strong, firm, well-defined character. With his personality traits, some more positive and others less so, but with a grounded presence that I greatly admire. Pedro is the person I turn to when I feel myself beginning to spread my wings. I call him and receive expressions, sounds, yawns, onomatopoeias that help me centre myself and reconnect with the here and now. Pedro is Earth. And I am deeply grateful for the friendship we share. Not to mention everything else that comes with it and concerns us both. Every Friendship is its own Friendship. I have few Friends. But the ones I have, if I call them or ask them for something, I know they will treat me in exactly the same way I would treat them if I were the one answering the phone. Pedro is one of those. One of mine.

In the same vein, I also pay tribute to a Lady (with a capital “L”), named Lina Neto. B16’s new accountant. Lina Neto changed our lives. I am not quite sure where to begin, but I know what I feel whenever I think of her. Lina was responsible for putting the company in order from A to Z, because many things had been incorrectly recorded; she was responsible for educating me in cash flow management, because there were many things I was doing that I should not have been doing; she was responsible for cleaning up, organising and polishing B16’s entire accounting picture, preparing the company for what was to come. And, at the same time, Lina was the one who faced every challenge that arose in my personal and family life. And I will say no more. She lived through it with me. I lived through it with her. I owe Lina Neto a great deal. She was our accountant until the end of our ten years of existence. She was always there with us. With patience, maturity, sacrifice and immense dedication.

Lina was also by my side during one of the most difficult battles of my personal life. A financial crossroads that we worked through together, from 2020 to 2026. Someone who will never leave my memory. Someone whose mark is tattooed on me forever. She knows it. Rute knows it. I know it too. Lina is Class. She is Quality. She is Professionalism. She is Integrity.

The second reason, also significant, was our investment in sales and advertising. It was the first time we had our own outdoor advertising. We decorated the windows of our office at Celfil with our logo, slogan and website. And that gave us a boost. Then, we prepared documents bearing the motto “Branding and Content: We fuckin Love it!” which we sent to various companies and recipients. We began communicating through email, social media, newsletters and other channels that introduced us to the World. And, in the blink of an eye, requests for proposals, new challenges and a great deal of work started pouring in. It was a shot in the foot for which we were not prepared. Based on our previous experience, we thought the whole process would take time, but no, the opposite happened. We were accepted, and accepted well. The market was already buying, and in no time at all we were swallowed up by an endless number of projects that we had to deliver. All within a period of one or two months of activity.

Third, and no less important, was the year in which the +CO3SO project was approved. This project allowed us to expand the team, consolidate production on a regular and systematic basis, and receive external financial support that enabled us to reach further in the years that followed. From 2021 to 2023, B16 received financial and structural support from CCDR Algarve, something we will never forget or undervalue. It was a defining milestone in our history. The certainty of a permanent team: a videographer, a digital marketer and a creative director, all supported by the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission. Disruptive. Transformative. More than welcome. It was through this support that we were able to have someone on our permanent team responsible for the entire digital world. And that hire made all the difference. We will get to that.

It was in 2021 that we bought our first office. An interesting story that I will have time to reveal, but which, years later, brought B16 unparalleled asset value. Today, looking back, I know this was the best investment made over the last ten years, without a shadow of a doubt. There will be a time and a place to talk about it.

And if I had to list a fifth reason to highlight 2021 as the year of the company’s historic turning point, I could not possibly forget the importance of Clients such as: Super Express, Castro Marim City Council, Bombarral City Council, Cacial, Probuilders Constructions, Clínica Health Secret, the University of Algarve and, regardless of the fact that it did not go as well, the Pão do Rogil project. Together with Infralobo, MAR Shopping Algarve, Designer Outlet Algarve and Visualforma, we could barely keep up with all the work underway. 2021 was the year of the donkey. Our donkey! The Super Express Brand defined our entire journey through 2021. The remaining projects and assignments were carried out whenever we could find time between one major milestone and the next.

There were several reasons to describe 2021 as the year of change.
Of growth and leverage.
Of projects, challenges, decisions, partnerships, people, Clients and moments.
An important year. Without a doubt.
Full of Love, family, camping and plenty of sunshine.

I went a month without writing.
I was dry. Without content. Without smell or taste.
The first five years of B16, in themselves, carry a set of milestones, lessons, agonies, joys and traumatic symptoms that did much to bring us together towards the results of 2021.

I, who had never imagined owning a company, after a month without writing, can see how fortunate I am for everything I have experienced so far. I wrote about the first five years and have now begun this handful of years that I still have left to talk about.
And I have many stories to tell.

Ten years, same values.